Kanemoto katana fully mounted.

This is a 29" shinogi zukuri Sue-Koto katana from the Kanemoto school. It has been recently remounted for iai usage.

This blade has an interesting history for me. I was at the Chicago Token Kai wandering the tables when there were very few people in attendance. I noticed this on the table of a very well known collector. I picked it up. Hmm, recently remounted. I couldn't help looking it over and thinking "I can fix up the few little things on this I don't care for". Sort of an occupational hazard for me.

So I take the blade from the saya. The very first thing I notice is the length -- 29". Perfect. I look closer. Very nice forging, clear habuchi, heck, the blade even shows utsuri. Sanbonsugi hamon, classic (and textbook) Kanemoto school work. Maguroku Kanemoto (who was the second Kanemoto if I'm not mistaken) basically founded this style of work. And this blade was classic/textbook Kanemoto style. This always catches my interest as both a collector and as a martial artist -- you see, Kanemoto's blades were renouned for being incredibly sharp and tough. Apparently a lot of very important people met their end on the wrong side of Kanemoto blades. So they were highly prized by those who "knew" swords and knew how to use them as weaopns. These were not "dress up and impress the neighbors" swords, but swords martial artists prized quite highly.

As I looked over the blade the next thing that struck me was that the blade had a few minor chips and some surface rust. Nothing a quality polish couldn't fix. But also nothing that would stop a martial artist from using the blade for training in Iai (which explained the recent remounting in user mounts). Ah, I understood why it had been mounted as it had now. But as I looked closer I noticed one more thing -- the sword foundation.

If you look at the reflection of the stand in the shinogi ji in the image above you can see how absolutely flat and crisp the blade is on the shinogi ji. The entire blade is that crisp and well shaped. This blade has been used and remounted multiple times. There is no doubt it has been polished multiple times. But this is the important point -- the foundation shaping of the blade is nearly perfect. Meaning each and every polish along the way was top notch and the blade shows no signs of ever being bent. Normally you can see evidence of prior bends -- the steel gets "pinched" and there is literally no way to remove those short of polishing the blade down to a toothpick. This blade has been polished multiple times, but it is still robust, strong and feels great in the hands. With no pinched, washboarding or other signs of damage, repair or poor polishes.

What this means is that this blade was thought highly of its entire life. It has been meticulously taken care of up until the last few decades where some rust and edge chips have been introduced. Again, these are all things that could be repaired in polish.

So, as I stood there looking at this piece I realized I was holding a very nice blade. Textbook Kanemoto. In very good shape, actually. Unsigned, shortened but still 29" long. What a glorious blade it must have been prior to shortening! And the work in the blade was extremely well done. Precise, clean habuchi, good forging, no blisters, consistent forging, and even utsuri up in the ji surface showing how very well the blade was heat treated.

The hamon runs close to the edge in many places. But not fatally so. And even through the haze of the years and some surface rust the blade still shows off quite well.

There is a chip on the very tip (minor) and a chip up in the monouchi. Both could be repaired in a repolish. However, as it is the blade is perfectly suitable for collecting, study or for iai practice.

The sword is also fully mounted. I made a third seppa and shaped it to blend in with the fuchi to tighten up the rig (it has a little rattle). I also redid the mekugi using high strength delrin. The tsuba is a nice, old iron tsuba.

The tsuka is wrapped in black silk.

The saya has an ishime texture with a black and deep brick red coloration. For some reason the person who mounted the sword did not install a koiguchi. I have put a high quality higo-style doeskin sageo I got from Ted Tenold which I think really adds. I also cleaned and replated the habaki and seppa to match better. I also spend some time checking the edge of the blade, neutralizing some of the oxidation, and I even rubbed in some nugui to darken the ji a bit and bring up the hada more for photographs. This is a well made blade. There is even what appears to be a kirikomi (sword cut) on the mune of this sword from long ago.

This is the real deal. Commissioning a new sword fully mounted from any quality smith will cost you more than this sword. And this one is at least 350 years old. It is real. It has been used. And it very well might be much more valuable if the blade were repolished and submitted for shinsa in Japan. Maguroku Kanemoto blades are highly prized. This is unsigned but is clearly Kanemoto school work. And the care and treatment of this blade evident in its shape and condition indicate that this blade was highly thought of its entire life. I can't guarantee anything other than to say it is a very good sword. And it feels alive in the hands.

AVAILABLE: ~~$4,295.00~~

CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR A LIMITED TIME AT $3795.00 ON HOLD

As an aside on Kanemoto swords, in 1970 the influential playright Yukio Mishima took over the Japanese Defense Forces building and committed seppuku in protest. Mishima was a skilled martial artist and he sought out a Maguroku Kanemoto blade to be used by his "Kaishakunin" during his seppuku. For those who don't practice swordsmanship, the Kaishakunin is the person who is designated to cut off the person's head performing seppuku if they are earnest and properly push their tanto into their abdomen during their suicide. The idea is that the person has acted "honorably" and the second cuts off their head to relieve their suffering. Mishima actively searched out and by all accounts found a long katana by Maguroku Kanemoto as he was fully expecting to have to commit seppuku. Unfortunately his Kaishakunin was inexperienced and extremely nervous. Accounts are that he cut Mishima 3 or 4 times missing each time, one time hitting Mishima directly on the shoulder blade slightly damaging the edge of the sword. Another follower took the sword at that time and cut off Mishima's head in one swift cut.

The sword used disappeared after the event and has never been found.

Is this the sword? Nah, odds are way against it. But it is a cool story. And we really have no idea where the sword came from. So... At least it makes for an interesting story to go with the sword...

Contact me if you have any additional questions or need additional information.

HOLD

Kanemoto Sue-Koto Katana Fully Mounted