Geraint

Dear Clive. (Post crossed with Maurice.) Sweet little fukuro yari! The mei will be Nobukuni, Chikuzen as you suggest. As to period , well I'm not sure how you could arrive at a specific period. All the best.

Dear All. Just to answer the question that Carlos posed, it is relatively simple to make a soft metal plug that is a good fit into a mekugi ana and just a little too long. Insert the plug into the hole, rest one end on an anvil or stake and then gently plannish the exposed end, turn the blade over and repeat from the other side until the soft metal has been expanded to fill the hole. Clean off the exposed surfaces as needed. Just to add that sometimes an existing hole is plugged with steel and as such is all but invisible. I had the opportunity of examining a blade that purported to be Hizen only to discover that the mei had been cut over one such plugged mekugi ana. Presumably the location didn't match that found on Hizen blades. All the best.

Dear Yves. Welcome to the world of Nagoya mono! https://www.espace4.com/collections/tsuba-nagamarugata-ko-kinko-insectes-et-fleurs/ All the best.

Dear Seth. You know that this sword carries a Seki stamp don't you ? Also what that means? All the best.

Dear Jarom. Welcome to NMB! You have clearly done quite a bit of research on your sword, that's refreshing to see. Clearly at some point you are going to face the restoration issues, do ask for advice when that time comes, it's an attractive sword and deserves to be restored properly. As to it's maker, you have already done some research but my immediate response is that the mei is a little too neat and if you look at the second kanji, bottom right stroke, on your example the stroke curves upward whereas on the papered examples I have looked at it curves the other way. I'm sure you will know that a great number of swords carry false signatures and this may be the case, however it is still a good sword so don't do anything hasty. All the best.

Dear Patricius. Nothing but gut feeling base on the, for want of a better term, chippy nature of the mei. The handwriting style as it were. Nothing else to go on as others have suggested but my immediate response was based on the rather similar style of mei found in the Yokoyama school. The overall sugata seems to me to be more late Muromachi but............? All the best.

Dear James. Well the auction photographs are not much use, are they? Pre 1860 simply means that it is a genuine Japanese blade made before the end of the Edo period, a safe but uninformative bet. The koshirae was not to bad but is now in need of some attention, the tsuka ito is gone and so, as far as I can see, are the menuki. The blade is so badly out of polish that you have no chance of spotting even quite serious flaws unless you view it in hand and even then it's a doubtful proposition. So let's say you buy it. You are going at the least to get a proper polish which is not cheap. While you are about it probably a shirasaya and maybe habaki. Some restoration on the koshirae, new menuki and ito...... You can see where this is going, can't you? Add to all that the fact that during polish you may well find, "something nasty in the woodshed", and you are in for quite a gamble. On the whole I think you would be wise to pass. All the best.

Colin. I'm sure you have tried this but click on the blue link on the page you show and see if that helps. Really nice thing to find, just been clearing the parents in law's house and the only thing I've found in a garden shed are some rusty shears! All the best.

Dear Grev. I can't see enough of the boshi and hamon to make any confident assertions but the style of the mei would suggest to me Shinto so far. I would do some digging around Yokoyama Sukesada and see what comes up. I'm quite sure that others will chime in on this one. Look forward to any conclusions. All the best.

Dear Matt. Speaking personally I would leave this one where it is. The plate does not seem to have any age and the irregularity of the whole design leaves me cold. The seppa dai is not seppa dai shaped and the overall crudeness of the sukashi looks pretty rough. What interests you about it? All the best

Dear Stuart. Welcome to NMB! Do post some photographs and I'm sure someone will be able to help you out with the notation on the shirasaya. Do you know what your Uncle got up to during the war? Sometimes people who were there didn't manage to talk about it very much. All the best.

Dear Koltira. Welcome! Just to add that this is a nice koshirae with very attractive fuchi kashira and, as you say, silver foiled habaki and gold foiled seppa. All in all a very attractive sword. Enjoy it! All the best.

Dear Dale. In your first reply the tsuba you show is one made by Kevin Adams after a Myochin design. And just so you know the Yahoo link takes me to a page that tells me that this service is not available in the UK or the Eu. Vitaly, I'm sure you know this site already but..... https://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm If you go to the Akasaka section you will see that tsuba by this group often give away their construction with visible lines on the edges of the plate and one or two other things to look out for. It's very tempting to assume that similar designs must come from the same group but that is not always a good assumption. Keep up the good work. All the best.

Welcome Dimitri! That's a nice looking wakizashi koshirae and a nice tanegashima. Can we see some more photographs? All the best.

Dear Adam. You have really answered your own question; it's either a gimei from the Shinshinto period or the seller is incorrect. (I suppose another option is gimei from the Shinto but Koyama smiths did Bizen den so....) There are quite a few papered blades on line to compare it with but things to note are the position of the mei on the nakago and the condition of the nakago. It is possible that the seller submitted the blade to shinsa who came up with this conclusion. Might be worth your while to link to the sale and others can then add to your perceptions. All the best.

