N131. Wakizashi in shirasaya signed Tamba no Kami Yoshimichi.

Nagasa: 17 7/8″ 45.3 cm.

Sori: 1.3 cm.

Moto haba: 3 cm.

Moto kasane: .8 cm.

Saki haba: 2.1 cm.

Saki kasane: .6 cm.

Nakago nagasa: 5 3/4″ 14.5 cm.

Overall length in mounts: 26 3/8″ 67 cm.

The hamon starts out with a yakidashi and quickly devolves into a complex sudareba, with 2, 3 and at times 4 layers of temper reaching up to and crossing the shinogi, this in bright nioi-guchi covered in fine ko-nie. The boshi is shallow notare, slightly swept ko-maru, and with a medium long kaeri and small spots of mune-yaki part way down the back. The hada is ko-itame with masame in the shinogi-ji. There is a less than 2 cm tate ware’ in the shinogi-ji just above the habaki on the omote and a similar sized ware’ with the tiniest of fukure (not broken through and nearly invisible) 8 to 10 cm. above the habaki on the ura (my last picture shows the fukure next to the red dash). Otherwise the blade is perfectly flawless and in a very properly done polish without blemish. The habaki is a well made, gold foiled double and the shirasaya, other than for a few shallow bumps, is in excellent condition.

This blade comes with a Koshu Tokubetsu Kicho paper from the NBTHK dated 1979. The paper doesn’t specify if this is Kyo or Osaka Tamba Kami Yoshimichi, but the absense of a kiku-mon tells us it is either 1st or early 2nd generation Kyo (after which all generations of Kyo used the kiku-mon) or one of the Osaka generations.

All in all a very nice blade with lots to appreciate. If not for the kizu I would ask another thousand. 1 pound, 7 ounces. 2,475.