Shugyosha

Sebuh, I can’t see anything that would convince me to buy that blade. Other than it being by a big name, what is there to like? It may be Aoi’s photography or rather scanning, but it looks completely lifeless and devoid of anything that would appeal to me. Furthermore, I don’t like the obvious shintetsu on a Shinto blade for a start and that’s the real killer for me (leaving aside that I know that it’s not a big deal in Japanese circles and that I’ll never be spending that kind of money on a sword). Whilst I know that good blades often go to shinsa to confirm the mei, why only TH papers? It’s a big name after all… but I’m a cynic. What are your thoughts?

Hi Raphael, Inaba kuni ju Fujiwara Kanesaki. Hope that gets your research going.

熊口 Kanenobu - Kuma? Kanenobu.

The original owner threw it away…but it came back…

If brevity is the soul of wit then it certainly knocks the cast tsuba thread into a cocked hat.

Alex, If you look at the top of the page, on the banner there's a section marked "nihonto info," under that heading there is a "links" section which includes links to legitimate dealers in Japanese swords. You can use that to begin to get a feel for the market and what you can get for your money, but there won't be any Masamune blades by "the" Masamune on any of them. You can also check out the sales section on this forum as members are often selling blades and there's some nice pictures to look at. Please avoid buying on Ebay or the Japanese auction sites (probably best to avoid buying at all right now as you're shark bait; sorry): there are a lot of blades tricked out to look like something way more attractive than they really are like the second one you've posted above. I don't know where you get Masamune from there, it looks like a shinto blade that has been doctored to appear to be by Sekishu Naotsuna, I think. So in effect, you've been deceived twice in one go and you've barely got started. The new looking kinpun (gold) attributions on them is a big giveaway as if you check between blades, the style of writing is identical so someone has bought a comic with a free Japanese swordsmith kanji stencil set in it and they're really making use of it. Essentially if it's a blade claimed to be by a big name smith and it doesn't have modern NBTHK or NTHK papers, in most cases it can be discounted as a fraudulent attempt to deceive. Even if they do, you need to be sure that the papers are to the smith the buyer is claiming it to be as the names can relate to mulitiple generations of smiths with the same name, not all of which are well regarded or smiths from a different province with the same name who again may be inferior. A long-winded way of saying you need to know more before parting with any money.

It doesn’t seem too unlikely: if NBTHK papers can be doctored, a relatively simple proforma that no one outside of Japan can verify, has to be a candidate.

Good luck with this Lewis, I hope you get a positive outcome.

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Hi Nazar, I'm sorry but someone has switched the photo on the papers: the description relates to an Echizen Shimosaka blade and not the one you have or are looking to buy. If you haven’t bought it already, please don’t.

Hi Jesse, (Seki stamp) Noshu ju Mishina Yoshikane. Made in Noshu by Mishina Yoshikane. The Seki stamp means it isn’t a traditionally made blade and was made during or just prior to WW2. Another example of this signature here (which is where I took the reading from):

Hi Jedediah, I may have this wrong but my reading of the paper is to "den" Bushu Kunimasa and then in the notes it says Horikawa mon. The seller, however, is talking this up as being an attribution to the smith himself which I don't think it is.

You can own a sword that is pretty much the size and shape the smith intended rather than what is left after age and use. Obviously age and the patina of use have their charm too, but I think there are fewer trade-offs with younger blades.

Hi Peter, The swordsmith is Ittosai Yasutsuna and the date refers to 2600 years since the founding of the Japanese Empire. Some information in this thread:

But what Brian said get both and offload the one you like least…if there’s one you like least.

He resells them too - you can pick up some interesting ones if you’re patient.

Jacques, You can't say this unless you have reviewed the totality of the evidence base and it is impossible for you to have done so.

As Jussi says, it's not the the big name Nobukuni, so there's no reason to suspect that this paper isn't the genuine opinion of the shinsa panel on the day it viewed the blade - if anything, the paper talks the blade down by ascribing it to the smith working in Tensho. If you read Darcy's article, it emphasises that the bigger then name, the greater the danger with these papers and that they aren't all bad - this is a small name smith and so this one is probably OK. @Bosco - the seller isn't going to tell you that the blade is a piece of junk that you definitely shouldn't buy and using the Sengoku Jidai as sales puff is something that occurs frequently as there's a degree of romance attached to the period that sells swords - but I've just reread your post and it looks like you've already gone for it, so I hope you like it once it arrives.

You could ask a polisher to do a window polish: to polish a small section of the blade to determine whether or not there is a hamon there. As Jean says though, you still run up against the issue of whether or not it is economically viable to have the blade polished or even to open the window and it almost certainly isn't. Unless you have some particular emotional connection to this blade, I'd leave it as it is and either keep it as an artifact or move it on and put the money towards something better.

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:

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.