Dear Vitaly. Yes, this is signed Echizen Kinai saku and is one of their standard designs. Given the size of the ryohitsu it seems to be rather small. All the best. (Beaten to the punch by Glen's much more detailed analysis.)

Dear Nick. Welcome to NMB. What sort of help are you looking for? A lot depends on some factors that you have not mentioned, is it coming out of Japan? I assume that it is because it has the registration papers with it, torokusho. Does it have authentication papers and if so who from? What is it being sold as? And of course, how much is being asked for it? Opinions will differ but from what I can see so far this is a mumei or unsigned sword that would now be classified as a wakizashi, a short sword. It seems from these images to be Koto, pre 1600. It has an unusual sugata, the overall shape of the blade, and might at one time have been a naginata or polearm. It seems to have a raised shinogi, the ridge running down the blade. It also has several flaws that from the images don't appear to be disastrous but should affect the value a little. So, it is a genuine Japanese sword. probably from the koto period, (but bear in mind that late koto swords are often not considered especially desirable - old does not always mean good in this hobby), and it is in shirasaya, the plain wooden mounts. Please feel free to ask more specific questions and throw out some more information, plenty of help here. All the best.

Dear Chris. Start with the habaki. All the best.

Dear All. Late to the thread but I have just come across this one, https://sanmei.com/contents/media/A29297_T5672_PUP3F.html Seems like it might have something to offer here. All the best.

Dear Okan. Compare here, https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-Japanese-sword-katana-signed-by-igano-kami-kinmichi-nbthk-hozon-certificate/ Nice thing to have! All the best.

Dear Matt. Sorry to hear of your unpleasant experience, however, over the years I have kept an eye out for Yoshitake blades and own a couple. They did very good work and the ones I have seen have always been stunning. They seem to have produced quite a few polearms of various styles. If you can bear to I would love to see some more of your gorgeous naginata. All the best.

Dear All. Some random thoughts: Collectables do come and go, art less so. My late father in law got burnt, pardon the pun, with cigarette cards. He collected when there was a market and had some fine and rare sets which sold for peanuts because smoking related collectables had fallen through the floor. These may come back into fashion as their age becomes greater and they become scarcer. How many times have you overheard in an antique shop, "Oh my grandparents had some of these but we threw them out!" Japanese swords are inextricably entwined with Samurai culture in a way that many modern collectables are not. The heroic warrior is a figure who has endured in culture, just look at the number and popularity of the films, TV shows and games which revolve around such idealised characters. In that context the samurai have a pretty secure future and so do their swords. From time to time I have the privilege of being invited into schools and colleges to talk about arms and armour; (it helps that both my girls are history teachers). Most recently I spoke with a groupof students using swords as a vehicle for discussing Japan and colonialism. I can assure you that there is no lack of interest, indeed fascination among them. The demand for selfies wearing the Hineno kabuto that I take in is high, among staff and students! The feedback from students and sometimes parents is also very positive. I am sure that affordability is an issue, especially at the moment, and the generous supply of fakes will put some off but I have no doubt that there will be a new generation of collectors. If not, well so what? I made life choices that ensured I would never have the money to collect serious swords and fittings but over the years I have had endless hours of pleasure with what I have collected and researched. From time to time I do consider what will happen to it all and would hope to at least recoup what I have spent over the years but if I or my executors don't then what does it matter? I'm very sure that they will do better than they would if I had played golf and spent the same amount of money on that. No offense to the golfers among us but I'm sure you catch my drift. I've had, and for the moment continue to have, an absolute blast studying and collecting. I spent money on it when I could and enjoyed every minute. Well, that's enough of that! All the best.

Dear James. Welcome to NMB. Your sword is indeed a Japanese sword and from the images so far is an older blade as opposed to one made during the War. Older blades were used for a variety of reasons and, while it is tempting to believe that it is a family blade often they were contingency blades gathered for the war effort. You can clearly see that it is machi okuri, the steps on the nakago where the habaki fits have been moved up. This has been done without shortening the tip of the nakago so what you have is a mumei or un signed sword.. In that condition it is not going to be possible to tell you much more but a shot of the whole blade with the habaki removed might allow a suggestion as to it's age. Is it in standard military mounts? All the best.

Dear Colin. Nothing generic about that one for me, a nicely carved dragon with some movement, interesting clouds and not a design that I've seen before. Nice tsuba! All the best.

Hi John. The face of the kozuka depicts Shoki, the demon queller, who carries a ken. In spite of his fearsome name Shoki is often shown in a rather humorous way with oni hiding from him. This one seems to be hanging from a bell behind his back. All the best.