This is one of the more unusual swords I have handled. When I was shown this in my friend’s collection I suggested that it would paper to shinshinto. The sword was recently submitted to the NTHK, who gave it to the gendai smith Ogawa Kanekuni, something I would not have called. The work seems to have been made to emulate Yamato Hosho, with a sugata like you would see in mid-Nambokucho. The ji is quite flashy, with a strong banding of mixed steel meant to emulate chikei.
The sword is mumei with a gold-wash habaki and shirasaya.
There is a sayagaki by Dr. Homma Junji giving the sword an attribution to Hosho, and stating provenance to Mitsumasa Yonai. Yonai was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and later became the 26th Prime Minister of Japan.
https://en.wikipedia…Mitsumasa_Yonai
Sayagaki:
Hosho oosutiage yonai taisho ( General)
hachou 2syaku2sen 1bu
Shouwa 58nen (1983)
Kunzan shi
Dimensions:
Nagasa 67
Motohaba 31
Saki-haba 22
Kasane 7
Sori 12
$6,000 (plus shipping and PayPal)
