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Hamon : Ko-nie deki suguha. The nioi guchi is luminous and evenly tempered.
Boshi : Ko-maru with a medium long kaeri. The nioi-guchi is skillfully controlled. Its brightness and clarity is consistent all the way to the tip of the kaeri.
Kitae : Ko-mokume mixed with masmame near the ha. Mitsy ji-nie can be seen covering the jigane. Strong utsuri is present.
About this sword : This is a koto tanto by Kaneaki. He was a Mino smith and active in the late Muromachi period. This blade is ubu and bears his mei of Seki Ju Kaneaki. It is also dated the 8th year Eiroku on the ura (1565). The Nihonto Meikan mentions a tanto by this smtih with a omote mei of Seki ju Kaneaki and ura mei of Eiroku hachi nen on page 125. It is unusual to record the date without the month or statement of day. It is quite probably that this blade is the one recorded by Homma and Ishii in the Meikan.
This blade has a 78 point paper issued by the NTHK(NPO). 78 points is a high score and this is the minimum score required for Yushu Saku submission. The health of this blade and ubu / one mekugi-ana condition is remarkable for is age 454 years. It is easy to see that this is quite a special blade.
This sword was polished recently by Jimmy Hayashi. Mr Hayashi is the only fully trained sword polisher in the United States and his work is highly prized. Please see the article about Mr Hayashi on our site here for more information about his life and training.
This tanto comes with an old shira-saya and silver habaki. There is also a storage bag and the NTHK paper mentioned above. Signed, dated, papered and polished. A wonderful opportunity to own a special Mino tanto from the Sekgoku Jidai.
