Archived Nihonto.ca (Yuhindo.com): Masahide

Masahide

This is a very well made sun-nobi tanto from the Shinshinto period. It is signed with a Masahide signature that is gimei (false). The tanto though was made with a very good hand, as it has no flaws, and the construction shows many hallmarks of master quality workmanship. The nagasa is 12 3/4 inches, or 32.38cm.

This tanto was submitted to NBTHK papers by the previous owner, and it failed to pass Hozon due to the signature. At this time, the polish was also incomplete, though I’m not sure that this was understood. It had been done only to the very last foundation stone, making the hamon very difficult to make out, and definitely lacking detail. Having a half-done polishing job was probably not the best idea for submitting for papers, but it is not clear how long it has been in this state.

I bought the sword because it looked flawless and well made, though the hamon looked sleepy and was a drawback. This of course was because of the half completed polish, but nobody had the exact reason in hand until I got it to a polisher and asked why the hamon was so sleepy on an otherwise very nice looking tanto.

I paid to have the polish completed, and now all the activities in the hamon and hada are now visible. The tanto also has a nice sugata, with very well executed horimono. The omote shows a suken, while the ura shows a bonji of Fudo Myoo and gomabashi. The suken and the bonji (sanskrit character) invoke Fudo Myoo, who is the Buddhist Immovable King of Light. He is a warrior diety who punishes the wicked. The gomabashi reflect a softer side, as they represent chopsticks used in Buddhist ritual, and so the way to enlightenment and salvation.

The construction of the tanto is hirazukuri with mitsu mune. It would appear Soshu influenced as there are scattered large ji nie, most of which gather into beautiful chikei in the hada. The hamon is gunome midare mixed with o-choji midare in nioi deki, but shows many activities such as sunagashi, inazuma, long ashi, and kinsuji. The hada is ko-itame mixed with mokume in places, and masame along the mune. With the straight grain at ha and mune and the other Soshu like features, it is possibly has some influence of the Shizu school. Please check out the slideshow below as it shows each one of these features in detail.

I have shown this tanto to many people to try to get a kantei. The responses have been Naotane school, Gassan Sadakatsu, Hizen school, a student of Masahide, and Masao have all been given as answers, all by respected people. The hamon I find looks like some examples of Naokatsu, which would be in line with the Naotane school.

Regardless of the maker, the various responses reflect the quality of this tanto, and that some good hand must have made it. There is a possibility of removing the mei and sending it in for shinsa, but I am a bit reluctant to destroy the signature as it is part of the history of this tanto. As well, the hot stamp in the nakago would be impossible to remove. It is probably something that is worthwhile to continue to kantei within the sword collecting community until the true maker is discovered. All in all, it is a very good work, with many diverse elements making it a good study piece to boot.