Appraising Kantei
The most memorable phrases often repeated to me by my two nihonto sensei in England, Victor Harris and Clive Sinclaire, were "Just keep looking at the
swords" and "Only look at good swords". This age-old advice,
given by the godfather of sword study Dr. Kanzan Sato, is still as true today as
it ever has been. The only problem is that in England, the rest of Europe and
America, the depth of extant 'good swords' does not match that of Japan. In
addition to this, mention the word 'kantei' to most people outside of Japan and
they start looking like a deer caught in headlights. Thus, his was the
catalyst of my decision to move to Japan to study Japanese swords.
I have always known that "The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords' was an
invaluable aid to my sword studies. An excellent translation by Kenji Mishina
sensei, of the notes made and published by his own teacher, Kokan Nagayama
sensei. It was originally meant as a guide to kantei (appraisal) for the students of the Honami
school of polishing. My only complaint would be, that it is not the same handy
size as the original Japanese version. However, I never realised the full
potential of this book until I
began kantei study in Japan. The notes at the back and the explanations for
kantei scoring are a fantastic help to beginners. There are pages of notes of
which characteristics used by which smiths. This immediately narrows the field
of search for a lost beginner.
Another popular kantei book often seen at meetings in Japan is relatively
unknown in
Europe and America. This book, yet to be translated into English, is called
'Shin Nihonto Kantei Nyumon - The New Introduction to Kantei'. It is co-written
by the editor of the Shunju press (a Japanese sword newspaper) and Head of the
Tokyo Chapter of the NBTHK, Mr.
Kazou Iida along with Mr. Yuichi Hiroi formerly of the Agency for Cultural
Affairs. One of the strong points of this book is that it has some
practice test cases for kantei from oshigata. Another booklet which is often
used alongside both of these books is the 'Nyusatsu Kantei Dozen Cho' -
published by the NBTHK. It has listings of the seven main routes of Japan, with
the listings of all the different schools of the relative periods.
Oshigata are also a very valuable learning tool when it comes to appraisal.
There is no substitute for the real thing, but if you live in Europe or the US, this is the
closest you will probably get to most Kokuho and Juyo Bunkazai blades. It is
quite common practice in Japan to open an oshigata book to a random page, cover
the inscriptions and make a guess as to who the maker is. This kind of
practice can be done on your own or amongst friends and can release the tension
some people feel 'laying their pride on the line' by turning it into a game.
Once you realise that even the best can, and do, get it wrong sometimes, your
confidence increases, allowing your mind to make educated guesses of your own.
Even the monthly kantei kai at the NBTHK can be treated as a game. There are
usually five kantei blades and you have three attempts at bidding correctly on
each sword. All bids are given in, and the answers given back, privately. There
is generally no conferring, but the old school often help the new guys until
they get on their feet. I have often looked at the five blades and gone into a
blind panic as if I have never seen a sword before in my life. If you take a
methodical approach, even the appearance of blades you have never encountered
before, becomes surmountable. Obviously, this is Japan and there are hundreds of
swords by smiths who's name I have never heard of, let alone seen their work
before. However, if you start by telling yourself what the blade is not, rather
than what it is, this can narrow your field much quicker than trying to wildly
guess a needle in a stack of needles. Also, use your kantei-book, it is your
trusted guide. Some of the points that do not hit you between the eyes by books
alone quickly become evident once you actively take part in kantei. For
instance; we in the west generally limit ourselves to distinguishing blades into koto, shinto and shin-shinto. In Japan
you have to take a step further and become more familiar with the nengo
(emperors reign), which, at the end of the day, you have to do when you want to
bid for a particular smith. For example, you have to know the difference in the
shapes and characteristics of blades of smaller time periods, for example,
keicho (1596) and kanbun (1661) periods. A common mistake made by many people
during kantei is with kiecho shinto blades. Because they are a transitional
blade between koto and shinto, sometimes it is difficult to determine what they
are. The shape of keicho - shinto blades are copies of the cut-down shape of
Nanbokucho blades, except that on many keicho blades the mihaba is often
slightly wider. This in turn gives you a hint on how to 'play the game'. If on
your first bid you guess that a blade is Nanbokucho, let's say Kaneuji, but the
answer comes back "Jidai chigai" wrong period, then it is very likely
a keicho Shinto blade, maybe someone like Horikawa Kunihiro.
Another point similar to this (of which there are hundreds) is when making a bid
on a blade you think is by Sukehiro. If it comes back marked 'Yoku' (kuni iri yoku),
then in all probability it is a smith called Terukane. You can also confirm this
by looking at the mune, which should be particularly high (but really you should
have looked at this before putting in your bid). Terukane blades were said to
have been able to cut with the back of the blade as well as the front. You have
to let your mind be flexible when examining blades. There have been countless
times when I have been surprised at the result of a kantei blade, because the
blade did not exactly fit the appraisal in a book. But the answer is always the
same, "Oh yes, he did that sometimes". Kantei books are only a guide,
and it would be impossible to include every trait of every sword by every smith.
The only way is to see as many examples as possible of each persons work, and
become familiar with the essence of their style.
The first time I received 'Iya' I was pretty devastated. I thought it meant that
I was completely wrong. This is not the case. It actually means that you have
something pretty important right: The period. It just means you have the wrong
part of the country. If you should make a successful bid, you will receive
'Atarai - correct'. If your bid identifies the teacher or student of the smith
in question, you will receive the mark 'Dozen'. Another piece of advice given to
me was: if you receive 'Douzen' do not make another attempt, as you may go the
wrong direction. If you receive the mark 'Kuni iri yoku' this means that you
have the period and the province correct. This allows you to consult your
booklet to see which other schools were operating in that period. Then you can
adjust your bid for your second attempt. There are several combinations of all
these marks, all of which can be found in the Nagayama book.
Giving appraisals on blades can be a serious business. However, learning to
kantei can be fun and not the confidence-damaging ogre it can sometimes appear
to be. If something is more enjoyable, we often speed up our learning curve. When I first
realised that I was playing kantei as a game, I felt as if I had 'sold out' to
serious sword study. I came to realise that this 'game' is actually a valuable
tool for sword study - as long as you know what you want from it at the end of
the day. There are different reasons for wanting to be able to kantei. Some want
to kantei to become sword dealers, some want to be historian/curators, some want
to be sword researchers and some just want to be kantei champions. All of these
are ok, as long as you do not lose sight of what is a good sword. I have heard
that there are people who are fantastic at separating and diagnosing the
characteristics of a blade in order to give the perfect appraisal, but cannot
determine a fine sword, which goes to show the need for balance.
Kantei is important to sword study and can be good fun, but it is only one
aspect, not the be all and end all. The study of Japanese swords is ultimately a
personal journey. One of which that can be, if we let it, be a spiritual one.
Swords are sacred in Japan, this iconic imagery needs to be more strongly
conveyed to the west in order to preserve Japanese swords in western collections
and by private owners for future generations. It is up to us, western collectors
and students of Japanese swords to try to raise the awareness of Japanese swords
as art objects, equal to that of the great artists, and limit the damage done by
laymen owners and restorers. To give our knowledge freely and not be scared to
admit what we do not know. The subject of Japanese sword blades alone is vast
and many of the answers still lie only in Japan.
Paul Martin.