This Japanese sword was stolen 2/2013 and has yet to be returned - updated 2020. If you find it for sale or know of its whereabouts please contact us ASAP at 608-315-0083 Thank you!
NAGASA (LENGTH): 47 cm. ~ 18 1/2″MOTOHABA (WIDTH): 3.9 cm. ~ 1 1/2+”
THIS FINE MEMORIAL, KOTO (PRIOR TO 1600 AD.), SOSHU STYLE “COMPANION SWORD” (NOW TERMED WAKIZASHI), IS THE CLOSEST THING TO AN ORIGINAL “SHOSHU MASAMUNE”, THAT A PERSON COULD HOPE TO OWN, THERE IS A SIMILAR RE-CREATION IN THE COLLECTION OF THE “EMPEROR”. MY RESEARCH APPEARS (90%) TO SUBSTANTIATE THAT IT IS THE WORK OF “SHIZU SABURO KANEUJI 1st” C- 1290 AD.) “MINO KANEUJI” 1st, IS ONE OF THE “10” STUDENTS OF “SOSHU MASAMUNE”, C-1280 AD. (THE MOST FAMOUS SWORD MAKER, THAT EVER LIVED! HE IS KNOWN AS “SHIZU SABURO”, AND MOST OF HIS BLADES ARE IN THE SOSHU STYLE. HE WAS A MASTER AT REPLICATING THE STYLES (HIS TEACHER / SENSEI) OF “MASAMUNE”, THE WORKMANSHIP IN THIS BLADE IS FANTASTIC.
DURING MY RESEARCH, I LOCATED AN ILLUSTRATION OF A “FAMOUS REPLICA” OF A BLADE BY “MASAMUNE”, IN A BOOK TITLED ” HONCHO KAJI KO “, (THESE BOOKS WERE DONE IN “1795”, KANSEI PERIOD), IT ILLUSTRATES SWORDS THAT ARE IN THE “IMPERIAL COLLECTION”!
THE PICTURE’S DISPLAYED COMPARE THE IMPERIAL COLLECTION COPY OF A MASAMUNE’S BLADE (BY KANEUJI), AS WELL AS ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM OTHER REFERENCES WITH OUR “BUDDHA TO` BLADE”. THE HADA (GRAIN STRUCTURE) STYLE, AND HAMON (TEMPERING) ARE VERY SIMILAR. THE KITAE (BLADE STRUCTURE), AND QUALITY LEVEL ARE STRIKINGLY SIMILAR! I FEEL THAT THE SIMILARITY’S ARE TO NUMEROUS, FOR IT TO HAVE BEEN ACCIDENTALLY CREATED. THE IMPERIAL COLLECTION BLADE WAS PRODUCED BY “SHIZU SABURO KANEUJI” 1st GENERATION, C – 1290 AD. THE BOOK FURTHER STATES THAT THE BLADE WAS POLISHED IN THE “KYOHO (1716) PERIOD”, BY “SUMINO TOSHIAKI” (THE OFFICIAL IMPERIAL COLLECTION POLISHER), HE STATED (IN THE TEXT) THAT “IT FELT THE SAME AS POLISHING A MASAMUNE BLADE”. THE “HONCHO KAJI KO” BOOKS ARE FROM SCROLL’S, THAT HAVE BEEN FOLDED, AND STITCHED TOGETHER. THEY ARE THE WORK OF “MAEKAWA YOSHIBEI”. THESE ARE ORIGINAL VOLUMES, PUBLISHED IN “1795 AD.” (EXTREMELY RARE BOOKS)!
PRIOR TO MY “ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY”, IN “HONCHO KAJIKO”, THE “BUDDHA TO” SWORD HAD BEEN THOUGHT TO BE A REPLICA OF “MASAMUNE’S” WORK, DONE IN THE VERY LATE KOTO, OR SHINTO PERIOD, BY A FAMOUS MAKER (PERHAPS, “IZUMI – NO – KAMI KANESADA”). MY RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THE “SHINTO THEORY” IS INCORRECT, AND THAT “BUDDHA TO” IS ALSO A REPLICA OF MASAMUNE’S WORK PRODUCED BY “SHIZU KANEUJI”, DURING THE KAMAKURA PERIOD.
THE CHARACTERS “KI OMOKAGE”, MEAN TO COMMEMORATE, THE FOUND MEMORY OF THE “SEVEN (7)” SAMURAI NAMED THEREON. THIS DEDICATION APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN INSCRIBED IN THE LATE KOTO PERIOD 1550 ~ 1596, THIS IS SUBSTANTIATE BY THE RICH (CHOCOLATE BROWN) COLOR OF THE PATINA. “KANEUJI” WORKED IN APPROXIMATELY 1290 AD. THE NAMES (ON THE OMOTE SIDE) ARE : #1 “SHINHYOGO NYUDO, #2 SHOAN HIROYOSHI”, #3 “SHINANO-NO-KAMI HIRONAO”, #4 “GENBEY-NO-JO NAOYOSHI”, #5 “SHOZAEMON-NO-JO SHIGEYOSHI”, #6 “SHOZAEMON-NO-JO YOSHITSUGU”, AND #7 “GOZAEMON-NO-JO YOSHITOKI”.
THE “URA” SIDE (SIDE WORN TOWARD THE BODY) INSCRIPTION INVOKES THE GUARDIANSHIP, AND ASSISTANCE OF THE THE FOLLOWING “BUDDHIST DEITIES”: “FUDO”, “SHAKA”, “MONJU”, “FUGEN”, “JIZO”, “MIROKU”, “YAKUSHI”, “KANNON”, “SEISHI”, “AMIDA”, “AKAN”, “DAIMICHI”, AND “KOKUSO”. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE, AND FASCINATING HISTORY!
