Corucia

Many thanks Chris. That's what I thought but the second character wasn't totally clear to me. There appear to be quite a number of Nobukuni smiths across a variety of periods. Do you have any views on period? Do you think this is the smith from the Nanbokucho period? Eric

Here are some additional pics Eric

Folks, I was wondering if I could tap into the collective intelligence of the Board and ask for some opinions, insights and help translating the Mei for the tanto pictured below. I have an opportunity to buy the tanto, which appears to be in nice shape, has attractive horimono and old NBTHK tokubetsu kichyo papers for both the tanto and koshirae. However, I've had some difficulty translating the mei, which I think is nobu kuni, although I don't think the second character matches well for kuni (at least given the images on nihonto kanji http://www.jssus.org/nkp/kanji_for_mei.html). Also, as I haven't researched tanto's as much as I have tachi/katana, I'd welcome opinions from the Board regarding how this one stacks up in general. Also, I've been told that horimono adds meaningfully to value, but would welcome insights. Many thanks in advance Eric "Corucia"

Martin, Addressing your earlier post, here is a somewhat clearer pic of the nakago that I received. For reference, it is right around 22cm in length. I also posted a few other pics that didn't upload to the original post. To my amateur eye, I think the jiri is untouched/original but welcome the opinions of others with more experience. Here are a few additional details/dimensions. The seller indicated that sword was given to a shrine in the Edo period and was acquired 80 years ago by a family in Japan that held the sword until this time. The exact length of the nagasa is 75.8cm with 2.0cm of curvature. The width of the blade at the hamachi is 2.62cm and thickness is 7.2mm. The width at the Kissaki is 1.17cm, so while it has probably been polished a fair amount over time it doesn't sound overpolished/tired. In any case, would welcome any other thoughts folks have, which are much appreciated. Many thanks, Eric

Jean/Adam/Martin, many thanks for the observations and suggestions re: my new sword. I'm in the process of following-up with a few Japan-based shinsa services providers to have the sword submitted to NBTHK - - thanks for the suggestions from various board members. It will be very interesting to see how it ranks now that it is in polish (vs. not in good polish when it received the Hozon paper). Any additional insight/feedback on the sword is very much welcome. I'll definitely post additional pics once I get the sword back from Japan but it will be some time given the shinsa process. Many thanks to all again for feedback. Eric

Jean, you are absolutely correct. I meant to indicate it was Yamato tradition. Found the below from one of the sites that you were good enough to forward to me. http://nihontoclub.com/node/12468?order ... &sort=desc Eric

Raymond/Martin/Jean, many thanks for the notes. Here is a larger pic of the paper. I'll post additional pics in the future once I have the sword in hand

Mark, many thanks for the contacts. I'm trying to have the individual who has the sword in Japan help out but not sure he will be willing to go through the trouble. If he won't do it, I'll reach out to the two points of contact you suggested. Cheers, Eric

Folks, I posted this on the general board but wanted to list it here as well as I wasn't sure which board is more appropriate for the question. As some of you might recall, I was hunting for an old tachi last month and appreciated all the feedback/insights that I received from various members of the board. It was a very helpful education as I am still getting my feet wet. Ultimately, I managed to track down and purchase a nice quality unsigned Yamato tachi from the early to mid-Kamakura period. While the tang is unsigned (which I understand is typical for Yamato den), it is ubu nakago and the nagasa is a nice length at 76cm with ~2cm of curvature. The sword is located in Japan and already has NBTHK Hozon paper, which attributed the sword to the Ko-Naminohira school. I included a few pics below for reference. As the sword has received a new polish (and it was out of polish when it was given the Hozon paper), I’d like to have it submitted to NBTHK for Tokubetsu Hozon consideration while it is still in Japan. To this end, I wanted to inquire if folks on the board might have any recommendations for reliable shinsa service providers in Japan who can help out with the process. Any ideas members can provide would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Eric

