J Reid

Any arsenal stamps? Your photo crops out just before the suspected location would be. The yasurimei makes me lean on showato..

Compare mei to other oshigata to determine validity. Nakago was heavily cleaned... Value=1/2. I wouldn't recommend restoration. Maybe polish a window for appreciation.

Yes I agree with Adam. I find with sukashi designs my taste is quite particular. This is a very attractive tsuba.

I have seen 1 blade by Ono yoshimitsu for sale @30k. I would say you're looking at the same price range give or take a few K. I would say that, again, IMO nothing beats an old koto blade that's won and lost many many battles. Ono yoshimitsu is a fine smith today. So I am sure 600 years ago he would've been just as great. Quality runs throughout the centuries. Apples and oranges. If you can afford it, buy one of each.

The blade looks to have some pretty nasty kizu on it in a couple places. I don't think you should polish it. For the $2600+ it would cost to polish and put in shirasaya you could invest in another purchase of an already mint blade. The fuchi-kashira and menuki are a set though. I would rip those babies off and put them in a box. I think if this sword is of "sentimental" value to you then a shirasaya, and if you must, a "touch up polish" to bring out some features a bit more would cost about $1000.

With the amount of money you'd fork out for a mukansa smith, you could go equally as high with an older blade IMO. With any budget- It's really preference.. I'd much rather own a blade with history than one made yesterday. But then again.. young.. old.. I love em all! Hah

Guys guys guys.. This all leads to Jeans initial opinion that miike swords had little funbari to none as they're quite robust throughout. The oshigata shows a blade with minimal funbari as per what Jean had said due to it being robust. There are some blades that have signifigant funbari and some that have very little. Some blades are generally thin throughout their sugata and others that are thick throughout their sugata. Both can hide funbari depending on when and where the taper begins, whether they are ubu, and depending on the original shape and design.. whether or not they're suriage or O-suriage? If we are arguing about whether the oshigata portrays a blade with funbari, we would say yes it has little funbari. Both Jacques, and Jean are right...

Amen!

Yes any sword made by traditional methods by a smith that is no longer living has the opportunity to go juyo etc. Seems that the nbthk is not quick to offer that status to young blades though. Might still need to let the clock run before we start seeing gendaito and shinsakuto go juyo.

This goes hand in hand with the previous topic about gendaito going juyo. As for a smith's blade going juyo during his lifetime- it won't happen. You need to be dead to have one of your blades papered. lol

http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/ ... 45591be342 ..just found this. It's a locked thread, but has some clear pics of that shallow and wide bohi..

I don't know what miike Hi looks like, but this sword's bohi looks squarish and fairly "wide".. I am interested in seeing better pictures and I'm with Brian on seeing other examples.. OP- do not remove the patina from the nakago (tang)..

Saw this exact blade on eBay for a long time at a buy it now price of about what this seller is asking. I would think its the same seller trying another venue. Blades looks good. Maybe try to haggle the price a little? Pay by paypal and you will be fine.

Nagamitsu

Haha okay. So this is the purpose for signing. To register.

- Mike said this in a reply? Sounds like he is coming clean.. "Hypothetically". We can agree he knows more than he is saying, right? I find this to be the most likely situation. It's completely possible to have this done in Japan and to get away with it too. It's not rocket science. I do not think these are of Chinese origin. I think they are signed gimei to cool the trail, not raise value. I agree with brian that if they were unsigned and mounted that currently these could command higher prices being most likely made in Japan by a Japanese person out of tamahagane and water quenched making them true "nihonto". This being the key factor as to why Chinese smiths make nothing for their work.

Yes this was discussed last time this seller had an unusual amount of gendai/shinsaku blades pop up. It was pointed out that all seemed to be made by the same smith as the forging pattern seemed to be consistent amongst them with a lamination fold running in the Hamon on all of them.

Yes the Nakago is the tang. The blade looks like it's in pretty good shape and still in decent polish. Looks like a good buy for the right price.

Judging by the last pic there I'd say 16th c. sounds about right. Looks like an echizen seki school blade from the Shinto period. Can you photograph the Nakago?

Yes. I have 2 blades in for restoration. 1 blade in for a touch up (not sure who is doing that). A couple shirasaya and tsunagi being made through Tirado. But Bob is doing the full polish on the second blade and the price per inch I was quoted is fantastic. :D

I just wanted to mention on the topic of rates; that I am having quite a bit of work done by Mr. Benson right now and he charged me an EXTREMELY GOOD rate for everything including shipping etc. Very competitive, I must say..

Well now I feel silly.. I thought that the initial hozon certificate I posted as an example was the nidai! I apologize I read that wrong. I looked around and all I can find is examples of the shodai. I revoke my opinion.

The other thing was nidai has a tendency to end strokes with a hawk feather and shodai doesn't seem to do that.

Jacques, The only reason I said nidai as oppose to shodai is because the strokes of nidai seem more controlled, compressed, and hugging the shinogi ridge. Where as shodai seem to be a bit more "loose" and fall over ridge often. That being said- The mei styles are almost identical, yasurimei, and jiri between the 2 generations. It's hard to tell without a picture of the blade itself. Would you agree? Shodai---Vvv