Shinkai is a legend.
He ist he second son of Izumi no Kami Kunisada, who was a student of Kunihiro and did grow a master. This shodai Kunisada is rated by Fujishiro as Jojo-saku ( very very good smith ), Hawley rate him with 70 points. He taught his son forging and he was growing to an extraordinary blacksmith.
At the end of the first generation Kunisada, he was already not in good health, Shinkai took over more and more works of his father and signed those baldes in the name of the father. But the works of the son has been rated higher than of the father and he changed the name after the death of the father to Inoue Shinkai. He earned a nichkname: Masamune of Osaka.
Shinkai died suddenly in November 1682.
In Fujishiro Shinkai was rated Seijo-saku ( the highest rank with Fujishiro ) and Hawley gives him 200 points.
This very good blade is from the “Daimei-time”, the time he made blades in the name of his father. It is ubu ( original ) and signed with Izumi no Kami Kunisada has is coming with a Tokubetsu Hozon of the NBTHK in Tokyo. A very good balde with a very nice Koshirae ( pics of the mounts will come a bit later ).
Signatur: Izumi no Kami Kunisada
Length/Nagasa: 2 shaku, 2 sun, 7 bu and a bit, that makes it around 69 cm