Brian

What boggles my mind is that if you put that tsuba on eBay and covered the mei, I doubt it would have reached even close to the original estimate of $3K. Some would have even called it flashy Chinese work. I guess that is going to be the benchmark now, and sales of similar tsuba are going to be referencing it for years to come. Just means the tsuba guys get to pay more for their next pieces based on one sale. Brian

Scott, Check out the How-To section of the forum to post pics. At least one of those methods should work for you and your Mac, even if you have to use Imageshack. Brian

Roland, I don't think we have to questions the authenticity. From what we see, it is a) Japanese b) Tempered with hamon c) Has a horimono and mei that might not be expert work, but done by someone Japanese d) Might just be forged, and although some age might be added, probably has a 100 years or more on it. So whether it is 400 years old or 100, it still appears to be a genuine Japanese piece, we are just not sure yet exactly what it is I didn't put in a bid though. I considered it for a while, but didn't get an answer from the seller to my questions before I went to bed, and it went for far more than I would have put in. Btw..forget about staying up all night. All the eBay regulars here just set a snipe bid and go to bed :lol: http://www.justsnipe.com Brian

I almost took that one away from you on eBay last night :lol: (There are eyes everywhere) I was not too sure about the completeness of the hamon, and not convinced exactly what it is though. I don't think that is classic moroha zukuri either. Without that nakago, I would have assumed some kind of yari. Too pointed to be a ken either. Lots of questions, no answers as yet Brian

I agree with Stephen, I am not convinced that is the sho stamp, and from the little we can see so far, I would be surprised if it was an oil quenched arsenal blade. Looks very nice, and might have been a 1930's civilian blade taken to war and had an acceptance stamp added? Also, there are definitely arsenal stamped blades out there that are Gendaito, although how frequent this happened is what everyone wants to know. Regards, Brian

Frank, Size? Is it a few mm, or a few cm or huge? Will help guess what it was used for. Brian

Hi all, I was contacted by a lady in Japan asking for some assistance with information on where to get a possibly antique Japanese scroll looked at and appraised. This is what she wrote: I anyone knows somewhere in Japan to take this and get an opinion, please post here and I will pass the info on. I can try and get a pic or 2 if anyone has any knowledge on these. Thanks, Brian

Thanks for the summary Ed, much appreciated. I can't get my head around that tsuba. $3K estimate going for $75K?! Anyone got a pic of this one? Wow..that must be some maker there. You can pay for half a really nice house here with that. And it is tough getting that price for some Juyo level swords! Very interesting. Hope none of the buyers missed that increase in buyers fees that Curran spoke about. Brian

Guys! Read the auction description. It is all explained clearly. Brian

Mr Bottomley, Welcome to the forum, it is good to have you here. Are you perhaps the same Mr Bottomly that wrote Arms and Armor of the Samurai and Introduction to Japanese Armour? Either way, it is good to have another knowledgeable collector on board, and especially another one that spells the word "armour" and not "armor" like our American friends :D Regards, Brian

Don't bow just yet..I haven't got a clue if I am correct yet :lol: :D Must admit though, the more of these you try, the easier thay get. Nothing like practice. Anyone able to confirm or deny the mei? Brian

Roland, Might be my monitor, but that pic is too dark and unclear to read. I played a bit with it in photoshop, and got the following. At work without books, but I think I can make out the showa stamp, and seki....Kane..waka? I would take a wild flyer of a guess and say Seki ju Fuwa Kanewaka saku?

I think the simple answer is that an ubu nakago without mekugi ana, is still an ubu nakago. It is unlikely an ubu nakago would ever have no ana, unless it was not finished. In that case, one would be drilled when it was mounted. In this case of course, it is not an ubu nakago, merely a blade that has been shortened and the nakago has not yet been finished. I don't think there would be a special term for something that has no practical use and is merely unfinished work. Just my opinion of course. Brian

Hi Doug, Seki is the town, Noshu the province (also known as Mino province) The last kanji is "saku" which means made. So this reads as Kanenao (if I am correct) of Seki in Noshu made this. They are not always dated, but I would expect it to have been made sometime during WW2. I wouldn't clean any of the metal fittings, the patina is important to the collectibility. The leather can be treated with any commercial leather shoe treatment such as Dubbin. less is more And whatever you do, don't mess with the rust or patina on the tang at all. Not much more you can find out about the sword itself besides who made it, and the sho stamp there makes it highly likely it is an arsenal military blade that is oil quenched. Hope this helps. Regards, Brian

