Geraint

Dear Ash. It might be Bishu ju Masayasu saku, compare here, https://collectorsmilitaria.com/imperial_japanese_gunto_mounted_gendai_katana_062108.htm All the best.

Good find Uwe, I wonder if the blade Tom posted is the same sugata as the one you found? All the best.

Thank you Uwe, that would make more sense given the rest of the mei. All the best.

Dear Tom. The later half appears to read, 'Bizen Osafune Yokoyama Sukesada', I have not come across any of the school signing on the blade like this so probably an added mei. Others will help out with the rest. All the best.

Dear Chris. Please go very carefully with this, avoid the urge to clean it other than a wipe with some thin oil. Cleaning can devalue a sword very quickly. I am guessing that you know that Tenbun is a period in Japanese history from 1532 to 1555, that Bishu is a short form of the province Bizen, Osafune the village at the centre of sword production and Sukesada is the name of the smith who made it. There were a lot of Sukesada in this area making swords. Can we see photographs of the whole blade and did it come in mounts? All the best.

Morning Bryce. I am sure that you will get lots of replys to this but just to get the ball rolling........ Aoi Art produce really good images so you can see what the sword is, the sugata is wonderful, if you look at the enlarged view on their site you can see that the hada is very clear and consistent over the whole blade. Now imagine forging and folding steel over a blade of this length and doing all that with such great control and without a single flaw. The hamon is also consistent over the whole blade and very attractive. By the by, here I do not think the oshigata does the sword justice, look out for the sunagashi that Tsuruta san mentions, it also is uniform and very controlled. The sword is ubu, it's in great condition and it is clearly done by a master smith. Now, the smith. There is some information here, http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p1774.html to add to what you already have. So if Naotane is arguably the best Shinshinto smith and if he mastered all five of the gokaden, (pause for a moment and imagine that you can not only forge a sword like this example but you can do it just as well in four other different ways), and if he was the best at Bizen den and if this is his masterpiece...... See where this is going? The shear technical skill to be abe to produce a sword like this is extrodinary, the ability to do it under such control that you can generate exactly the outcome that you intended without a single, tiny mis step is staggering. OK, I'll shut up now. Thanks for bringing this up, it really made me look at the sword. It's all to easy to skim, isn't it? All the best.

Dear Alex. At first glance this looks like a sanmai awase tsuba, composed of three layers, a central core and two much thinner embossed faces. If this is the case then you should be able to see the layers on the inside of the nakago ana. Some information on this type here, http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba/sanmai.htm If not then others will chime in with attributions. All the best.

Dear Oliver. Lovely find! Try Hiroshige. All the best.

Dear Aliaksandr. An approximate translation is, " Run far, run fast!" All the best.

By the by, Aoi Art site says that this item sold at auction................. All the best.

Dear Mark. Not sure how you viewed this sword but here is a link for a much more comprehensible version, https://www.aoijapan.com/tantokanefusanbthk-hozon-token/ There are some detailed arguements on the NMB about how collecting works but for most people buying is for rewards otherthan investment. If you are hoping to invest in Japanese swords then you need to put in some hard miles learning what is valued and why and then predict what is going to happen to the market over the longer term. Have fun with that! This particular blade is papered, by a well known smith and in quite nice koshirae, from my point of view, and that's a particular one, it doesn't do it for me. I'm sure many others would disagree with me and that you wil get several opinions. All the best.

Dear Alban. To answer your question about the tsukamai then yes indeed it might be lacquered leather, or lacquered fabric or even paper. Many different materials are used, personally I find the style on this sword attractive. If you are interested there is quite a bit of information on tsukamaki on this site, http://www.tsukamaki.net/ All the best.

Just for information the seller is up front about the fact that the tsuka has been added and says the metal is soft metal so copper is a good guess. All the best.

Dear All. I have seen this once before and from memory I don't think it was this sword in an earlier sale. It's a shame that the person who remounted this tsuka didn't do a better job. All the best.

Dear Geoffrey. Welcome to NMB. To answer your question they all appear to be genuine from these photos. Don't be tempted to clean them at all, see if you can get slightly better photos and post them here. Lots of folks will help. This has to go down as one of the best stories. All the best.

Dear David. What's not to like ? Your latest photographs confirm what I was wondering. Nice complete kaigunto with a mon, older blade signed tachi mei, certainly looks polishable if you decide it's worth it. Good find. All the best.

Dear Glen. Here's something to get you going. https://www.mandarinmansion.com/item/nanban-kogai-and-kozuka-set-futakoromono All the best.

Dear Paz. This is Japanese swords! Nothing is simple! Have a look here, http://www.nihontocraft.com/Nihonto_Shinsa_Standards.html Basically old and special, flaws allowed. New, no flaws allowed. For myself a fatal flaw would be different from tiredness which is the result of too many polishes for the sword. Others will have much more to add to this, I'm sure. All the best.

Dear Eric. A couple of thoughts for you. First, to answer your question, Older papers are generally discounted these days. The bigger the name of the swordsmith the less value they have. (I note that swords for sale on Aoi Art sometimes have both old and new papers side by side affirming the same judgement but thats by the by). Certainly no one is going to accept them on a Yasutsugu coming out of Japan, or indeed anywhere. I understand your feelings about your sword. As a very new collector and well before the internet was even a thing, I bought a nice kaigunto with a wakizashi signed Kunihiro. Even then I knew not to get too excited. I still have the sword and still enjoy it for what it is. By the way, in your research did you come across this? http://www.sho-shin.com/edo-shimosaka.html If not then you might find it usefull. All the best.

Dear Claudio. If you don't know it already then this site is your friend, https://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm#kaneiye Look up Kaneiye. (Oh, and Nobuiye) All the best.

Dear Claudio, Or maybe by the mastersmith Nobuie, look them up. (Jan beat me to it!) All the best.

Dear David. First of all two nice finds! Congratulations on putting in the research hours,that approach will stand you in good stead going forward. Any pictures of the blade of the Police sword? I can't see a mekugi so maybe not. All the best.

There are many things wrong with the tsuka, profile, section, alternating ito and diamonds. As my father would have said, "t's a bent as a dogs hindleg!" This part is not Japanese, most likely a post war repair attempt. Nothing to learn from that so back to the blade folks. Forgot to mention leather 'kashira'. All the best.

Like Bazza I have a memory of seeing a tachi reputed to have belonged to the Duke of Windsor, the only reference I have found so far is here, https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/arts/antiques-swords-with-the-spirit-of-the-samurai.html The Duke certainly visited Japan in the 1920s. Of course, stupid me, the sword was offered as Lot 305 in Haynes original sale. All the best.

Dear Keith. Well I'd be very happy if I had picked this one up. Nice sword in nice koshirae, Namban tsuba and from what I can see very nice menuki that might be two mon, really interesting habaki. I trust that you know how to care for this piece, basically do nothing to clean anything except to wipe a very thin coat of light oil on the blade. Some information here, http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p2060.html Look for examples of blades with NBTHK papers and compare the signature to yours. There are several smiths from this school and pinning down which one may not be possible even if you send it for papers. As you probably know the problem of faked signatures is an issue and many people are wary of a sword that is signed by a well known maker without the authentication that these papers provide. We would like some more pictures, one of the overall blade without any fittings if you can. Personally I think this is a very nice sword, congratulations! Feel free to ask any questions, happy to help. All the best.