Japanese translation, anyone?

[Lucky Strike]

OK, I'm back at work, and finally got around to measuring the blade; 58,5 cm, including the tang. The sword was a gift from a Japanese official to a Western diplomat/arms collector in the early 20th C., so the provenance is promising. A few pics:

 

[skalogre]

Wow... looks like it did not have much maintenance done. Well... The saya (scabbard) is sort of uncommon. The rest of the koshirae look sort of tired but looks like most of the gold leaf is still in place, which is good. Comes with its kozuka knife, which would certainly make the fittings, if not the whole package, worth a bit more. Quite a few rust spots on the nakago, too. Nice shi-shi on the koshirae, though

Plus the patina on the tsuba looks quite good from the photographs. The blade itself looks like it has a good amount of chips and maybe some rust which is worrisome but maybe salvageable. Cannot tell, is the hamon sort of like an undulating wave (midare) or just inconsistent? Some proper polishing may be able to get out more detail if the blade is not too tired, of course. Looks like a shobu-zukuri style blade from the photos. Here is a good simple diagram, which does it most resemble (if any, that is)? Now, as I am nowhere near knowledgeable enough, I would recommend you cross-post those pictures at the very least over at the Nihonto section of Swordforum for some better ideas

 

[retronotmetro]

Yeah, the first thing that jumps out is that the polish is in pretty bad shape--lots of rust, fingerprints, and nicks.

My uneducated guess is that the current mounts are for an Edo-period merchant wakizashi (a wak for someone not entitled to carry a long sword) based on the blinginess and the fact that it was presented solo instead of in a daisho set. That isn't to say that the blade itself isn't older. I really like that tsuba.

LS-you should take some more pics without flash and with the light source directed at a 45 degree angle towards the blade--it will cut the glare and allow people to see the true state of the blade, and get a better look at the hamon.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Dang, didn't see Skalogre's reply until now.

Originally Posted by skalogre

The blade itself looks like it has a good amount of chips and maybe some rust which is worrisome but maybe salvageable. Cannot tell, is the hamon sort of like an undulating wave (midare) or just inconsistent? Some proper polishing may be able to get out more detail if the blade is not too tired, of course.
It's difficult to say in the state it's in, but I'd say the hamon (temper line) is probably just rather flat and inconsistent.

Originally Posted by skalogre

Looks like a shobu-zukuri style blade from the photos. Here is a good simple diagram, which does it most resemble (if any, that is)?
Yep, that's the one, although there seems to be a rudimentary vertical line (yokote?). I'll try Swordforum eventually, thanks!

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

My uneducated guess is that the current mounts are for an Edo-period merchant wakizashi (a wak for someone not entitled to carry a long sword) based on the blinginess and the fact that it was presented solo instead of in a daisho set. That isn't to say that the blade itself isn't older. I really like that tsuba.
That makes a lot of sense, although sets of Japanese swords are exceedingly rare. Judging by the patina of the different parts, I'd guess that the blade itself, the small kozuka knife and maybe the menuki (the decorative bronze bits wrapped into the grip) are the oldest parts, then maybe the tsuba (guard) and the other bronze/gilt mounts from a somewhat later date, and the lacquer/mop scabbard from a rather late, say meiji-period date. The different patinas would fit well with what you're saying. And thanks again! I'll report back if there are any new findings.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

That makes a lot of sense, although sets of Japanese swords are exceedingly rare.

Yeah--I know that finding matched daisho is like winning the lottery. What I really mean is that something about that saya just doesn't look like the way you'd mount up a matched set of blades. It seems like too showy of a style for a daisho set of warrior's blades, but perfect if you are a non-samurai wanting a little flash.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Update: There are five known makers who have signed "Mitsuhira" in a similar way. The most important one is the one referred to by Nantucket and Retro in the posts above. He was from the Musashi province. (I had someone look them up in the Matsuo Fujishiro's Nihon Toko Jiten (shinto volume).) This blade is almost certainly not by him, as he and his school of swordsmiths did not make straight or just barely undulating hamons (temper lines), but most often very intricate and and wavy ones. I think this is most probably Mitsuhira from the Bungo province, he's noted as a swordsmith from the 1680s, which would fit well with the general appearance of the blade, which seems to be c. 1700, or slightly later. Also, he's quite obscure - this would not be an obvious choice for forging a signature. It seems Retro's guess was spot-on; an Edo-period wakizashi, of good, but not outstanding quality, and probably made for a well-off commoner rather than a nobleman. Respect. In that case, the sawasa (bronze) tsuba and fittings are also probably contemporary to the blade, which would be nice. The only other option I can see would be Mitsuhira of Kaga, but he worked almost a hundred years earlier, and this doesn't really fit with the geometry and general shape of the blade.

 

[skalogre]

Good info, Retronometro. Considering that a good straight hamon is usually considered to be the hardest to achieve, it could have certainly been a commission for a well-off merchant. Anyway, the koshirae may not even be original. Only the habaki itself and the tsuka are specific to a blade usually, as they must be fitted correctly. The rest could have been retrofitted later on.
Who knows, maybe it was part of a daisho at some point but considering that only bushi were allowed to wear a standard sized sword, you never know. Merchants could still commission and buy the blades, they just could not go around with them. A lot of the more "pimp" fittings with lots of gold inlay and the like you find were commissioned for merchants' blades.

The yokote btw could have also been polished out by someone in the past, unintentionally or not. That is the problem with nihonto, the person polishing/sharpening a blade must understand well what is the smith's house style and the proper blade characteristics. Ugh. Confusing stuff.
Come to think of it, some wakizashi I have seen look just like shrunken shinogi-zukuri katana anyway, so it is always possible that it was polished down toop far. Now mind you I don't own any antique blades myself, just speaking from what I have seen in books and swords owned by people I know. I think Retronometro may be better versed than I

Keep us updated, this is fascinating stuff (to me at least

).

 

[Lucky Strike]

Update; in the end, I concluded it was to be "attributed to" Mitsuhira of the Bungo province, early 18th (consulted with a few people). Sold for about $2.200.

 

[Lucky Strike]

I'll follow up with this one - any thoughts? (I'll try to have some better photos taken over summer) My first thought is that it's early 19thc, with some older parts incorporated.