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Not that it means much, however I agree in principle with Calabrese - that if NMB is going to allow sellers to use the site as a business platform, they should be held to a higher standard than Ebay or some dodgy auction house. I've been burned by our "preferred" sellers as well. Before I purchased, I read so many posts about "buy from our sellers" when I, and other folks, had doubts on a purchase. Unfortunately, that trust was misplaced. Lesson learned. I think what gets to people the most is the feeling of betrayal. You expect to be ripped off on Ebay so you are somewhat mentally guarded, however this is different, this is community. Your guard is down when buying from the site. So I can see how tempers could be flared when a sale does not go as both parties felt if should go. Just my two cents on why this is more than just caveat emptor. John C.

應鈴木照雲師求源天秀鍛之 – Responding to the order from Rev. Suzuki Shoun, Minamoto Amahide forged this. I am unsure about 求.

I think Suzuki Shoun was a sword dealer of some sort, for there was a Gunto (Japanese military sword) store named Suzuki Shoun Dou opened in 1923, run by Suzuki Akio, so Shoun might be his art name (Shoun/"shining on clouds" is pretty artty). Also explains why there are multiple Gunto with signatures like "made to Suzuki Shoun's demand". 師 (literally "teacher") could just be used as an honorific way of addressing someone, close to Master or Sensei, but often associated with religious (like Buddhists) or instructive (say, martial instructors) occupations.

I agree: Masauji Saku. Grey

@Bruce Pennington This is the Hon'ami OG - Hon’ami Kōtoku (光徳). Sesko has him active from 1553-1619

Regarding the Mon, I had a katana with this mon on it, and the late Vic Harris at the British Museum ID'd it as the mon of the Sakai family, though this may well have been used by other families as well. As regards the armour, it is a great study piece, and while restoring it you will learn a tremendous amount for use in future. Years back I knew John Anderson and his fabulous collection, and as John said to me, 'Don't think that all these were in this condition when I got them, many certainly weren't ! He had a garage full of armour awaiting restoration. Enjoy your armour!

Lewis, no boshi? Shortened by entire kissaki? No yokote - 61 cm nagasa, doable.

I understand your position on comments and links in sale posts, it's perfectly reasonable. The NMB is just the platform and buyers are responsible for doing their own research before making a purchase. But, please dont be coy regarding this sale as if there is any question what happened here. It isnt about WHO is right or wrong, it's about someone using words to describe something, it is not. No forging flaws....No kite-ware and No kizu are absolute statements, PERIOD. The structure of that statement says very clearly that the blade has been inspected and those attributes are absent. The damage to the kissaki and the rust can both be explained beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why I can ignore them. However, 10cm and 25cm obvious flaws in the mune are impossible to miss and everyone who has ever oiled or maintained a blade knows it. NMB may not be able to sanction or step in on private sales, nor should it, but it CAN decide not turn a blind eye to obvious misrepresentation and dismiss it as something lesser. That is precisely the type of oxygen shady sellers rely on to continue selling irresponsibly unencumbered. Remember, all this seller had to do was NOT make an absolute statement. All he had to say was, "minor forging flaws" or "no flaws visible, but IM BLIND and cant see anything under 2.5cm in length". He chose NOT to do this which clearly shows either extreme carelessness or an intent to deceive. Either one, IMO, is contemptible.

Very interesting to see a Type 95 sword without sarute. I see them this way in the market very often, but kind of assumed that they had been removed relatively recently. Looks like a Tokyo example. Thanks for sharing, Best, -Sam

Sword is on hold pending purchase

Hon’ami Kōon (光温)

I was also concerned that the kanji looked freshly cut compared to the rest of the nakago. I found our original discussion of this blade here: While there are reasons to suspect this as gimei, one of the compelling arguements for it being legit is the rounded nakago mune. In 1944, SMR was making flat mune, but of the 4 Koa Isshin '44s, and it's hard to see in most photos, but one of them - Spring '44 SE 2409 - has a rounded mune. So, tough call, but I don't see someone finding a mumei WWII blade with rounded mune, then cutting a gimei Mantetsu signature. Even the lining of Gerry's shirasaya is curved to fit the rounded mune.

This is absolutely correct, I have punished myself accordingly (no sushi today and it’s uni day, so a real dick punch) and edited the post to be more appropriate.

