Brian

Yes, we have to get used to the fact that when we say "arsenal" or "machine made" or Showato etc etc, we mean not 100% traditionally made, and likely oil quenched. They were still made by a smith, could be forged and hammered (power or otherwise) but not considered Gendaito. Handmade? You could say that. But on a mass production and fast basis, and oil quenched. When we say Gendaito, it used tamahagane, and was water quenched. Excluding those odd swords that fall somewhere in the middle. But this one is oil quenched, and the stamp is a clear indicator that it is not a Gendaito, whether it would paper or not.

Your problem with the above is that it takes an incredible amount of knowledge and research before you can even describe the details in a sword, so how do you look up those features in a table and find the smith? Even advanced collectors can't agree on hada...whether something is konuka or nashiji or muji or whatever....even lots of debate deciding if hada is ko-mokume or itame or how much itame is considered a kantei point. Then you need to know exactly what hataraki you are looking at. Can you identify inazuma, chikei, sunagashi, kinsuji, uchinoke etc? Are you able to identify a complex hamon pattern? Do you know your toran from your togari from your choji or hakko or midare or....? Are you able to kantei an era based on shape of the sword? You can't get very far until you can do that, in conjunction with nakago patina and shape. You can't look up a smith until you have become some what of an expert in identifying all of these features, otherwise how do you look them up? And if you know all of those, then you are likely halfway towards being able to kantei a blade anyways. See the problem? You can't use an app unless you already know enough that you probably don't need an app. And then you'll find that general kantei points vary wildly with the same smith anyways. They didn't follow rules every time. And are you prepared to capture the kantei points of tens of thousands of smiths? Because there are more than that. Hate to say it, but most of us (myself included) aren't even capable of properly 'reading' a sword's features accurately, so looking it up is a wild shot in the dark at best. If it was simple, the "app" would exist already and shinsa panels would be working off a spreadsheet themselves, instead of sitting with dozens of old books and pictures comparing mei and features and eras.

Modern junk imho

Showing even more reason why I don't collect these. Would have fooled me every time

Awesome pics, well done.

Wow..what a steal.

For the nakago, IF you must prevent red rust, put a drop or 2 on your fingertips, and lightly massage it onto the nakago. One or 2 drops is more than enough. Some say do nothing, but sometimes I feel the nakago can use just a little oil.

Look in the downloads section. Darcy's excellent artice on photographing Nihonto is there. Best article on the subject anywhere.

That was my thought as well.

I think whatever he has on his back...he's hiding under it and popping up out of it to catch whatever he's hunting.

You need to understand that false signatures of famous makers was EXTREMELY common throughout the history of Japanese swords. Some say there are more false signatures than real ones. It was common to sign a sword with a different maker's signature to elevate the status of it. Doesn't mean the sword is fake or is bad quality. But due to this, any sword with a big name needs to be inspected carefully and sometimes put through a Japan shinsa process to see if the signature passes. If not, it's called 'gimei' and that means you have a sword by an unknown smith. No-one can say for sure if your tanto is by the smith on the tang. That is up to professionals to analyze. But because he's a big name, it's worth showing it to a few experts, and maybe considering a restoration. Without knowing for sure if the signature is genuine or not, it's hard to date it. But likely anywhere from 125-300 years old.

Couldn't agree more. As one of the primary countries where illegal ivory is sourced, the bans have created MORE demand, not less. And aside from rhino horn poaching which has vastly overtaken ivory poaching, it is happening on a daily basis, in spite of millions of $'s being spent on security. Govt, police and high level syndicates are involved, and the ban has done ZERO to prevent the poaching and trade. My personal (controversial) opinion is that govts sitting with thousands of tons of stockpiled ivory should FLOOD the market with ivory that is already in stockpiles, and drive the prices down so much, that there is no incentive for poaching. No-one will poach elephants if the prices are cheap. The supply in Africa of already poached ivory is vast, and could kill the trade in illegal ivory. Nothing else has worked.

Often see this with older swords that were remounted for the war. Quality can vary significantly and often it goes unnoticed for years. Genuine old fuchi, nothing too special, but a real and old one.

Not sure how many members we have here who actively collect netsuke, and if there are, aside from 1 or 2 people, how many are expert enough to give info? You guys seem to do a decent job, but remember that those who do know about them...the onus is going to be on you guys to answer the questions, since the rest of us know nothing. I think let's leave it in one thread for now, in the Other Arts section, and if we find there is enough activity in that section, I can create a sub-section for it. All going to depend on how much activity we have.

It's unlikely your gun was made to use any additional sight pieces. As Piers explained, although they look like they had additional pieces used to adjust elevation, the fact is the shape was just traditional, and they really didn't have extra pieces. Only very few schools of gunmaking used the pieces you are referring to, but those are by far in the minority.

There are plenty of $500 swords out there. Won't be great ones, or in polish. But we see them here occasionally. Honestly, not recommended to buy project blades that will never do much for the eyes. But not impossible if you want one. @Mark anything your side?

Think you're going to have to post a pic of the tsuba/sword to get an idea of what you need. Shitogi tsuba are ancient or ceremonial and I don't think there is one seppa shape that will fit for all, it would be an individual fit sort of thing, and likely need to be manufactured.

BIG name, and on the off chance that this is a legit signature, this one needs to be treated very carefully...oiled and looked at by someone in hand. If a genuine mei, it would be worthy of a proper and expensive restoration.

Sukesada, not Sukehada. There were a prolific number of smiths with that name, and tbh, the average ones aren't highly regarded. They made practical swords, more function than art.

Fix the gun up to working. You'll never be happy until it's complete.

Genuine tachi, but late made, maybe for the export market. Blade is most likely a genuine but average quality piece, put into mounts to appeal to foreigners. But it's not a fake.

You're not going to find "tanto" made in any way that isn't subject to export laws, unless maybe the blade is less than 15cm. You may find short yari that aren't subject to export process, if the blade is shorter than 15cm. If you find a flea market sword that isn't registered or is just handed over, trying to take it out the country without paperwork is a serious risk, and subject to legal action. Honestly, you're going to struggle to find a sword under $1000 from a dealer there, since most of them dump them on eBay and to the West. And those are all going to need the export process. Best bet is look for a nice kozuka, or a yari in shirasaya. Yes, you'll see many fittings in second hand shops, and some blades. And shockingly, they seem to ask double to triple the market values. Every antique dealer there seems to think that sword-related antiques are treasures. Even tsuba in flea markets are a mix of copies, and overpriced average stuff. Best bet is contact a bunch of dealers beforehand, and see if they can source something before you go.

Swords were remounted in different fittings many times in their lives, as well as being shortened according to needs or fashions of the time. New handle mekugi ana/hole seldom lines up with the original hole in the tang, so a new one was drilled. Very very common. Although this one isn't antique, fittings were changed at least once for some reason, leading to the new hole.

That stamp above the signature (deepest one I have seen yet) shows that it was a more mass produced sword, not fully traditionally made as opposed to a gendaito. But it appears to be in decent condition and polish, so a nice one of the sort. No blood...the markings in paint are assembly markings and arsenal markings, nothing of any real concern.

Amateur polishing and restoration is very frowned on here. Nothing more than oiling and wiping is advocated. Whatever you do, don't remove ANY of the patina on the tang, this is vital to any value the sword has, and it is never cleaned up aside from light wiping to prevent active rust