Hi...(please sign with a name) I think it is Noshu Seki ju Kanenao. WW2 made, and probably an arsenal blade as you surmised. Is there a date on the other side? There was an Ishihara Kanenao during WW2, but I am not sure this was him, as he signed with his full name usually. See: http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/kanenao3.jpg Search the forum for cleaning sword, and you should come up with lots of info. I would clean off the grease, and just keep it very lightly oiled with the recommended oil. Regards, Brian

Mike, The very best would be to submit it to the next USA shinsa, and therefore get a conclusive opinion and papers. Cost a little bit, but well worth it. Someone on the forum should be able to tell you when the next shinsa is, and I am sure that there is someone here who can act as an agent to take it there for a fair price if it is far from AZ. Regards, Brian

Mike, Ah, I mistook your website for another I had come across before: http://www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com/ They also sell some Japanese swords. What is it with all the meteorite hunters who also have a thing for Nihonto? :D :lol: You guys can setup your own club and do some decent trading. lol Brian

Max, Better not forget the smilies at least, or some are going to miss the sarcasm and take you seriously :D Brian

Hi Mike, I had browsed your website a few times in the past through a sword search. I think you have a hidden page on this one somewhere on it? Muromachi period is 1392-1572. There were both good and lesser mass-produced swords during that time. Towards the end, they were many wars and therefore swords were produced faster and with less care. But there are also fine swords made during that time. Mino is the province and hence style/school of tradition that possibly made this sword based on its characteristics. The sword was probably originally longer and shortened from the back as was common when tastes, styles and preferences changed. Also done if there was damage and it needed to be saved. The end of the tang shape where it was cut off is the nakago jiri. The shape indicates what Darcy was pointing out. A straight cut is kiri, while yours indicates earlier shortening with its shape. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/terms/terms2.htm Hope this clarifies it for you. Regards, Brian Edit to add: Darcy:- If this is o-suriage (shortened) then wouldn't we expect to see the hamon continue with the gunome (bumps) through the machi area, instead of the yakidashi that appears to be there currently?

Ah jeez... That's the second one this week now. And that one looks like it was a really good blade before. They survive for hundreds of years until someone without a clue decides to "improve" it. Brian

Nigel, The random words "second hand" in your post automatically created a link to some serverlogic3.com server. I edited the post to get rid of the url. Seaching for the above company and adware, it seems as though you might have an adware program that has installed serverlogic hyperlinker that is doing this. Try installing adaware or scanning with other anti spyware progs and see if you have it? Brian

Nice one Moriyama san, Although there are differences, I do note some similarities in the way the Suke is carved and a few other similarities. But the different directions of the diagonal strokes on the Suke kanji seem to possibly rule it out? Brian

Brian I was wondering when someone would pick that one up. One of the nice little militaria dealers. They really don't know much about the swords they sell though: http://www.japanesesword.com/Images/Swo ... _gunto.htm Also made by your smith. Looks like an oil tempered blade to me, but what is interesting is that it is wakizashi length, so if it is one of the WW2 arsenal wakizashi, then that would make it one of the scarce wakizashi made by the WW2 smiths for combat. Maybe a pilot's waki? Regards, Brian R

Ok, so you see a reasonable Shin gunto mounted wakizashi on eBay. The seller doesn't seem to know too much about it, so you take a chance, since he hasn't taken off the tsuka, and think you can maybe pick up a sleeper. When you get it, this is what you find... Just an imaginary scenario, since the auction is still running, and the seller did manage to remove the tsuka and post pics eventually. But this is just a warning to those, like many of us, who take a chance every now and then hoping to find that bargain that everyone wasn't prepared to take a chance on. http://cgi.ebay.com/Wakizashi-Japanese- ... dZViewItem Sad what some people will do to a sword in an effort to clean it up or whatever. This one will never be brought back to a nice state no matter how you reshape it., Brian

Roland, A nice looking blade with a long nagasa and pleasant sugata. To me the nakago looks too new to be a Koto though? Even if o-suriage (doesn't look greatly shortened to me though) the nakago still has yasurime that are pretty vivid and the overall patina doesn't look Koto to me. Just my novice opinion though. How about a close-up of that mei showing vertically? I don't see all the strokes for Suke there, although it may be the light. Brian