Brian

3 Dots....click share...copy link. Easy.

Or different prices for different groups of people No, not implying Westerners pay more, but maybe frequent customers get a break, or export has a premium for the hassle etc.

Grey is OG as far as the Nihonto world goes. You can take what he says as Gospel. Is the tsuka break clean? Do the edges go back together cleanly? If so, anyone with some time could glue very carefully, and press together in a padded vise, and it would likely never break again. Tap repeatedly on a plastic cutting board or something to see if you can dislodge what's in there. Or get someone at a local gunshop or doctors office to scope it with a bore scope. Or even X Ray it. Dentist's office?

I absolutely love my Norisada. Some excellent work, and I remember reading on a site somewhere how highly regarded he is. Definitely one of my keepers. Unfortunately my nakago took a lot of rust or wear at some point, as it almost looks Koto, but enough remains that it was readable.

Congrats Manuel! Being recognized even with Nyusen means your work is accepted as traditional and of a certain standard. We all wish you congratulations.

When I look at this, I get an immediate feel of wartime Showato, the nakago emphasizes that. It's not so much a "because of this and this and this..." but a general gut feel you get over time. I honestly think this is wartime and oil quenched, but could be wrong. The thing to look for is nie and activity. That said, oil quenched still comes in many forms, there are hybrid construction methods that are in between, forged and folded but from mill steel, or semi handmade or a bit of both etc etc. So it could easily be one of these, and lately it is not unusual to find them in Japan, with torokusho...sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing that is becoming more prevalent.

Deleting the pics renders this thread pretty useless. It would be nice if you would upload at least 1 or 2 pics of each here directly. Not because anyone thinks any less of someone with fakes, but because it may help someone down the line looking at something similar. We have a nice reference library growing here, and I am sure we have saved more than a handful of people from wrong purchases.

I think he lists on Facebook, low value quick movers at very good prices. They sell in minutes. Nothing fancy, but very good prices. The Japanese are masters at pushing common or average stuff out to the Western market. Stuff that battles to sell there, but we snap it up gleefully. Stuff like mumei wakizashi, gimei stuff and out of polish project blades.

The tsuka is the handle...don't see a break, where is it broken? The nakago is the tang....they has snapped and is now shorter. But it doesn't render the sword dead. It still displays fine. The chips are large, but if they don't go through the hamon, then it isn't fatally flawed, just ugly. You could easily put it together, follow Grey's advice, and have a nice and genuine display piece.

Average wakizashi, not a huge name, so honestly doesn't really matter if gimei or not, you're buying the sword here, not the name. Looks like a decent honest piece. I wouldn't worry too much about the name on it, it's not one that will likely be professionally polished and submitted for shinsa. So enjoy it for what it is, a genuine wakizashi with untested mei.

Think of it this way too....the more support we receive, and are able to pay for the upgrade and hosting, the less chance I'll have to look at horrible things like advertising or paid services here. So you guys are helping everyone at the same time :-)

I would say almost certainly coral. (The fruits, not the eyes)

I was thinking nagamaki, I wrote naginata. Oof. Losing my mind a bit lately, been burning out busy with too many things. I need sleeeeeeep.

I think if we can lure @k morita in here, we'll get our answer. Holding thumbs.

Some awesome stuff, and I bet prices are decent. Man, wish it were easier to buy from the UK Btw, does someone want to tell them it's a naginata, not a Nagasaki https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/tooveys/catalogue-id-srtoo10562/lot-1c8ac754-b1a3-4f3f-9b1e-b42000e12482

Yokoyama Sukesada?

Really appreciate your help on the forum Hiro. With help from guys like you, Moriyama san, Morita san, Steve M, Ray Singer, Trystan and others that are too many to remember right now, we really do have a very solid "team" that is able to assist where few other places are able. On behalf of all of us, thanks to you guys who take time out to help so freely.

Who's that Japanese dealer that specializes in these, that comes to the US shows? Wouldn't it be worth asking him for an opinion? Really lovely tsuba, I think we are all a bit jealous

Hell....you'll get a far better appraisal here for free :-) And trust me, if Ray says something, you can take that as fact 99% of the time

Thank you Marius! And you too Sam. This will be a big help. Haven't mentioned it yet, but we are saving up for the end of the year inevitable large software upgrade See the bottom of this section. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/clients/donations/ Really appreciate the support. Some great books there.

Very strange post.

Exactly. One of those items you search for your whole life, but are likely unable to ever own.

Man, I LOVE these. Pipe dream, but would love to own a genuine dragon or snake jizai okimono.

As other said, it's not so much looking at what fakes look like, it's more knowing what real ones look like, then when you see something like this...nothing looks like the real thing. Spend some time checking out pics of real sword and reading through the forum and you'll soon see the differences. You need to get some real ones in front of you too. Every country has somewhere you can see real ones.

One of the better dealers who deals specifically in high end stuff is in Canada. He's also a dealer member here on the forum: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/125-nihonto-art-inc/ Get hold of https://nihontoart.com/ @Nickupero Nick will be of assistance I am sure. @b.hennick Barry is also in Canada and is an advanced collector who I am sure can give advice.