Whilst scanning some things, I found this interesting PSA in No. 42 of the NBTHK Tōken Bijutsu magazine (November, 1956). Therein, then 49-years-old Satō Kanzan (佐藤寒山, 1907–1987) is warning readers about fake sayagaki of his making the rounds. I thought it might be of interest, so I translated that announcement:

“It seems that I have a bit of a tendency of writing too many sayagaki. I have a bad habit of doing them whenever someone asks, and since my handwriting is easy for others to imitate, I have been seeing a lot of fake sayagaki of mine in various places recently. People have long warned me that there are false sayagaki out there, and to be cautious, but no matter how careful I am, there is no way for me to stop those who forge sayagaki in my name.

This is not about me per se, but it causes great trouble for those who trust me, people who end up buying something without realizing it’s a forgery. For example, I have been told that a certain Mr. Itsutsuji (五辻) boldly wrote a sayagaki in front of a crowd and signed it with “Kanzan.” Apparently, some people who didn’t know better even thought that this Mr. Itsutsuji was actually “me.” While my gō (art name) is registered in the field of art history, unlike a trademark, a gō isn’t something that legally prevents others from using it if they so choose.

In any case, writing big name sayagaki on inferior items is a malicious tactic. I ask that you please not rely solely on sayagaki, but instead carefully examine the blade itself and the signature (mei) before making a purchase. As for me, I will do my best to refrain from writing sayagaki for the time being. Please join me in trying to eliminate these unscrupulous individuals.”