This type of flat blade Yanagi-ba yanone (willow leaf shape) is a difficult to find. What makes this rare is that instead of the typical cherry blossom open work, this one has a sukashi kanji character created when all of the metal but the kanji has been removed. This type of work is meant to be viewed with the tip down .
If you look carefully you will see one support piece on the kanji. Look at the 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions on the close-ups of the point and you will see it. It was not meant to be polished but intentionally left dark sothat it will be less visible. It is very difficult to create this kanji in the blade of the yanone. This is a late Edo piece with no damage to the blade or the openwork.
To judge the quality of the open work on this type of yanone, spin the yanone on the tip and see if the open work jumps back and forth. If it jumps the shape is not symmetrical. This yanone does not have that problem, it is a good one.
The nakago is a typical 6-3/8 inches (16.2cm) long, the blade is 2-3/4 inches (7cm) long by1-1/4 inches (3.2cm) wide.
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