Geraint

Can't wait to see the finished result with that fuchi kashira Ford! All the best.

Not to mention the koshirae! All the best.

Dear Daniel. I am not sure that the phrase, "clutching at straws", will translate but you seem to want to defend this sword for some reason. If the information about PETA is correct and if this sword has something to do with that then nothing about the quality of the sword changes, it's still a mess. At the very best this is a sword whose blade has been ruined by damage to the nakago and it's out of polish, the fittings have nothing of value about them, look at the shaping pf the tsuba and the nakago ana. Why would you want to own it? All the best.

Hi Tommy. Welcome to the board. First bit of good news, this is a perfectly genuine Japanese sword, though it is hard to tell a great deal because of the condition and the photographs. It is potentially something good and you should go slow! You mention cleaning, hold that thought, a little light oil on the blade is ALL you should do. It is very easy to ruin a sword and it's fittings by what seems like simple cleaning. When you get the sword you will need to remove the hilt very carefully, if this is causing difficulties someone here can advise you on how to go about it. The fittings look as if they have been with the sword for some time and as soon as we know what is under the paper and tape we can advise you on restoration. Welcome to a fascinating study and we look forward to seeing some better images when you can, plus some measurements. Lots of people will chime in with opinions and there may be someone close enough to you so that you can show them the sword in hand and get some advice. Enjoy! (Oh! And by the way it is not a military sword as such in that it is not mounted for use in WWII. This means that it is at least 19th century and possibly much earlier).

Dear Peter, This one has been bugging me but I have finally found what I was looking for, http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/swords/n110-bizen-norimitsu-ko-wakizashi-hizen-koshirae All the best.

Delighted to have been the spur to these.

As my wife said, "You will have to rein yourself in."

Well I couldn't watch the sword restoration video that Ford posted and I don't want to look at this one. https://www.aoijapan.com/tachi-koshirae-horse-design All the best.

Dear Jay. I'm not sure that I am understanding you correctly. As far as my limited experience goes all the gunto that I have seen or owned have used either same or the plastic equivalent. My kaigunto has a sharksin saya but same for the tsuka. Could you clarify? All the best.

Dear Daniel. If you can see nie then there is every chance that it is a good blade, I'm afraid I can't see any in your photographs. The shape of the kissaki and the overall geometry seems good, I really wonder what was removed from the nakago. What is the nagasa and sori? (Length from kissaki to mune machi and amount of curve). It seems to be a very straight blade which would point to either Kanbun Shinto or possibly late Shinshinto. Can you remove the habaki and get a shot of the notches in the blade? This is sometimes a tell tale for the origin of a blade. Yes, this might be a concoction of bits and pieces but I think the quality of the tsuba suggest that it is a reproduction. I can't see enough detail to help you more. Perhaps we have another member in Barcelona who could look at the sword in hand and help you out. All the best.

Dear Daniel. Lots to worry about here. The marks on the fuchi might be numbers, easy for you to check. The tsuba is a very poor casting and looks modern to me, the fuchi has a hole for a retaining clip and none of the other fittings do, the hilt does not have Japanese binding, the kabuto gane seems at the least to have been soldered together. If you manage to get the habaki off you might find that the machi are not aligned. It looks as if someone has tried to remove an inscription from the nakago. If you are thinking of buying this then be very careful. If you can get a photo of the machi area minus the habaki that could confirm what I suspect. I would run a mile. Hope this helps.

Hi John. Makie is a term used for representational work generally speaking, .ie. you would see a design or picture rather than just a texture as your example. See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maki-e The rest of the fittings are a bit of a mixture but if you want a date then late Edo would probably do. What's the blade like? All the best.

Dear Tatyana. A very nice thing to own. Does it come in shirasaya? If not then that would be a good thing to do. If you are not familiar with the care of swords then have a look at the FAQ link at the top toolbar. For reference here is a papered sword, https://nihontoantiques.com/project/wakazashi-sword-fss-697/ Does your's have papers? What ever you call a steal this is a nice piece. Congratulations. All the best.

You are doing well! I can't even tpye strgiht and I've got no ecxuse.

Or Jakushi? All the best.

Congratulations Dave. Great to see some of your collection and well done for the programme. All the best.

