Asagiri (朝霧, pronounced “ah-sah-gi-ri”, gi and ri rhyme with key) translates literally as “morning mist”. Spoken it could also be a word play on “morning cut”, slicing the dawn, or perhaps “shallow morning”. The idea is related to the interesting “rolling mist” artifact resulting from interaction between the hamon and the hada on the blade during the hardening process.
This tanto was forged from a reclaimed mining-car rail found locally, is mounted in a tasteful old style koshirae, and incorporates an antique sword tsuba, samegawa, silk, and fuchigashira fittings.
Sunnobi tanto (寸延び短刀) are larger than ordinary tanto, with nagasa (blade length) a sun or two above 1 shaku (sun nobi, “a sun longer”, from nobiru, to stretch or lengthen). Though there is some area of crossover with hira-zukuri ko-wakizashi and they may have sori similar to ko-wakizashi, the simplified difference would be that they are still designed with tanto geometry rather than wakizashi proportions and form.
The blade began as a reclaimed mining-car rail and was hand forged in a charcoal fire, smoothed with files, differentially hardened using traditional water quench yaki-ire, and polished by hand with natural Japanese water stones.
This project is an utsushi-type study of one of the kata (forms) made several years ago from the tracings of famous historical swords. The profile is closely based on the lovely form of an original named Shuhan, forged by Sadamune (相州貞宗), a Kamakura-era (~13th century) master swordsmith.
An utsushi (写) is a careful and exacting replication of an existing work, undertaken for the purpose of study and further understanding of the process, techniques, and historical mindset of the original craftsman.
Originally this was planned to be a rustic satoyama style blade but during the process some interesting details of the layered mining-car rail steel appeared and the decision was made to polish the blade more clearly to see the hada (grain) better. This century-old steel hides a treasure, it is so old it could be classified as pre-industrial and has a layered hada that shows subtly in the polished surface of the blade just as a historical classical tanto would.
This tanto consists of ten separate components that began as more than twenty individual pieces, crafted and finished with hand tools and traditional techniques. Materials for the chisagatana style koshirae mounting include Magnolia wood for the handle and scabbard, copper bus bar for the habaki (blade collar), water buffalo horn for the kurikata (cord loop), and smoked susudake bamboo from the ceiling of a centuries-old kominka farm house for the mekugi (retaining peg), and several antique sword parts and components.
The centerpiece of the mounting is a piercework antique tsuba (guard) dating to the Edo period or ealier, paired with antique higo style fuchi (ferrule) overlaid in gold, and a carved iron kashira (pommel) inlaid with silver and accented by copper and gold shitodome (eyelets). The tsuka (handle) is reinforced with Edo period samegawa (rayskin) carefully repurposed from an antique katana and wrapped with reclaimed antique sword silk. The saya (scabbard) is finished in rustic red and black negoro (worn-style) crafted from natural source urushi (tree lacquer) and crimson lake stone powder.
Blade has a hira-zukuri profile, two-stage suguha hamon with “rolling mist” hada interaction, an iori mune, and an ubuha (unsharpened portion near the hamachi). The blade is about 13.25″ long, overall length is just under 19.5″, and the overall length of the koshirae is just under 21″. Accompanied by a silk storage bag made from a vintage Japanese kimono belt.
Specifications
長さ/刃長 Nagasa: 11 sun 1 bu 5 rin (338mm)
元幅 Motohaba: 1 sun 1 bu (34mm)
重ね/元重 Motokasane: 2 bu 5 rin (7.5mm)
反り Sori: 1 bu 2 rin (3.5mm)
中心/茎 Nakago: 3 sun 2 bu 4 rin (98mm)
柄長 Tsuka: 4 sun 8 bu 5 rin (125mm)
拵全長 Koshirae: 20 sun 6 bu (525mm)
形 Katachi: hira-zukuri, iori-mune
刃文 Hamon: suguha, with ubuha
帽子/鋩子 Boshi: ko-maru
中心/茎 Nakago: futsu, kuri-jiri, as-forged, one mekugi-ana
銘 Mei: mumei (unsigned)
拵 Koshirae: chisagatana, issaku (with the addition of nine antique components)
Material: Reclaimed mining-car rail steel, Edo-period copper fuchi and iron kashira with silver inlay and gold accents, Edo (or earlier) iron tsuba, antique gold-plated seppa and shitodome, copper bus bar, copper pipe, buffalo horn, antique susudake bamboo, Magnolia, reclaimed Edo-period samegawa, antique sword silk ito, natural urushi