SHIGEMASA
Ikkansai Shigemasa (fss-355)
Mei: Ikkansai
Shigemasa
Date:
showa ni jyu nen go getsu
kitsu-jitsu (May 1937)
Nagasa : 26 1/4 "
Sori: 18.0 mm
Width at the ha-machi: 31.4 mm
Width at the yokote: 21.4 mm
Thickness at the mune-machi: 7.6 mm
Construction: shinogi-zukuri
Mune: iori
Nakago: ubu
Kitae: itame/masame
Hamon: chogi
Boshi: maru
Condition: fresh polish and new shirasaya
IKKANSAI SHIGEMASA was born in 1905 in Shizoka Prefecture. He worked in Tokyo, was in the KASAMA SHIGETSUGU Mon. He was a Rikugun Jumyo Tosho, or army commissioned smith. His blades have nenki from at least Showa 29 (1954) to Showa 45 (1970). Miyaguchi Toshihiro and Tsukamoto Okimasa were in the same Mon. Miyaguchi Toshihiro was his cousin. Shigemasa later change his mei to Shigemasa using the 政 jj instead of 正.
This is a very fine sword with a beautiful chogi hamon. His work shows a lovely, rich and slightly course hada that is very well forged. This sword is one of the finest gendai-to that we have sold and it should be noted that this swordsmith was responsible for teaching the present day Mukansa swordsmith Ikkansai Shigehisa. Mukansa is as high a level as can be attained by modern day smiths. Also please read below some historical info that makes this smith and his swords very collectable as a sword and as a historic smith.
"Click on the pictures to view"
SAKAI SHIGEMASA
Mei: "SHIGEMASA" "SHIGEMASA" ("Masa" is a different character)"SAKAI IKKANSAI SHIGEMASA, HORI DOSAKU"
His real name was Sakai Hiroshi. He was born, as the third son of Sakai Yasujiro who is the younger brother of Miyaguchi Masatoshi in Otowa-cho of Shizuoka prefecture in 1905 then became a student of Kasama Shigetsugu in 1921. He became an independent smith in 1932 and worked in Nihonto Tanren Kai and Okura Nihonto Tanrenjo. He is good at Horimono as well as his teacher. He tempered Saka -choji which is a tradition of the Kasama school in his early years then tried various Hamon like Gunome-midare and Choji-midare after World War 2. He had lived and worked in Higashiyama-cho of Itabashi Ward in Tokyo since 1941 and died in 1995 at the age of 90.
Historical note about this smith:
With the rise of militarism and the subsequent heightened interest in Japanese swords in the Showa period, the incidence of swords being both specially ordered and given as gifts, seems to have dramatically increased. Mostly these transactions were between Japanese nationals. One of Kasama Shigetsugu's main pupils, and teacher of the present day Mukansa swordsmith Ikkansai Shigehisa, was Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa. Shigemasa made ten Tanto for Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku who distributed them as a personal reward to his main colleagues for their efforts in the Pearl Harbor raid
FULL IMAGE
Details
This unique gendai-to made by a fine swordsmith comes in a fresh polish and in a very high quality shirasaya with horn inlay and solid silver habaki.
This sword is on consignment.
~SOLD~
Order number for this item is : fss-355
Email us if your interested in this item at Nihonto_Antiques@verizon.net
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