Article: 『CARVING CHISEL MARKS』
『CARVING CHISEL MARKS』
1: The mark of the second generation KONOBU. The blacksmith's name is TAKIGUCHI KIYO (滝口清). There is a flower-like mark at the top of the Chinese character mark. This flower-like mark is often used on his carving chisels.
2: The mark of the second generation KONOBU. Only two Chinese characters. Commonly seen in his carving knife.
3: The early mark of the second generation KONOBU. The blacksmith's name is TAKIGUCHI KIYO (滝口清).
4: The mark of the first generation KONOBU. The blacksmith's name is TAKIGUCHI Rokunosuke (滝口六之助).
5: The mark of the unknown generation KONOBU. The font of "小信" is different from pictures 7, 8, 9, 10. above. In addition, there is a mark under "小信" - "特撰" means specially selected items. This mark is rare in Konobu chisels. Unfortunately, the specific information about "特撰" mark is currently unclear.
6: The mark used by the third generation konobu, Mr. Saito Kazuyoshi(齊藤和芳)— “左小信・ Hidari - konobu ”. The Konobu Ⅲ followed the Konobu Ⅱ mark with a flower-like mark above the Chinese characters. But due to wear and tear caused by long-term use, the flower-like mark is no longer clear.
7: The mark used by the third generation konobu, Mr. Saito Kazuyoshi(齊藤和芳)— “左小信・ Hidari - konobu ”. This mark does not have a flower-like mark above the Chinese characters. This is common when the mark is hit on the neck of the chisel.
8: Togitsuna(研綱). This mark comes from the tool store Shimizu Hamono(清水刃物店) near Ueno, Tokyo. The store closed in June 2016. The business of selling Togitsuna mark carving chisels was transferred to Furukawa Shoten in Chiba Prefecture. According to information provided by the Furukawa store, the brand has been loved by professional woodcarvers since the Meiji era and has a history of about 150 years. In my experience, most professional woodcarvers in the Tokyo area and Kamakura woodcarvers in the Kamakura area prefer Konobu, followed by Togitsuna and other shop brands. According to the information provided in 「Interview with Kazuyoshi Saito - the third generation Konobu」, the blacksmith who made this brand was Oguna Blacksmith , an apprentice of the first Kiyotsuna(清綱). His own blacksmith shop was in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, and his brand name was Chotosei(彫刀晟).
9: Masakichi(政吉). This mark comes from the Kawamasa Hamono blacksmith shop（河政刃物) in Niigata Yoitamachi. The blacksmith's name is Kawano Minoru(河野稔, 1947~，Retired). There are two blacksmiths working in the Kawamasa Hamono blacksmith shop, Kawano Minoru and his younger brother. Their father and grandfather were also blacksmiths, but they made common carpentry tools. From Kawano Minoru's generation on, they began to specialize in making carving chisels and other unusual tools. A small tip: on the boxes of some Masakichi's kiridashi knives, it will be written "made by the first generation Masakichi". The first generation of masakichi blacksmiths is Kawano Minoru. Because the brand - Masakichi was founded by him.
10: Hiroshige(広重). It should be a mark from the store, but I don't have any more information about the store at the moment. I once received some carving chisels from a retired carving craftsman in Toyama Prefecture. They had Konobu and Hiroshige marks on them. Above the Hiroshige mark was the same "flower" mark as the Konobu chisels mark. In terms of manufacturing precision and shape, it also exhibits strong characteristics of Konobu chisels. The mark in the picture above is from a carving knife that is smaller than carving chisel. It only has the Hiroshige mark.
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