Corucia

Many thanks Grey. Much appreciated. Eric

Many thanks to all for the feedback on the sword I posted yesterday. I appreciate all the insights and I'm learning as I go. While not the period of sword ive been looking for, one member suggested that I look closely atthe below sword that is listed on eBay. I wanted to post it here for a reference/reality check as it appears to be a fine sword from a very well regarded smith. The seller indicated the sword is a genuine shodai tadayoshi. While it doesn't have papers it is signed and and the mei, to my eyes, looks genuine but I'm an amateur at this. I know tadayoshi is quite famous and well collected so i thought it would be worthwhile to check with the board re: the opinions of those who have an eye for tadayoshi's work. Any thoughts? Eric http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-NIHONT ... 415ef2ce6d

Thanks Grey. Funny as I was able to launch from my iPad w/o password. Can't figure out how load a pick from my device. If you don't mind, I'll send you a few pics for reference. Eric

Thanks Ray. Appreciate your insight. I'm not in a rush to buy something so I may indeed hold off on this sword. Grey, here are som pics of the wakizashi I picked up (see kink below). Checked the original details and the smith was identified as samitsu by the seller. Perhaps translation is wrong. Pics include images of the tang and mei so perhaps someone can translate the signature. Many thanks again to all for the feedback. Erin https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=ed25d028 ... 89C4%21852

Ken, I think you may be right. I don't have the exact translation in front of me. Will try to post a pic of the mei when I get back to a Plc later.

Ken, Uwe, Thanks for the notes. While I'm relatively new to the sword community, this wouldnt be my first sword as I have picked up two swords recently. One is a very fine condition (but unpapered) wakizashi signed bishu osfune samitsu and dated February 1410. Very nice sword whose hamon has strong notare ha and lots of nice activity as well as healthy boshi. The other is an unsigned koto tachi, likely from circa 1300-1320. It has seen many polishes and has some grain openings but it retains its classic tachi shape, is in nice polish and still has full boshi and a fairly well defined hamon. I've been looking for an investment grade old tachi from either the Kamakura or nanbokucho period and the sword above comes close to fitting the bill with what I've been looking for in terms of quality, shape/characteristics and nbthk papers (tokubetsu Hozon / tokubetsu kicho grade). Still, this would be a meaningfully higher purchase price vs what I have historically spent thus far and there were enough questions in my mind about this particular sword that I wanted to reach out to this community (which is very well regarded) for some opinions. Hope that clarifies things and again appreciate all the views/opinions. Eric

Thanks for the insights Grey and Adam. I'm still in the learning phase and appreciate the feedback. As you noted, I think a/the major point of concern for me is the lack of visible temper line due to all of the polish/ "make up" on the hamon, which isn't really that clear either. Also, its tough to tell if the hamon is actually continuous over the full blade and there could be anything under it as the pics the seller posted dont reveal much. I've asked for additional pics so we'll see what he sends. Separately, I've posted a note on the translation site to see if someone can translate the Nbthk paper the seller has posted. in any case, appreciate the insights and any additional thoughts from the forum. Eric

I'm a new member of the site and considering purchasing the second sword listed on the below site. http://japansword.art.coocan.jp/ The sword in question is the tachi attributed to Fujishima Tomoshige. I've posted a note elsewhere on the site looking for feedback on the sword in general but wanted to post a note here to see if someone could help me translate the Nbthk paper. If you click through the main image of the second sword, you'll see a scan of the nbthk paper. The seller indicates that the sword is Nbthk attributed to Fujishima tomoshige and he claims this particular Tomoshige is second generation, rai school. In any case, any help you can provide in translating the paper would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Eric

Dear all, I'm a newly registered member and fairly new to sword collecting in general. I wanted to solicit the opinions of the experts on this site with regard to an old tachi I'm considering purchasing. The tachi is the second sword listed on the following site http://japansword.art.coocan.jp/ The sword has Nbthk tokubetsu Hozon papers and Nbthk attributed the sword to Fujishima Tomoshige, a smith during the Oei period. The seller indicates that Tomoshige was a rai school smith and he believes that this particular Tomoshige was second generation. The seller has posted several pictures of the sword which can be seen via click through on the above link. Note, the quality of the pics isn't high and it is difficult to make out the details of the hamon and boshi. The seller also claims that the tang is original/unshortened although I'm puzzled by the second hole and it's placement In any case, I would welcome the boards insight on this sword as I have been looking for a high quality tachi for some time and this sword looks quite nice but with some questionable attributes. Thoughts and feedback are very welcome. Many thanks, Eric