It is vital to ensure that all information in a dispute is correct, regardless of which party it comes from. There is a big difference between a 25mm flaw and a 25cm one, and allowing the dispute to continue with at least some of the participants working on that assumption will distort the course of the argument.

I could see why you thought it might be a stamp, John. Guess Josh settled that one, though, with it in hand. Josh, If you haven't seen Ohmura's site, it's worth going through. Full of fabulous photos of all the WWII versions of swords. After reading his pages, you'll have a better idea of how legit gunto look and can avoid the fakes. Military Swords of Japan - Ohmura

A Meiji era tassel for both Field and Company grade officers. I had read about them, but never seen one. All black, round cord, leather tassel either painted or rubberized.\ Found on this Auction.

Wow, I really did write cm instead of mm, that’s embarrassing. Rohan, thank you for your post, I didn’t even recognize the error when Brian quoted it. Apologies Brian, my eye completely glanced over that error. All that said, 25mm or 25cm makes no difference if the description is No Flaws.

10mm and 25mm

I think that is a Juyo Bunkazai sword and not the Heshigiri. The Heshigiri Hasebe with the koshirae as described looks like this: The blade you showed is a JuBun Kunishige owned by the Kurokawa institute with ties back to Tokugawa Yorinobu. Both are relatively "straight" but one retains 0.9cm of sori and the other 1.0cm. Not a lot but again both are greatly shortened with mekugi ana present near the nakago-jiri on both examples. Adding a good 15-20cm to the nagasa of each of these would no doubt bring out a bit more sori. I think you'd find quite a few shinshinto smiths who tried to emulate these blades but only the famous 2 or 3 most likely who could approach them in quality. I'm not a big shinshinto guy so I don't know if any of them tried to emulate hitatsura utsushi mono of Hasebe school Kokuho and JuBun blades. A place for more study for me as I need to spend more time in shinshinto.

Looks like a Chinese knock-off to me.

1 WWII Japanese Army Sword available. This Army Officer shin gunto sword is mounted with an old Samurai family blade. This sword would make an important addition to any collection. An IJA Officer either brought his family’s blade to an armorer to be mounted in WWII shin gunto mounts for the war, or chose and purchased an old Samurai blade from the armorer for his sword. The blade is from the Shinto period, and is handsomely signed ‘Yoshikuni’. The blade nagasa is 21 13/16″ (55.4 cm). The saya is wood with a leather combat cover. The armorer added a throat fitting to the wood saya that allows the tsuka’s locking mechanism to catch and function. The armorer also added the usual Army hanger fitting, and fixed it in place with banded wire and simple sheet metal surround around the saya and fitting to hold it firmly. The sarute is made of silk. CONDITION: The WWII Japanese Army Sword is in a beautiful state of polish. There are absolutely no weld openings of any kind on the blade. This is a beautiful blade! The tsuka is in perfect condition–and still with its original silk sarute. The leather combat cover has surface crazing, but is in solid condition. A fine sword for any collector. $1750 obo --Matthew Brice https://stcroixblades.com/home/

I would prefer a video file to see the condition of the blade and confirm owner has possession.

Helo Zhangshilong: I'm no expert. But since the answers to the questions are both objective and subjective, I'll offer my opinion. What is a true netsuke? Objectively, a netsuke is an ornamental device that attaches to a cord for the purpose of holding another object to an obi or belt. With that definition, it can be literally anything. Subjectively, netsuke represent an art form. And like all art, it's beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When I think of netsuke as a collector, I picture an historical object. I also tend to confine my collection to those objects made in Japan, since I collect Japanese items. This isn't to say that those items made elsewhere are not artistic, or not valuable, or not of high quality. I just prefer to collect those made in Japan and are at least 100 years old (how we define an antique). I think the reason for my collecting preferences are because of established provenance. Modern art, in any form, doesn't usually carry the value or prestige of older art because the artists are not yet established as "masters" of their craft. Some probaby are - and will be designated as such in the future. But for me, modern pieces do not have the same attraction as those that are antiques. I'm sure others will disagree, however I wanted to give just one collector's perspective. John C. 约翰 C.

