Katana assistance, Kyu-Gunto

[hs132]

Greetings, I respectfully am asking for assistance. This is a bit beyond my expertise. I was stunned when a coworker showed up with this Katana yest at work. These pics were with my Iphone. Im hoping to get better pics. A nice cat scratch silver habaki. Certainly an old blade with faded wavy hamon. Best, Bill Bourque

[hs132]

1

[hs132]

2

[hs132]

Hi Im aware these pics are sub standard. I hope to examine again and use my camera. All help greatly appreciated. Best, Bill

[GHP]

I'll let the experts deal with this one!!

横山加賀介藤原祐永
Yokoyama Kaga Suke Fujiwara Sukenaga

備前長船住
Bizen Osafune Juu
source Shinshin-tou; 1839.

(菊紋) 一
(Chrisanthemum mark) "ichi" [1]
sword index

Here's a polished wakizashi with the Kiku-Ichi mark from the same smith [see link for smith's mei side of tang]:

source

--Guy

[hs132]

Hello. Thanks for your expert response. So about 1839, I thought it was earlier. Best Bill

[GHP]

I'm no expert! I just copied the kanji and did a little research; wait for the sword experts to chime in. They can tell you if this is the same feller, or xn-generation whatever. All I can do is (sometimes) read the kanji.

--Guy

[hs132]

I'm no expert! I just copied the kanji and did a little research; wait for the sword experts to chime in. They can tell you if this is the same feller, or xn-generation whatever. All I can do is (sometimes) read the kanji.

--Guy

Hello, your imput is always appreciated. Best, Bill

[Staldion]

"The swordsmiths of the Fukuoka School traditionally inscribed only the character "Ichi" (一, one) on the tang as their signature. They further received permission to append the Imperial chrysanthemum crest (菊, kiku) on the tang, thus their swords are known collectively as "Kiku-ichimonji"."

Short sentence from this wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiku-ichimonji

Looks like Kiku-ichimonji but Sukenaga was from Bizen which is quite far from Fukuoka.
Far to be an expert but wanted to land a hand, please correct me if I said something wrong. I will sit in the shadow until someone can tell us what it really is, interesting and attractive sword and koshirae.

[Bob Coleman]

This is a genuine Sukenaga with the Kiku Ichimonji.

[hs132]

Hello Bob, your comments and expertise is always greatly appreciated. My coworker will be stunned. Best, Bill

[Bob Coleman]

To clarify the Wiki reference, there was a Fukuoka village in Bizen in the 13th century which was the source of the Fukuoka Ichimonji group. These blades are of very high quality and is one of the three different Bizen Ichimonji groups of the era. Sukenaga was a mid19th century swordsmith in Osafune, Bizen and considered a fairly descent mid level swordsmith of the era. In no way did his skill come close to that of the original Ichimonji schools.

[Staldion]

Thank you Bob, you make it crystal clear

[Bob Coleman]

Acccording to the late sensei John Yumoto, he related to me that an early warlord daimyo liked the name Fukuoka and in his travels, named a number of villages Fukuoka. I forgot about this tidbit until recently as it was imparted to me in Japan over 30 years ago.

[hs132]

Nakano pic. Best, Bill