Japanese sword

[5016]

Following Satsumas request, I've decided to post some pictures of my Shinto Hizen-to sword from the Tadayoshi school.

This turned up a few years ago at an auction on the Isle of Wight. Said to have been surrendered by a "high ranking" Japanese officer and presented to a British Brigadier.

Blade has been professionally polished and fitted in a new shira-saya. The mounts are the original ones with a WW2 leather combat cover. I've been informed the iron mounts are typical Higo school, often found on Hizen swords as this combination was favoured by samurai because of their simplicity and function. No frills.

I'll post a scan of the oshigata. To save you struggling with the translation, it reads: Hizen kuni Kawachi Daijo Fujiwara Masahiro.

Over to you guys for comments.

Kevin.

[5016]

More pics.

[5016]

and more....

[Brian Wolfe]

There is never enough words to express the beauty of these blades.

Very nice indeed.

Regards

Brian

[Satsuma]

Hi Kevin

Beautiful piece! Now, I've just come back from 4 days leave and will be back in touch with the post shortly. Thanks for sharing.

Satsuma

[Satsuma]

Hi Kevin!

I found a site that tells us a little about the swordsmith, whose name appears on the tang of your sword, Fujiwara Masahiro : http://www.hizento.net/index.php?page=history.

To your blessing, he is a noted smith and this adds greatly to the value of your blade. (Did the person who polished the blade, a Japanese artisan I suspect, have anything to say about the smith or the blade?)

Fujiwara Masahiro was also a teacher and the teacher/s of any famous smith is/are always an important part of their biography. (I'm not sure, however, who he taught that became famous.)

If I read the site correctly, it says your sword was made in either 1628 or 1641.

I love fittings and it is good you retain those from the war, which I presume were with the blade when you aquired it, and the shirasaya (plain wooden scabbard), that would have been returned to you with the blade after its professional polish.

The fittings are very samurai (as opposed to standardised post-1868 modern army variants).

This is a family blade and the owner (the "high ranking" officer you refer to) would have been of samurai heritage. Also, because the blade is that of Fujiwara Masahiro, that heritage would have been prestigious. However, and with regret, we cannot tell. Therefore, the blade must be assessed on its merit alone and the fact it was made by a famous smith. (Also, but to a lesser and seperate extent, it can be assessed on its wartime/samurai fittings). Overall, this is a beautiful sword and well worth the effort of the polish.

The scabbard's combat cover is Imperial Japanese Army. Also, if it came from the British army officer you mention then, most likely, it was surrended to him somewhere in the British theatre, probably Burma. However, this is a wild and silly guess, but a good starting point for glass-of-whisky conjecture.

Thanks again.

Keep well

Satsuma

[5016]

Hi Kevin!

I found a site that tells us a little about the swordsmith, whose name appears on the tang of your sword, Fujiwara Masahiro : http://www.hizento.n...hp?page=history.

To your blessing, he is a noted smith and this adds greatly to the value of your blade. (Did the person who polished the blade, a Japanese artisan I suspect, have anything to say about the smith or the blade?)

Fujiwara Masahiro was also a teacher and the teacher/s of any famous smith is/are always an important part of their biography. (I'm not sure, however, who he taught that became famous.)

If I read the site correctly, it says your sword was made in either 1628 or 1641.

I love fittings and it is good you retain those from the war, which I presume were with the blade when you aquired it, and the shirasaya (plain wooden scabbard), that would have been returned to you with the blade after its professional polish.

The fittings are very samurai (as opposed to standardised post-1868 modern army variants).

This is a family blade and the owner (the "high ranking" officer you refer to) would have been of samurai heritage. Also, because the blade is that of Fujiwara Masahiro, that heritage would have been prestigious. However, and with regret, we cannot tell. Therefore, the blade must be assessed on its merit alone and the fact it was made by a famous smith. (Also, but to a lesser and seperate extent, it can be assessed on its wartime/samurai fittings). Overall, this is a beautiful sword and well worth the effort of the polish.

The scabbard's combat cover is Imperial Japanese Army. Also, if it came from the British army officer you mention then, most likely, it was surrended to him somewhere in the British theatre, probably Burma. However, this is a wild and silly guess, but a good starting point for glass-of-whisky conjecture.

Thanks again.

Keep well

Satsuma

Thanks Satsuma. Interesting web page.

The sword was supposed to have come from Burma. I tried, unsuccessfully, to discover more about the sellers family who put it into auction. They did not, however, want their details released. There had even been a small plaque screwed to the sword scabbard (which had the surrender details) but this was removed prior to sale.

I had realised Masahiro is an important smith. I also always assume any important smith's work is fake until proven otherwise. I have been assured it is Tadayoshi school (which ties in of course) and that the signature is very similar to other known examples. However, until it is one day "papered", I'll treat it as a very nice, old, Shinto sword, which it undeniably is.

I'm pleased with it. Just wish it could talk!

Regards,

Kevin.

[Satsuma]

The removal of the plaque is an unforgivable sin! But, alas, the milk is spilt ...

I encountered a sword that was said to have belonged to the commandant of Changi Goal. However, the "papers" supporting the claim had been lost, so the claim was irrelevant. If the papers were with the sword, then name your price. Without them, the sword was just a very nice piece and was for sale at about AUS$5K.

Also, tassels make no claim to an owner's rank.

That is, they are transferable. Indeed, I have a colonel/lieut-colonel/major's tassel (the brown and orange one, if you don't know) and I have, without any justification, put it on a sword that is all orange and brown tones. It looks fantastic, but I make no claim it ever belonged to a man of these ranks.

One of these days I'll work out how to post pictures and then I could show you.

Keep well

Satsuma

[KarlPeterSmith]

Looks like a 2nd generation Masahiro signature sword 1650+