Q477. Wakizashi signed Kawachi no Kami Yasunaga.

Nagasa: 17 7/8″ 45.5 cm.

Sori: 1.3 cm.

Moto haba: 3 cm.

Moto kasane: .75 cm.

Saki haba: 2.3 cm.

Saki kasane: .5 cm.

Nakago nagasa: 5 5/16″ 13.5 cm.

Overall in shirasaya: 26 3/8″ 67 cm.

Shinogi zukuri, iore mune, koshi zori, chu kissaki, ubu one hole. The hada is ko itame, nashiji. The hamon begins as an angled yaki dashi and becomes toranba (big wave) in a bright and consistent nioi guchi covered in ko-nie. There is a bit of sunagash &i fraying of hataraki off the bottom (valleys between waves) of the hamon. The boshi is suguba ending in a swept ko-maru and a very long kaeri (more than one third of the way back towards the machi) and mune-yaki. There is one spot of coarse grain, a couple inches above the machi in the shinogi ji (see my last picture); otherwise the blade is flawless and, with the exception of a few small stains on the mune, it is in a well done sashiokomi polish. The sword is mounted in good quality shirasaya and with a silver foil habaki, both in excellent condition. There is a Tokubetsu Kicho paper from the NBTHK, dated 1977 and attesting to the signature and quality of the work.

Yasunaga worked in the latter half of the 17th century and came out of the Kii Ishido School. Fujishiro lists him as Chu Jo Saku. Looking for a pleasant sword that doesn’t break the bank? You could do a lot worse than this one. 1 pound, 11 ounces. $1,750.