長船 Osafuné 郷 normally read as Gō Heavy? One kilogram or more? Be careful though as there are many Sukenaga fakes, making for a wide disparity in values. The real Sukenaga worked around 1830-1850 ish

1 Japanese Nagamitsu WWII Sword available. This Army gendai sword would make an important addition to any collection. This traditionally-made gendaito katana has an expertly water-tempered wavy hamon. This Japanese WW II Army Officer’s katana is in 1944 shin-gunto mounts (aka Type 3 mounts). This sword was brought back by Lt. Robert L. Sayre of the 27th Infantry Division. A copy of the original bringback/souvenir paper accompanies this sword. The nakago is signed ‘Nagamitsu’. The blade measures 24 3/16″ (61.4 cm) (measured properly from the blade tip to the notch in the blade spine). This sword has two latch releases. The saya is a textured lacquer over wood. A handsome braided sarute is attached to the handle/tsuka. CONDITION: This sword is in excellent condition with wonderful mounts. What a fine example! The handle wrap and saya are quite nearly perfect. The sword locks in the saya, and the lock release buttons function perfectly. There are no nicks in the blade edge. The blade has the occasional staining that is expected in a sword that was brought back from Japan 80 years ago. The kissaki was sharpened. The temper line and boshi are perfectly healthy. This sword is guaranteed against fatal flaws. $2600 obo --Matthew Brice https://stcroixblades.com/home/

Here's a Sgt Major. Posted by @Krzysio

Nothing wrong with my eye. I still cannot see a boshi. What I can see is marked with a red line in this image.

It's rarely an easy choice - aside from the costs, there's also the risks of a restoration going bad, getting stuck in an expanding queue, going lost in transition, major or even fatal flaws being uncovered in the process etc. In the end all we can do is use our best judgement in deciding the best way to curate and preserve these items so that future generations may enjoy them as well.

I don’t understand an attribution based on WHO OWNS a blade? Doesn’t make any sense to me. You evaluate the blade, not the person. And there is a huge difference in attribution between Koto and Gunto. Not sure how that happened. Gunto is not a “worse attribution” if that is what it honestly is… unless of course you wanted him to say Masamune. An attribution is what it is. Our expectation is what makes it ‘good or bad’ in our minds. And there is always the possibility that in some cases a really good Gunto is better than a really poor Koto depending on who is collecting what.

Thank you Joe! So very informative. I appreciate your time and efforts! --Matt

1 water-tempered Special Order Japanese WWII Army Sword by Amahide. This fine antique Japanese sword would make an important acquisition for any collection. There are 11 kanji on the nakago. This sword was made by Amahide. Rather poor handwriting--the top portion of the nakago appears to bear a name of the person this sword was made for. This sword was special Silvered fittings. A green or green-blue silk wrap is almost always combined with Silver-gilt fittings–as is the case here. A Samurai family mon is on the kabutogane. The original Company Grade (Lieutenant) blue/brown tassel is still present. The blade measures 24 3/4″ (62.8 cm) from blade tip to notch in the blade spine. As mentioned, this is a traditional gendai sword–there are no arsenal or Showa stamps on the nakago. The hamon is complex–often splitting into two parallel lines. This is a exceptional sword. CONDITION: This sword is in excellent condition. The blade has only a few occasional flea bite size nicks and an occasional spot of mild staining. The hamon and boshi are perfectly healthy. $2875 obo --Matthew Brice https://stcroixblades.com/home/

Moriyama-san was very kind to translate the inscription. Here it is: 'Responding to the order from Rev. Suzuki Shoun, Minamoto Amahide forged this'. --Matthew Brice https://stcroixblades.com/product-category/Japanese-swords/

Ah, I see - if it were combined with a hypothetical koshirae. I understand now.

Are you still talking about the Hizen Tadahiro blade? Because that one doesn't seem to include a koshirae.

This looks like a very nice blade but it would be nice to have some actual measurements. to add to the information. Wonder why the entire signature is filled gold and not even an award or a cutting test?

