Courtesy of Seskos, Swordsmiths A-Z:

KANEMOTO (兼元), 1st gen., Meiō (明応, 1492-1501), Mino – “Kanemoto” (兼元), “Nōshū Akasaka-jū Kanemoto” (濃州赤坂住兼元), “Nōshū Akasaka-jū Kanemoto saku” (濃州赤坂住兼元作), first name Tarōzaemon (太郎左衛門), priest name Seikan (清関), it is said that he was a later descendant of the Akasaka-Senju ́in smith Kuninaga (国長), other sources see him as son of Yukimitsu (行満), of Kanemune (兼宗), of Kanekuni (兼国) or of Kaneyuki (兼幸), he was active around Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487) and Eishō (永正, 1504-1521), during his early years he made some joint works with Kaneoto (兼音), elegant sugata, dense, somewhat blackish itame mixed with masame, irregular ko-gunome-midare mixed with ko-chōji, in addition sunagashi, mura-nie, uchinoke and nie-kuzure, he signed with small characters on the shinogi-ji of the tang, in later years his signature becomes larger and is not necessarily positioned on the shinogi-ji, it seems that he signed in earlier years just with Kanemoto, later also with “Nōshū Akasaka-jū Kanemoto saku,” and towards the end of his career with “Nōshū Akasaka-jū Kanemoto,” jō-saku

KANEMOTO (兼元), 2nd gen. Kanemoto, 1st gen. Magoroku, Daiei (大永, 1521-1528), Mino – “Kanemoto” (兼元), “Magoroku Kanemoto” (まこ六兼元) “Kanemoto saku” (兼元作), “Nōshū Akasaka-jū Kanemoto saku” (濃州赤坂住 兼元作), first name Magoroku (孫六), together with No-Sada, he is regarded as the most outstanding of all Sue-Seki smiths, he worked from the end of the Eishō (永正, 1504-1521) to the eraly Tenbun era (天文, 1532-1555) in Akasaka in Mino province, somewhat wide mihaba, rather thin kasane, scarce hira-niku, bright and clear jigane, itame mixed with masame, gunome mixed with irregular togari-gunome which can be considered as precursor of the later sanbonsugi, he signed powerfully and in large characters whereas the mei is executed rather angular and with straight strokes, his blades were famous for their supreme sharpness, saijō-ō-wazamono, saijō-saku

If you have studied or collected swords for any time, then you know who Kanemoto is. A very, very famous and important school of smiths. Above is some basic info on the first two generation of mainline Kanemoto.

I have absolutely no doubt that this is a legitimate Kanemoto mei. Pinpointing which one is where it gets tricky as there were many Kanemoto smiths, approximately 25 smiths which used these same characters for their mei.

Is the tanto listed one of the three generations of main Kanemoto smiths? Without sending it to shinsa, I simply cannot say with any certainty. I do not often offer guarantees as papers are not a guarantee, but only an opinion. However, with this tanto I am certain enough to guarantee it will pass shinsa if submitted through myself within one (1) year after purchase.

The Tanto also comes with a very nice Koshirea (see photos).

This tanto once belonged to Dean Hartley. If you are unfamiliar with Dean, look him up. Dean received this Kanemoto Tanto as a gift from Dr. Honma in Japan. He never submitted it to shinsa and I once asked why? He said to me, “if it was good enough as is for Honma to gift it to me, it is good enough as is for me.”  It was one of very few that Dean treasured and would have never sold. I was only able to acquire it after his passing.

I felt the same way about it until now. Never bothered with shinsa as I never thought I would sell it. Unfortunately, as we age and begin to look upon our own mortality, we see things differently. I am scaling down my own collection over time so as not to burden my family in the future.

$5000 plus S/H

For purchase or questions contact me at either:

Yakiba.com@gmail.com

Yakiba1@yahoo.com