Folks, As some of you might recall, I was hunting for an old tachi last month and appreciated all the feedback/insights that I received from various members of the board. It was a very helpful education as I am still getting my feet wet. Ultimately, I managed to track down and purchase a nice quality unsigned Yamato tachi from the early to mid-Kamakura period. While the tang is unsigned (which I understand is typical for Yamato den), it is ubu nakago and the nagasa is a nice length at 76cm with ~2cm of curvature. The sword is located in Japan and already has NBTHK Hozon paper, which attributed the sword to the Ko-Naminohira school. I included a few pics below for reference. As the sword has received a new polish (and it was out of polish when it was given the Hozon paper), I’d like to have it submitted to NBTHK for Tokubetsu Hozon consideration while it is still in Japan. To this end, I wanted to inquire if folks on the board might have any recommendations for reliable shinsa service providers in Japan who can help out with the process. Any ideas members can provide would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Eric

Totally agree Piers. If I was able to translate the mei and province with absolutely no experience it makes one wonder just who he had look at the sword. Still, it's an intriguing piece if genuine Eric

Adam/Curran, to my eye the province reads hizen, correct? Is so, it would point to the smith masatsugu from either Hizen kanei period (1624-1644) or hizen koto. Seems like the kanei smith is more likely. Any opinions on if this mei is might genuine or gimei? I realize it's hard to tell particularly given the poor quality pics that don't really display any of the swords features in detail. Eric

Thanks Jean/Adam. I'll let you know my best stab at the rest of the translation Eric

Jean, Thanks for providing the translation site. It's very helpful, particularly for a neophyte such as me. The first character is clearly "Masa" but I'm having some trouble with the second character - - I can't quite make out the strokes on the left hand of the character. My best guess is that the second character it is "Tsugu" but it's not quite a match (thus could be Masatsugu from Mino province circa 1530). Would welcome insights/opinions of others. Many thanks, Eric

Also, here is the eBay link for those that are interested. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Japanes ... 336e6aed4a

Folks, just wondering of someone can translate the below which was recently posted on eBay. Many thanks.

Thanks Adam. I'll search around for that term and see if I can find that activity on my sword. Will post addl pics if it looks like I can identify/match. At the end of the day, i'll probably submit it for shinsa. Thanks again for all the help. Eric

Many thank Jean. This was a fairly modestly priced sword so I'm not surprised that the attribution is probably not morimitsu. Note, the seller thought the mei was bishu osafune samitsu. This smith is apparently listed on nihontoclub and bizen school

Perfect Jean. Many thanks Eric

Many thanks David. Much appreciated. Eric

Jean, per your post, I sent you a bunch of pics of my wakizashi, including some detailed shots of the hamon and hada (i couldn't manage to post directly to the site from my iPad) They hopefully give you a better sense to judge if the sword might be something special. Feel free to post any of the pics if you like -- opinions and insight are much appreciated. Eric

Brian/Chris, to the points you've made, perhaps I chose my words imprecisely. I've been a collector of a variety of antique/collectible classes for over 30 years, dating back to my youth when my father would take me to large and small house auction houses to bid on the antique classes he began collecting in the 1940s after the war -- European furniture, European paintings, chineses and egyptian antiquities, etc. I inherited my dad's appreciation for art ans antiques as well as his collecting bug and over time expanded the horizons of his collection focus to include american federal and empire furniture, ethnographic/African art, watches and other stuff. Japanese swords is a fairly new category to me but I'm slowly learning what to look for and hope to build a collection of fine quality swords that I can pass onto my kids. Perhaps the term I should have used is heirloom quality instead of investment quality, which would be more appropriate to my collecting style. As I've never sold any piece/collectible I've yet acquired, and still own the vast majority of my fathers collection which dates back in some cases almost 70 years, I'd like to find the best quality pieces that I can reasonably afford and enjoy their presence in my home. Make sense? Eric

Jean, I can email you a number of detailed pics of my sword and would welcome your insights. Also feel free to post any of the pics I send for reference. I'm about th head out for a business trip but will try to send some pics before going wheels-up or after I touch down. Many thanks, Eric

Martin/Adam, Many thanks for the insight. Seemed to be too good to be true and, "no returns" was clearly a warning sign. An ounce of prevention (ie asking the experts) is clearly worth a pound of cure (ie me trying to figure out mei vs gimei). Thanks again Eric

Folks, thanks for all the feedback on the mei. Sounds like this sword could be more rare than I had known. I have addl pics I can post but nothing clearer on the tang at this time. Sword is very good quality and in excellent condition.