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This seller is very knowledgeable and knows exactly what he is selling. As a rule of thumb, with any seller, if he says it's gimei, you can bet it is gimei. However, just because he doesn't mention anything about the authenticity of the mei, you CANNOT assume that the mei is good. Unless you have a good library and do your due diligence with books+online, you are playing Russian roulette. You can ask a direct question to the seller: "Will you guarantee the sword to pass Hozon, within a period of 1 year (or however long you think it will take you to get it submitted and judged)?" If he says no, take it as a gimei and pay accordingly. Regards, Hoanh

Ninjato? Pictures, please. Hoanh EDIT: If you have trouble posting pictures, remember there are two requirements on each picture: 1)must be less than 2400x2400 pixels, and 2)must be less than 1MB.

Is this the item in question? http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-Antique-SIG ... 3cdc6c33d3 Hoanh

Dear tphan, Please sign all of your posts or they will be deleted by the Mods. The sword is signed Norimitsu, a well-regarded Bizen smith, but the hamon looks Mino. Matching the mei and the hamon, I would hazard a guess that it's gimei. The mounts are not high quality. Overall, it's not too terribly exciting (in my opinion). I would recommend buying a few (inexpensive) books and read them before making a commitment to buy. Regards, Hoanh

Hoanh

Thank you very much George and Chris. In a few days, after I'm done with spring cleaning (yes, it's Spring in southern California), I'll post close up pictures of the sword. In light of what George said, this is an interesting sword. The mei is exactly as linked in my OP (with a star stamp, of course), but the sword is dated November 1942. Anyhow, I just purchased a tanto and a friend's Takahashi Yoshimune, which pictures I posted a while back if you recall. The Yoshimune badly needs a polish and new shirasaya. So, in full disclosure, this sword by Munetoshi will probably have to go. If so, I'll post it in the "For Sale or Trade" forum when the time comes. Regards, Hoanh

Hi, I would appreciate any info you have on Munetoshi, a RJT smith http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/munetosh.jpg Regards, Hoanh Edit: From what I read, he was a student of Kamasa Shigetsugu. His younger brother Akihisa was also a well-regarded RJT smith.

Thank you Mark. Hoanh

Hi, Does anyone know on which weekend of August 2014 the San Francisco Token Kai will be held? I am currently planning my summer activities and any info will be much appreciated. Regards, Hoanh

Stephen, Glad things worked out for you. Filing a claim seems to have turned wheels in the bureaucracy. I just sent off a blade to NTHK-NPO shinsa today and made sure to insure it for the full value. With my luck, the one time I forget to insure it will be the time something goes wrong. Hoanh

Stephen, If I were you, I would file a claim now. It will take them a while to investigate before they will honor the claim. If the package surfaces in the mean time, you can always cancel the red alert. My sword finally showed up at my door step after almost 2 weeks. I feel your pain. Hoanh

Now, I am scared.... Hoanh

Stephen, John Tirado shipped my sword & new shirasaya back to me on Jan. 21 by registered mail. The sword was supposed to have been delivered on Jan. 23. Today is 1/29 and the sword is nowhere to be seen. USPS tracking says the sword is still in Philadelphia...basically next door to where John dropped off the shipment, after 6 working days... Hoanh

I think this subject has come up time and again in the past, and in the end, people "agreed to disagree." This situation will not change, ever, because we are all different in our personalities and beliefs, and this forum is maintained and posted on a voluntary basis. Short of paying people a salary, one cannot effectively legislate behavior. The mods have done a great job to ensure decent behavior (no name-calling, foul language, etc.), but other than that, all is fair game. For people giving advice, please see Fred's post above. I don't think it will cost us anything to give advice in an impersonal manner - just the facts. There is no need to be warm and fuzzy if we don't feel like it, but we can leave our frustrations out of the posts. For people seeking advice, please remember that people give their valuable advice here for free, and they have been answering the same questions over and over and over. They are only human, and frustrations get in the way of cordiality sometimes. We have to look past the apparent "rudeness" and see the motives. Why are people taking time out of their busy day to post answers to your questions? To insult you or to guide you? It takes a lot of time to post relevant info, especially if people have to crack open their (expensive) references and post pages for you to see. Please keep this in mind and look past the language used in the posts. Life is all give-and-take, gentlemen (and ladies). I don't believe in world peace and utopia, but I believe we can tolerate and co-exist with others. Hoanh

I checked all of the examples in Fujishiro and in Nihonto Zuikan, which does have an example from the Sandai. All of these examples have a consistent way of chiseling the kikumon in which the petals are cut farther toward the center of the kikumon, and it is characteristically different from the kikumon on your sword. This was mentioned by Ron in his post. Matt also summed up nicely how the kanji are chiseled differently. In fact, all of the kanji are different from those on papered swords, and I don't really know where to begin. One obvious example is the bottom stroke of the last kanji "michi." In fact, one can find very substantial differences in every kanji. I would venture a guess that it's gimei. There is a NTHK-NPO shinsa next month in the US. This would be an obvious venue to settle the issue of gimei or shoshin. Hoanh

It's possible. The yasurime seems to be inconsistent above the top mekugi ana, in addition to the spots you noted. Hoanh

Thank you Thomas. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20190/lot/7/ Hoanh

Pictures look like those of ebay seller hitendo. Hoanh

Yes, the figure on the tsuba reminds me of a heroic character from the Chinese Three-Kingdom era. Oh well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... Hoanh

I don't see any obvious telltale of a cast tsuba. Perhaps repro, but not cast. Hoanh

Kamakura & Nanbokucho/Soshu (not that I can afford it at this point). Hoanh

Here are the histograms for wakizashi and tanto, which modes are 46-49cm and 26-28cm, respectively. Regards, Hoanh

Mariusz, Thanks for posting the pictures. If I had money to spare (who am I kidding?), I would go for #3. It's very elegant. Hoanh

Gheorghe, It's not a certificate of authenticity - just a legal registration document to allow legal possession of a sword in Japan. Hoanh

Gabriel, Thank you for the Excel file. Here are the histogram plots - same data set with two different bin sizes (1cm and 2cm). It clearly shows the mode (most common occurrence) at about 70cm. There is a significant secondary mode at about 65cm. Thanks for starting this very informative thread. I'll work on similar histograms for wakizashi and tanto when I get a little time later today. Regards, Hoanh