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Hamon : Nioi-deki choji gunome midare. The nioi-guchi is bright and tight. Fully consistent through the whole length of the ha. There are ashi throughout.
Boshi : Ko-maru with a short return. The nioi-guchi is clear and even.
Kitae : Ko-itame with a vivid and highly controlled kitae pattern.
About this sword : This is a fine tanto by Horii Tanetsugu. This is a classic Hori work done in the style of Koto Bizen. Such a "perfect" blade is rare to see. This blade is much higher quality than a typical work of olden times. Ranked at 1.5 million yen in the Toko Taikan.
There is a chapter about Hori Tanetsugu in the book: Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths, from 1868-Present, by Leon and Hiroko Kapp and Yoshindo Yoshihara. Horii Tanetsugu was born in Muroran city in Hokkaido on February 24, 1923. At 18 Horii began to work at Nihon Seiko Jo Muroran Seisaku Jo (Japan Steel Corp). He was trained for four years as a swordsmith by his father Horii Toshihide. About a year after his father died, Horii joined the Army in Ashikawa. At the end of the war he was taken prisoner and spent 4 years in Siberia Russia. In 1956 he reopened his forge. His first son; Shigekatsu (Tanetada) was born in 1954. He learned the craft from his uncle, Nobuhide. Tanetada worked with him as a swordsmith untill Nobuhide retired in 1976. At that time Shigekatsu began to work with his father Tanetsugu,full time. The Horii family has worked in the Bizen style for four generations. Tanetsugu has received 5 awards for Excellence and 12 awards for Effort. He is also mentioned in the Gendai Toko Meikan: pages 92-93. He is in the Gendaito Meisaku Zukan: pages 131-133. He is in the Toko Taikan Gendai Index: page 373 TAN7. He is listed in Chris Bowen's Tokyo Kindai Tosha List, smith school's genealogy under the Hanazawa Tanrenjo school and students (Horii Taneyoshi- Horii Taneaki- Horii Toshihide- Kurihara Akihide- etc). A custom kiri-bako and a sword bag is included.
$3800
