Kantei

NH-0015 Rank 60

Inaba no Kuni-jū Fujiwara Kanesaki

因幡国住藤原兼先

A blade published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsu-chō, with Tokubetsu Hozon papers, an ubu tang of a single mekugi-ana, a complete crested koshirae and a shirasaya bearing sayagaki.

Shintō (1596-1780)Genroku era (c. 1701)Inaba (han Ikeda de Tottori)NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Signed “Inaba no Kuni-jū Fujiwara Kanesaki”. The Kanesaki line came from Mino, and this generation worked for the Ikeda domain of Tottori, in Inaba province, around the Genroku era (c. 1701); the smith is ranked as wazamono. The blade measures 69.8 cm of nagasa with 1.7 cm of sori, 3.13 cm of motohaba and 0.7 cm of motokasane. The hada is a clear ko-itame and the hamon a suguha-chō with abundant ko-ashi and yō. The photographs show an ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana lined with brass sekigane, an angular nakago-jiri and a long, crisp signature. Besides the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, the piece is published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsu-chō and comes with a second certificate, dated 1979, that ranks it as wazamono. The koshirae brings together shakudō nanako fuchi-kashira with a family crest, a pierced iron tsuba with the five-and-three paulownia, menuki in the form of horse tack, a shakudō nanako kozuka bearing the same crest, and a kawari-nuri saya. The shirasaya carries sayagaki.

Strong points

  • Published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsu-chō, a register of notable blades
  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper plus a second certificate from 1979
  • Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana lined with brass sekigane, per the photographs
  • Complete koshirae with the same crest on fuchi-kashira and kozuka
  • Shirasaya with sayagaki
  • Smith of the Ikeda domain of Tottori, ranked wazamono

Points to bear in mind

  • The signature carries no date
  • The fittings have no tōsōgu papers of their own
  • No statement is made about the blade's state of preservation

Score breakdown

61.7/100

The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. It is computed from the record, not from an opinion. The mounting starts from what is known of its period, adds what vouches for it (its own NBTHK paper, a signed fitting, a crest) and subtracts what has been restored (saya, ito, same, habaki or sageo).

  1. Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the photographs
  3. Mounting 3 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin · with a family crest (mon)
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 8 of 8 69.8 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 4 of 4 With a storage shirasaya
  7. Price 5.7 of 10 Rank 61 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest