Shugyosha

Echizen ju Shimosaka.

I don't know if it's any help, but a search on a Chinese character website turned up 戓 - but I couldn't make it into anything plausible with the other kanji...apparently it reads "ka" according to Jisho...

Hi Forrest, The one in the last photograph is a rendai: a representation of the lotus-shaped platform or seat on which images of Buddha are shown. The others are, as Lewis says, bonji and there is a list here and it's a case of matching the ones on your sword up with those in the chart:

Bart, None of this adds up. You can put the matter to bed by sending the sword to shinsa yourself rather than hoping to pass the problem on to the next owner.

I don't often agree with you Jacques, but I think you're right. There's no smith with this title listed in Sesko's Compendium which is generally pretty accurate and I feel that it's unlikely that smiths who are awarded honorary titles would be outside the meikan. All of the Ujishige that Sesko lists with titles worked in Harima and were either Yamato no kami or Yamato daijo. @Bart - I think you have to ask yourself, if this was an unlisted smith, how was it awarded papers by the NBTHK because they would have had to compare the mei and workmanship to an authenticated example from somewhere before it could be confirmed as shoshin.

But did you buy one or more of the tanegashima...?? You're such a tease sometimes.

To add a little to Jean's post: Dewa Akita ju Shoami Shigehiro https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/Japanese-and-korean-works-of-art-l05860/lot.788.html I don't know whether the one you're looking at is genuine but if you do some googling on that signature you should find authenticated examples to compare it to if yours isn't papered.

Yep, looks like that to me.

Even so, you have to ask why the sword doesn't have modern papers as a sword from the relevant era by one of these smiths could have significant value, even if it wouldn't quite be the unicorn that this sword purports to be. Did you end up bidding on the "Nagamitsu"?

Hi Laurent, There were some examples of this smith's signature given on the other thread. I don't like to give bad news but it looks like someone has added a false signature to the tang of what looks like a genuine Japanese sword. So IMHO you are essentially looking at evaluating the price of an unsigned but mounted wakizashi. It looks like it might be from the shinto period as Jacques said, but if you can post a full length picture of the blade with everything taken off it, a view of the overall shape might give a clue to confirming its age.

Hi George, I thought these might be swords you'd purchased rather than were looking at. In case you don't get a better reply on the bonus question, I wouldn't be paying a premium for a Showato with a katana mei or let that be the defining criterion if you're choosing between them. They're pretty common, if not the norm.

Hi George, I think that your translations are correct, but if you want to post some better photos that won't hurt - being honest I'm a bit iffy on the "Yoshi" as that's the least clear. I'll leave the bonus question to the military sword guys...

Perhaps one for @Matsunoki as I know he used Ford Hallam a number of times for restorations.

Could it be fire-scale? If it was heated in fire, that might cause the weld on the plate to fail?

My honest feeling is that $400 from a dealer is in the ball park. I've had a quick look around the site linked previously and the prices there are perhaps a little under what you are looking at but the date of the sale isn't listed and, as Lewis says, they may be a number of years old. Hopefully this will link the search, but you'll have to sift through for the tsuba if you want to take a look - https://www.aoijapan.net/?s=bushu&x=0&y=0 There's a live one here at around $330 but it's unsigned, the design is overly busy and the carving is poorer quality than yours (my opinion obviously): https://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumeibushu/ I hope that helps a bit.