Geraint

Dear Wayne, Always a great feeling when you get to look at a new purchase. Other than to confirm what you suggest about the saya having been covered in leather was this post just to share or did you want opinions? If the later then everyone will want some good shots of the nakago and a good overall shot of the blade plus some dimensions. Meanwhile, enjoy! And......I have just seen the photos in your other thread........

Gethin, that's a beauty. Try this, you will have to scroll down for it and the mei is not all that clear. http://www.choshuya.co.jp/1/0802/member_frame_fittings.htm All the best.

Dear Lukas. I think you have a lovely find here. Is there a separate soft metal insert in the fuchi? The detail of the work, not least the ito maki which while fragile is very good, and the koi guchi as well as the detail of the fittings on the fuchi, the matching kojiri and the overall theme lead me to disagree with Steve. Nice original koshirae and though a little worn very well worth preserving. Enjoy

Well Kinnan, I wish my first sword was that good! If the tip problem is fatal it will have gone through the hamon, if not then it might be fixable though it would still detract. However the fittings! That looks like a shakudo tsuba and the rest of them look nice. The missing kurikata would be easy to replace and with a little cleaning and the rebind of the hilt the whole thing will look really nice. For 10 euro you did well. All the best.

Of course you could always just buy a nice koshirae, have a look at these. http://www.nihonto.com/itemsalekoshirae.htmlor these, https://www.aoijapan.com/fittings/koshirae All the best.

Hi Jay. A lot of us get tempted in this direction, it is a very good experience and you could learn a lot by doing it. As is always the case knowing how something is done and being able to do it are two completely different things and you will discover a new respect for the Japanese craftsmen who produce koshirae. I suppose the answer to your question is a big NO as far as papered fittings go. If you are hoping to get the koshirae to look right and if by build you mean commission the relevant craftsmen to do the work then the cost is going to be high and you will almost certainly never recoup that when the time comes to pass it on. If you want to have a go yourself then, as I mentioned this can be a most educational experience but you will learn just as much by using lower end, unpapered fittings. This is certainly what I would suggest most especially for your first attempt. Have fun with this. All the best.

Dear Rodriguez I am not surprised that you are having difficulty with these photographs, not even a good shot of the boshi. If all you have to go on are these photographs then I would be stepping back. No chance of seeing the sword in hand I suppose? All the best.

Dear Rodriguez, What advice are you looking for? It is rather hard to comment unless we know what your questions are. All the best.

Hi Grev, Here's one, http://www.nihonto.us/TANAKA%20TSUBA%20LARGE.htm Hope you have deep pockets, they don't come cheap. All the best

I'd call it a collection.

Hi Chris. As Ed says it's hard to tell much from the images but the black material is almost certainly horn if the shirasaya is Japanese and the rings are an added feature of fine shirasaya, made from a sliver of plant and inlaid into very shallow recesses, both are the marks of a high quality shirasaya. All the best

Hi Mark. Hard to tell from the images but it may be an older blade in good gunto mounts, nothing wrong with them apart from the lack of paint. When yo get it and can take the tsuka off then images of that and an overall shot of the blade would help. Enjoy.

As fate would have it I have a very similar sword here at the moment, not my own but a friend's. This seems to be a civilian wakizashi converted for carry during WWII. The habaki might indeed be chrysanthemum, or possible rising sun. The sword here has an almost identical one but silver foiled and is a Fujiwara Takada blade with nice civilian fittings. If the case is the same as yours, and it matches in almost every regard including the leather collar around the fuchi to secure the sword, that would account for the apparently large tsuka. Looking forward to some more pictures but Fujiwara Takada would be a reasonable guess at the moment. Al the best

Hi Barrie, For detailed information have a look at this thread, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/11672-inherited-this-tantois-it-real/?hl=%2Bsendai+%2Bkoshirae&do=findComment&comment=120752 About tenth post down Rich S provides a lot of detail. All the best.

So the opening along the length of the sword looks like a forging flaw, I had wondered if the sword was drawn when the bullet struck the saya but in the later pictures I think I can see a dent above the forging flaw which suggest otherwise. There is no way to know if the saya was burned at the same time or later by somebody's fireplace. I think the mirror like polish has the look of something done post war to "clean it up", hard to tell from photos. Looking at the image of the kissaki does anyone else see what looks like a hagire just back from the yokote or is it just a scratch? I'd love to be wrong. All the best

Hi Tony, I had a look a ta few mei for him and I agree with Steve, the manner of the cutting looks a little odd. However the example you give at Bonhams is not to be relied on, scroll down the listing to the bottom left and you will see that they say very carefully that the sword is after Masahide. That is auction house speak for something like this. "Well we got your attention with a really big name and we are hoping for some really big bids even though we have been told very clearly that this is gimei, (we don't like to use the word fake around here). So we were kind of hoping that you will read the big name and make a whacking great bid but just in case you do that and send it for papers and it fails we can point to this little line down here and get away with it." Hope this helps.

Greg, Looking as best I can at the image I would say fake shirasaya; wrong wood, wrong shape, wrong quality. Hope that helps. All the best.

Hi Florian, If you mean a layer of veneer on the top of the edge of the box seen when opened then that is quite likely an original feature of the box, not something added later. All the best.

Dear Yves, These images show that these kodzuka were mounted to European cutlery, the glue used is clearly visible towards the edges. I have found that soaking them in a jar of very hot water will degrade this glue and then it can be cleared. If you put your finger nail inside the lip of the front you will be able to tell if that part is thick metal or if it is very this and therefore a pressing. I don't think you have anything great but if I was to pick it would be the bottom one in your last image. All the best.

Dear Yves. Take a good look into the mouth of each, a lot of late kodzuka were made from thin metal pressings which you should be able to detect from the view inside the mouth. One or two of these look a little doubtful but hopefully you will find them all good. Enjoy. All the best

Dear Stefan. Welcome! We could really do with better pictures if you can. The sword appears to be signed Kanenori, very hard to pin down which one of the many this could be. The tsuka looks to be a bit scruffy and the tsuba is missing one or two elements but could be nice. Koto/Shinto doesn't help much as it covers almost all of sword history, perhaps the seller meant to suggest that it was made around 1600 at the end of the Koto period and beginning of Shinto. Personally I would say Shinto I would look carefully at the kissaki, hard to tell from your photograph but the shape looks odd. Hope that helps. All the best.

Matt, the length of the habaki and the fact that it seems to narrow towards the tsuka as well as the general lack of precision in the geometry. Habaki do vary in length but they should always appear in proportion though longer ones do occur. This one is very short for a katana. They should seem to flow naturally into the tsuka widening as they approach it, this one does not. Like everything else about Japanese swords there are exceptions but these are the factors that make me question this one. Hope that helps. All the best

Matt. I would go very carefully on this one, apart from the blade irregularities,the seppa size, the tsuba, the rest of the mounts, the ito and most of all the habaki............... If these are all the images you have walk away, walk quickly away. All the best.

Rats are regarded in a different light in Japan and often feature in works of art. Quite often with a frustrated rat catcher. This has revealed the true quality of the tsuba and wow! All the best.

Yves, We all love an optimist but....... Even before the damage to the tsuba you illustrate was it a sublime bit of metalwork? Natsuo is one of the greats for very good reasons. Start by looking at the hitsu. All the best.