September 10-12, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/10/2024
Yoshihara Kuniie was born in 1894, the son of a 7th generation toolmaker. He followed in his father's footsteps, becoming the eighth generation, but had interest in sword smithing, and in 1933 when Kurihara Hikosaburo began the program to train wordsmiths, Yoshihara was the first to sign up. Based on his previous experience as a toolmaker, he quickly gained skill and his work was highly regarded. He trained under Kurihara and Kiyoyuki, but his true mentor is considered Kasamaa Ikkansai Shigetsugu, who Kurihara brought in to be a formal teacher at the Nipponto Tanren Denshujo. By 1937, Kuniie was an auxiliary teacher at the Kingakubu Nihonto Kenkyujo at Kyushu University, and opened his own smithy in Tokyo in 1938. He was a part time teacher at multiple schools, and was a Rukugun Jumei Tosho during the war, which provided him with access to tamahagane. Swords with signatures like this one, which reads "Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun Zoheisho Yoshihara Nobutake", are the ones he made while he was training wordsmiths for the Imperial Army in Akabane, Tokyo; considering that he only started teaching there in 1943, swords with this signature are quite scarce. After the war, Kuniie went back to tool making, apparently running a successful crowbar manufacturing business with his son, but when the restriction on swordsmiting was lifted in 1953, he returned the craft, and focusing on it full time in 1964. He trained an apprentice, Shimizu Tadatsugu, and his two grandchildren, Yoshindo and Shoji, before passing in 1970. Today, four of his students are considered mukansa (lit. "without judgement"); his son Shoji is also designated an Important Living Cultural Property, and was in The Last Samurai as the wordsmith for a warlord in the film, and Yoshindo is a Tokyo Living National Asset. 67.2 cm nagasa (approximately 26 - 1/2") of classic shinogi zukuri form. Done in the Soden Bizen style that Kuniiye was most well known for, with choji temper line, a dense and well-grained itame with areas of tobiyaki and ji nie, saka ashi, with long strands of kinsuji. Some muneyaki towards boshi. Dated for an auspicious day in June of Showa 18 (1943). Solid silver habaki with hatch decoration. Housed in a honoki wood shirasaya which fits well. CONDITION: In good, recent polish that shows off features well throughout. There is some looseness just below the mono uchi that does not detract. Mei is clear and confidently cut. This is a fantastic sword from one of the most well respected smiths of the modern era, who had an indelible impact on the art form.
ADDENDUM: NTHK papers attesting to the authenticity of the signature have been provided and photos uploaded.