Stefan

Well, what is the fuss about ? Before WWII there have been collections of japaneses swords in Berlin. During the war, many houses have been bombed, many swords have been destroyed. So it is no wonder to find such an thing in an cellar filled up with rubble etc. Nobody cared at this time about antqiues. They did have serious problems. Does this Wakizashi has something to do with the gifts presented to the German Emporer by the Japanes, no. Why not take it as what it is. An wakizashi which has been destroyed during the war. All the other is pure speculation and nonsens.

Yes, it is so simple if one only understand what chikei realy is. The technical def. is so dam easy. But well, here are some chips and coke....next round in the color-fight !

Why not use the simple technique description of chikei ? Chikei are lines of fine nie in the ji. So if there is an nie line, than we do have chikei, if there is no nie line, no chikei. Regarding the color : This has nothing to do with the defintion. Even nie appears in different colors, i say only kuro ( black ) nie by example. Another example, kinsuji and ginsuji, both are lines of nie, but one reflects more golden, the other silver. Differnt colors of unhardend steel are also not unsual. So the only way to say chikei or not is the simple defintion. Just my two humble cents.

Just an chinese inspired shape. Suriage in the kissaki area would have destroyed the kaeri of the boshi., but it is there and it runs along the mune for an long term.

It is an sunagashi and it is nie. Sunagashi are lines of nie.

I knew the sword. I do not know what is more exellent. The blade or the polish Kentaro Yoshikawa Sensei. Who ever will purchase this, he will b the proud owner of one of the best pieces of Doi.

Well, the blade is not in pristine polish. So i would say, oil it, wipe and than uchiko. Do this for an long, long time and the rust will mostly disappear. It needs patience.Far as i can see the rust ist superficial and new, should work well.

Ok. The hole is modern, the "yasurime" in this case an type of sensuki is wrong and sluggish, the kanji is more than poorly written. All this is not typical for an real nihonto. If one takes an look on the blade : Oh no,looks not good. This blade does not have anything one would expect in an Kato school sword. Could it be an later copy, well even in showato such sluggish nakago finish is rarely seen.

Nice China-To

Hon`ami Nisshu, one of the relay great appraisers of the Honami school of sword polishers . He has been an living national treasure .Honami judgement is in many cases more reliable than the NBTHK. I said in many cases . Hon ami like Choshiki, oh no....`

Hi Sabiji old friend ! Od course i can see it. Who told You the first time about the secondary hada...Ups has been me. You remember the nice evening in the pub...An good pint and an more than interesting talk. Had been good times. Well one of the most prominent smith for this is Sendai Kunikane. Far as i remember Mishina Sensei got his Mukansa for bringing out just this effect on an Kunikane, the super fine secondary hada in the masame structure.

The first blade which nearly took my breath aways a ko mihara masie, nearly ubu nanbo tachi. Flawless, thick and healthy. An monster. Some times later, an o-suriage waki, oh only ichimonji but the mounting, complete set by hamano noriyuki. Some times later i can not believe my eyes i thought at this time. The same collector who owned the first one came along with another blade. shodai murmasa katana with, which is more important ! Complete , ubu tensho koshirae. At this time i ve been 22 or so. In the following years i have been honored to handle so much great blades. May sound arrogant, but at some point i really thought, not again ichimonji.... But ! one of the impressive blades i ve been honored to handle during the last five years, an ubu ichimonji tachi, so healthy, thick an mighty that at a first short glance one would say "gendei copy" but no, real old solid ichimonji. I stumbeled over super fine rai kunimitsu, an ubu shodai nobukuni tachi and so on. But on my learning journey i learned also that some schools like the bungo are totally underestimated. I ve seen an bungu tadayuki which has been in no way inferrior to hizen to of the top rank. Super fine jiagne with much ji-nie powder ( konuka like ), suguha in best controlled nie, good shape. Oh i am talking to much, sorry for the random thoughts.

Wow. There is good chance that it is Jitsua. But even if not, it is an very fine blade.

O.K. Hadori. First of all. If it is well done even the strongest Hadori will not kill an features in the Yakiba and Habuchi. In spite of that, it will improve their appearance. The Nie will be more brilliant, the Ashi better visible etc. That is only logical, because the stone used in Hadori is the same as to bring them out before Jitsuya and Nugui after the Jibiki. But, to do this it takes patience, and much time. Doing perfect Hadori on an Katana, well two days, three days. This time must be paid. This is the one reason for the effect of Ashi who disappears during Habori Shiage. in order to shorten the process, an slightly other stone is used. it whitens the area much faster and saves time and money. This is done in cheap polishes. Therefore if one orders an cheap polish, well... Another problem, impatient clients. If one does not have the right tone at hand at the moment, well the client must be willed to wait some time. As I said, it depends all on the correct stone and technique. Without, no way to do an good job. Logical, isn it ? So if You force Your Togishi to be faster, "lost" Ashi can be the result. Than the decision Sashikomi or Hadori. I would not say that this is only the customers decision. There are technical requirements in the blade which must be filled up by the blade, otherwise Sashikomi simply does not work well. By example, Sashikomi on an partial tiered blade, please not. The technique uses the different hardness of the steel in the Ji and ha, What do You think would it do with soft Jigane. Exact, super dark ugly patches. These are only technical thoughts about the whole thing, if talk about asthetics, many times Hadori is the best way. there must be a balance between the Toshin and the Ji-Ba. Imagine an small, fine Tanto with an completely hectic Hitatsura. The whole thing should be calmed down slightly in order to give the Toshin and the Jiba an balance. Just my random thougths about Hadori.

Should fill Your need .https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b682-Japanese-master-swordsmiths-gassan-tradition Otherwise try Nihonto Koza or the Yamanaka Newsletter.