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.

Hi Nyancide, Welcome to the forum - if that isn't your actual name would you mind posting a first name rather than using a handle please? Sorry to be picky first up but we're a friendly bunch on here and that's the forum rule. There's a similar one here priced at JPY 75,000 (around $500 at today's exchange rate though I'm not sure of the date of the sale) but it has authentication papers and the carving and condition looks slightly better to my eye: https://www.aoijapan...-jyu-masachika-saku/ Anyway, you have an authenticated example to compare the signature with. IMHO I would say that the signature on the authenticated one looks like a good match for yours and that the work style is similar. It looks like the artist is aiming for a slightly worn look so what looks like a loss of gold on the flower petals might be what the artist intended rather than damage though, as Jean says, there are some small areas of corrosion and general crud and it would be worth using this as a negotiating point if you go ahead.

Something that just occurred: Aoi Art has their listings in Japanese and English so you can try a translation and mark your own homework afterwards.

Trying to apply a bit of logic to this, as substantial amounts of sword making took place in Bizen and Mino provinces and the likelihood of encountering a signature by a smith from one of those two provinces is fairly high, starting with place names and smiths from those provinces should get a reader ahead of the game.

Hi Gustavo, Like Ray says, you I think that you have to dip your toe in the water and practise - the more you do, the easier it gets. It also helps if you can get an idea of the nuts and bolts: learn how to identify the stroke counts for kanji or radicals and learn to spot radicals themselves as, armed with this knowledge, you can identify the various kanji and look them up. For me anyway, it's more about that - I'm probably never going to know more than a few of the more commonly used kanji off by heart but hopefully, even if I can't identify the entire kanji, I can turn to a dictionary or other reference. In my case it's often more of a problem-solving exercise than a linguistic one in that nibbling away at the pieces can often help solve the entire puzzle. These are useful references (apologies if you're aware of them): https://jisho.org/ https://markussesko....ntocompendium-e1.pdf http://www.jssus.org/nkp/

Bridge (橋) and [?] sukashi tsuba...?

Dee, If you have to scratch the 1% itch at some point, would it be worth considering the NTHK instead? Even if it gets pink slipped, unlike with the NBTHK, you'll generally get some information from the worksheet and that might give an idea as to whether or not it would be worth pursuing further i.e. go direct to NBTHK shinsa or have the signature taken off, tang re-patinated and resubmit either to the NTHK or NBTHK. Ultimately, it's whether or not you think its worth sinking more money into the blade - I don't know what the cost is in Japan, but the American branch is charging $250. You could also wait until you've seen the blade in hand and take a view then - there's normally an NTHK shinsa in the USA each year. https://nthkamerica.com/shinsa-faq

長州萩住人 - Choshu Hagi ju nin 友次 - Tomotsugu

Hi Kevin, Welcome to the forum. If you push the peg out of the handle, you'll be able slide it off of the tang along with the the guard, washers and collar. As Jedediah says, it's hard to give an opinion without some detail shots of the naked blade. Also, you might want to post pictures of the design on the leather cover as they seem unusual but I'm not a military swords guy and you will get some better opinions there.

Hi Bruce, Looks like トキク - Tokiku in katakana. I've no idea of what the significance of that is though.

I'll be your relative.