UK Sword Register.
No. 35
Type: Shinshinto katana
Nagasa: 73.6 cm Moto-haba: 3.2 cm Saki-haba: 2.7 cm
Sugata: Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, shallow tori-zori, o-kissaki and wide mihaba.
Jihada: Very tight itame-hada, almost muji-hada.
Hamon: Ko-nie and nioi, gunome in sanbon-tsuji with some togari-ba, continuing into the boshi which becomes almost jizo-boshi, with kaeri.
Nakago: Ubu with one mekugi-ana, ha-agari kuri-jiri, signed on the omote S SHIZU SABURO KANEUJI.
This sword has a typical sugata of the shinshinto period with a wide mi-haba and o-kissaki, which gives it a very sharp appearance. It is characteristically quite heavy when held in the hand, but the balance is somewhat better than that found in many shinshinto swords. Also characteristic of shinshinto is the very tight jihada that has almost no visible pattern. Made in the Mino style the sword has a kind of sanbon tsuji hamon, differing from that associated with Kanemoto and his school, in this case rather than the very pointed peaks (togari) of Kanemoto, the hamon is formed of three gunome-midare with very few togari. I suppose it could be said, that this is more in keeping with the style of the first Kaneuji. The tani, or valleys between the gunome, have nioi forming thick ashi. The nakago is ubu with the mei on the omote.
The shodai Kaneuji was a Yamato swordsmith who went to Kamakura to study under Masamune. He is considered to be one of the Masamune Jutetsu and eventually moved to Shizu in Mino province where he founded the Mino tradition of swordmaking (Mino-den) which shows the influence of both Soshu-den and Yamato-den.
The swordsmith of this present sword, claimed to be the 19th generation direct descendant from shodai Kaneuji (Afu Watson in his translation of Fujishiro’s Shinto Jiten states 9th generation, but I am sure this is a simple printing error) and he worked around the Koka era (about 1840). He sometimes included the character MINAMOTO in his mei. I have seen a number of swords by this man over the years and they all have this sugata although he is known to have also made many ko-gatana.
It seems that he was associated with the later Kanesada line of swordsmiths, as the 11th generation Kanesada, claimed to be the 22nd generation descended from Kaneuji. Also the 10th generation Kanesada actually changed his name to Kaneuji and is probably the swordsmith featured here. Hawley gives two swordsmiths named Kaneuji both working at the same time, which he calls the 18th and 19th generations (KA2874 and KA 2875). Fujishiro gives the 19th generation a chusaku rating. The sword has no modern certificates of authentication.
This Sword Register has only been shown before in printed form and is now updated for inclusion on this web site.
Clive Sinclaire
Bexley, February 2007-02-10
Katana: signed Shizu Saburo Kaneuji