Dear Bamer. (If that is not your name then please add your name to posts here.) A mixture of tsuba, not in great condition. Cast iron tsuba are bad news and some of yours are cast iron I'm afraid. Tsuba 1, cast iron I think. Tsuba 2, the most interesting for me, the circular hole in the middle suggest it has been used as a decorative element in Europe, perhaps the backing for a door knob. What does the other side look like? Tsuba 3, again, cast and crudely done. Tsuba 4, poor quality and may be cast iron. Tsuba 5, might be OK but poor condition. Tsuba 6,I think fake, the size of the seppa dai and the upside down signature. Tsuba7, Shingunto tsuba from WWII. Tsuba8, perhaps trying to be Chosu school but muddy detail and other signs that it may be cast. Bowl, sake cup, probably from WWII. Show a photo the right way up and someone may be able to read the inscription. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hope others will correct me if I am wrong. All the best.

Dear Lex. Nothing to worry about, this is not a fake and neither is the koshirae. Comments in your other thread are pertinent, if you like this and have the ability to have the habaki repaired it will be a nice and perfectly genuine Japanese sword. All the best.

Dear Lex. Legit is an interesting choice of words. The sword has papers for both the blade and koshirae. I struggle to see enough detail on these images to tell very much but there are a couple of points to note. The very nice saya is matched to some attractive fittings, some of the same is disappearing from the tsuka which could be restored but could also be left as it is. One piece of the two piece habaki is missing, again this could be restored and is much more important in my view than the same as it materially affects the fit of the sword in the saya. There is no shirasaya for the blade. I only see one seppa, if the sword fits the koshirae with only one seppa and a part of the habaki then sword and koshirae probably didn't start life together, you will only be able to tell that with the sword in hand. Also possible is that a previous owner has changed the tsuba and removed a seppa to maker this one fit. So, can you see the sword in hand? If not ask some questions. If you like the answers then go for it, get the habaki repaired and enjoy what will be a nice sword. Others will say that suriage Shinto swords are not good but that it a personal choice and I don;t think this is too bad at the price, however it won't want to go much higher. All of the above are just my opinion and naturally the choice is yours, I'd be tempted. All the best.

Dear Bob. I assume your response was a late night call as the sword has a mei, well finished nakago and papers then o suriage is out surely? Simon is indeed fortunate that he is able to collect at a level that allows him to dismiss such a sword as of no interest. If I had been able to buy it I would be very happy. Ben, I'm afraid I can't answer your question off hand but I'm sure others will. I think it's a nice thing to have and I hope you enjoy both your sword and the research. As a general rule where many generations of a swordsmith's name exist the detail gets a little fuzzy towards the later ones. It is not unusual to find conflicting evidence . All the best.

Dear Tom. I might be wrong but the photographs look very much like the ones in a certain sale catalogue which would account for the koshirae being illustrated as well as the oshigata. i do hope you find the other menuki but in any case another pair, some TLC and a good rewrap will see this become a very nice koshirae and worth the money you have spent on it's own. You did well and it's a fascinating package. All the best.

Dear Greg. I have to confess to an irrational liking for the tsuba, the fuchi kashira are what they are, middle of the road when new and showing considerable wear now. All you need is a pair of menuki and a rewrap and they will serve as a mount for your sword but if you want a quality scale have a look at this thread. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/13286-the-fuchikashira-orphanage/ Scroll down to post six by Dale and have a look at the photos. Enjoy. All the best.

It will be interesting to see what they come back with. Keep us up dated. All the best.

Dear Matthew. Now you just need to go and lie down in a darkened room for mentioning wire wool on this forum, certainly several members will have to do the same as they will be feeling faint at the very thought. So that's a "No!" then. You might try a stiff brush like an old toothbrush but watch out for fraying the ito which might be very fragile. Some careful work with a wooden cocktail stick might do the trick. As far as the blade goes you might free those black marks with some uchiko, you certainly aren't going to harm a top level polish on this one, otherwise gentle rubbing with some sword oil. Whatever happens go slow and enjoy your sword. All the best.

Dear Jay. If you are chasing this one primarily for the sugata then you know about this one, right? http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/swords/k15-moroha-tanto-koshirae-mihara-masaoki-3-papers I know which one I'd chose. But then, I'm fond of Mihara blades. All the best.