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Hamon : Gunome midare becoming hitasura in the Soshu style. The hamon is ko-nie deki. Muneyaki is present throughout the length of the blade. Quite a bit of sunagashi, inazuma and kinsuji can be seen in the nioi-guchi.
Boshi : Togari on the omote and Jizo on the ura with the wide muneyaki. Chikei and inazuma can be seen dancing in and out of the boshi nioiguchi.
Kitae : Ko-mokume with masame mixed in. There is some tightly forged o-mokume in the ura ji. Many tobi yaki can be seen frequently and ji nie is in abundance. Yubashiri are prevalent in the ura ji.
About this sword : The following information is from the Tokotaikan pg 595 and 596
Masatsugu 3 million yen (ranking) Tenmon (period) Yamato (location)
This smith was active around Tenmon to Koji (1532-1557) His style is wide mihaba with long kissaki with a thick, very strong, robust shape. Itame mixed with masame that is hada-tachi with ji-nie. Hamon has a tight nioi-guchi. Hiro-suguha, ko-midare, gunome-midare are seen. There is ashi & yo inside hamon and his horimono tends to be complicated.
Masatsugu 3 million yen (ranking) Koji (period) Yamato (location)
Younger brother of the previous Masatsugu and similar style of work.
In addition to the two Masatsugu listed above, the Nihonto Meikan, 2nd edition, page 909 also lists a 3rd one. He was the son of the first generation and was active around Tensho.
The Kanabo smiths are descended from the Yamato tradition. This blade shows a strong Soshu flavor, a style highly admired when this blade was made as much as it is today. This tanto is ubu and zaimei and dated August of 1592. Needless to say, signed and dated Koto are ideal examples to own. As such, this Masatsugu presents a exciting opportunity. This blade has nice old double gold foil habaki, fine shirasaya is accompanied by two papers. The first is a 1970 NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho and the second is a NTHK Kanteisho paper that was issued under Kentaro Yoshikawa in 1992. Yoshikawa attributed his blade specifically to the 2nd generation on the NTHK paper. A wonderful signed and dated Koto tanto with a vivid hitasura hamon that will offer endless enjoyment to its new owner.
Price : $5800