The Hasebe Heshigiri has been o-suriage and still maintains ~1cm of sori. Shallow yes, but I wouldn't call that "almost completely straight". Apples to orange comparison. There are a myriad of nanbokucho o-suriage katana out there with around 1cm sori. One other important point of the Heshigiri is you'll see the hi falls off of the nakago mune showing that sori has been deliberately removed in the o-suriage process. Looking at more ubu examples of nanbokucho blades and we start to see a different shape emerge. Here is the Karakashiwa. Made by Hasebe Kuninobu. If you cut off the bottom 16cm of this sword (essentially the entire nakago) and moved it up, you now have another quite shallow blade.

I’m certainly learning from all the thoughtful responses by our generous members. That said, I do have some concern that many of these detailed replies appear to be directed toward content from the OP that seems heavily AI generated. Using AI as a translation tool is one thing, but in this case the posts across a couple threads now read more like fully generated responses rather than translated personal communication. I do appreciate the expertise people are contributing, and I only mention this because every “thank you” reply so far appears largely copy-pasted from an AI prompt... For a purchase of this caliber; I would personally feel a more sincere form of engagement would go a long way. Sorry if my views toward AI are a bit strict; but all this just gives me cause for concern... When this happens; it can be really hard to distinguish between what could be a bot, versus what could be a sincere inquiry. -Sam

Just been reading this thread today, late to the party. There is plenty to learn and enjoy in this set, as Malcolm says, and you could even do some gentle cleaning yourself to make it more presentable. Ask for cleaning tips first! Stabilizing the cracking and huge lacquer flakes will take some thought. So much is lost on the kote that reducing them to bare iron could be a consideration. The kabuto looks nice underneath, and the overall shapes of the bowl and the shikoro look fine. The dealer probably knew little about it, as the sune-ate were upside-down. I'd look closely at the ho-ate though, as that could be (painted) fibreglass showing under the chin(?). I would mend or even change the maedate too as the destruction of the horn tips draws the eye and is ugly to look at. I feel that this armour will be happy that someone is giving it a home, and in return it should give you the new owner hours of pleasure. No need to listen to any negativity. Just save what you can of history, and eventually pass it on, hopefully in slightly better condition.

All Variation#1 Type 95 swords have a brass plug instead of the flared drag. On the earliest examples of Variation#1 swords the brsss plug is horseshoe shaped, and later examples it’s squared off. I’m not aware of, and do not believe there are any exceptions. Congrats on the sale Dan, All the best, -Sam

Good afternoon Raouf, What you have is a perfect study piece for you at your stage in the great game. What you have paid is what is often referred to as "School Fees" in the Antiques Trade. Now you need to get to see as much of the best quality as you can, either physically at museums or using Google Museum search etc, and compare it to what you have, in a positive, take it on the chin and move on manner. I can remember my first purchase of an armour, way back, it cost me £20, an absolute fortune in those days, when woke meant something to do with the interim betwixt sleep and awake and Nihonto were dumped into old Tea Chests at the back of the Antiques shop with a standard price of £4 Ten shillings for a Wakizashi and £ 5 Ten shillings for a Katana. (As you are in the Americas, I think that would probably equate with a Burger and Fries for the wakizashi and a Burger and Fries and a Milk shake for the Katana....... and a slap up table for two at Dennys for the armour. But to a 12 year old, Fledgling Katchubunny, I thought it was amazing, and I was absolutely sure that Toshiro Mifune had worn it at the Battle of Sekigahara......... I looked at it so closely, every rivet, every delamination of the Urushi, every rust hole and fraying of the Blue odoshi, that it became like a road map. So, have the courage to fail old chum.

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/32178/lot/76/soshu-tsunahiro-xiii-yamamura-sozaburo-died-1886-a-massive-hocho-style-wakizashi-edo-period-1615-1868-dated-1855/ Motohaba is a quarter of the nagasa...

Agreed; this is a spectacular, extremely tight and bright nioiguchi that demands to be front and center, not obscured behind a gunome or suguha interpretation.

Matt: What I really like about your pics is that several show ordinary soldiers with wakizashi sized swords as well as a pilot with a regular sized sword. Helps to dispell the myth that a shorter sword is necessarily a "tanker or pilot" sword, as proffered by so many sellers. John C.

Some I found

Original photo of Lt General Homma:

.......Dated 1865 and signed Yoshiteru, .5 in thick at the motogasane. I would like to see pictures of other ones that anyone might have. http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz238/estcrh/Antique%20samurai%20yoroi-doshi%20tanto/