Grey Doffin

Hi Steve, I have a bottle of brass aging solution I use to darken new furniture hardware to match the old (I build & repair furniture). I could patina a fake Chinese tsuba in a couple minutes. Spend lots of time looking at good stuff and then the fakes will stick out like a sore thumb. Grey

This brings up something I've wondered for a while: if a tsuba has part of its design on the seppa-dai (as this one does), was it meant to be mounted or just for show? Grey

A bit out of my area but I'll take a whack at it. This looks to be partially hand made and partially machined. The hi (grooves) were cut with some sort of grinding wheel and polished smooth above the nakago; true hand made hi would have been cut by hand. The fact that it has the gov't license tells me that it is probably water quenched, not oil. The piece looks like it was made during or shortly before WWII, not earlier. The license tells us only that it is Nihonto, not anything about who made it or what quality it is. All Japanese swords in Japan need this license; it has one. As to whether you made a smart purchase, if the goal was to collect militaria you did OK, I guess (but I don't know much about values on this sort of tanto). If the goal was to collect Nihonto, I would have recommended spending your money elsewhere (books and study). Hope this helps, Grey

Unless the blade was made by the big name Rai Kunimitsu there will be no way to learn of its history. Even then it could be tough. Where do you live? Maybe someone qualified to appraise it lives nearby. Bob Benson lives in Hawaii. Be wary of appraisals that come with offers to buy. Grey

David McDonald in Montana, USA does nice work reasonably. jswords (at) mcn.net Grey

Be very careful with this blade. Without the tsuka and mekugi to lock it in place, the blade bottoms out inside the saya and the kissaki is easily broken. 2 blocks of wood with holes bored in the right places, and a dowel through those holes and the mekugi-ana in the nakago, the whole held together with a stout rubber band, will limit the travel of the blade into the saya. Grey

Joe, Rather than spend what would be necessary to fit your shira-saya mounted blade with new koshirae, for about the same cost you could buy a sword mounted in koshirae you like. Then, rather than having one sword in koshirae and a useless shira-saya, you would have 2 swords. The purchase of tsuba, F & K, and menuki, and paying to have a saya and tsuka made and wrapped, adds up. Grey

Hi Keith, I had about 6 or 7 attendees at my care and etiquette talk, and another 3 or 4 who showed up at the end got a truncated version. The lack of a notice board in the lobby with show schedule hurt; no one knew it was going to happen until I made an announcement just before. Grey

The show wasn't slow for everyone; I was busy. The American Branch of the NBTHK presented 2 sessions: how to do kantei, and later a chance to try your newly learned skills with a kantei on 4 blades. The latter session also had about 6 very nice blades that weren't for formal kantei; just to enjoy. The highlight of the session was a Tokubetsu Juyo tachi by Rai Kunimitsu. Grey

Your pictures show 3 Kanji. The last 2 are Yasuyoshi. I'm wondering if there is a 4th Kanji (1st actually) before the one above Yasuyoshi. It might be mostly obliterated by corrosion and the 2 mekugi-ana (holes). Take a close look and let us know what you can see. Grey

Hi Rob, Definitely an older blade, shortened more than once, and mounted for WWII. No one will be able to tell you much from the pix; it needs to be seen by someone who knows Nihonto. In the mean time, make sure you're up on sword care and etiquette (look to links above) so it doesn't suffer damage. Grey

Chinese. Grey

Tyler, you're providing tremendous use to the forum already. Without beginners like you us old farts wouldn't get to act like we know something. Grey

I agree with all above and one more thing sticks out to me. In the 9th & 10th pictures it looks like the habaki sits crooked on the blade (it actually makes the blade look crooked at the machi but I'm sure it's just the habaki). A habaki that doesn't fit properly probably wasn't made for the blade. Possibly a bunch of parts put together to make a salable package. Grey

Henry, I can recommend Sasano: Japanese Sword Guards Masterpieces From the Sasano Collection by Sasano Masayuki. Part one was the only volume published in English (don't know about a Japanese edition) before Mr. Sasano's death. Bob Benson at Bushido (see links) sold and maybe still sells these. Beautiful and informative book on early iron sukashi tsuba. Grey

This looks to me to be a sword cut (kiri komi I believe?). These aren't considered defects when they are in the mune, as the mune is the proper surface of the blade to use to block an attack. I think you have nothing to be concerned over. Grey

Hi Joe, I've always used sword (clove) oil to soften old cosmoline on swords; maybe it would work on old oil as well. If not, you could try some alcohol, but make sure to thoroughly clean up the alcohol after use because it usually has picked up water from humid air. If neither of these solutions work you might need professional (polisher) help. Whatever you do, don't use anything the least bit abrasive. Grey

Hi folks, The Japanese Sword Society of the US is ready to take on our next publishing project and we are considering proposals. Our last 2 efforts were Sue Koto: Japanese Swords of the 15th & 16th Centuries and Kyomono no Ko-Meisaku, both by Yoshikawa Koen. Our next could be a similar translation from Japanese to English, a different translation (kodogu related perhaps), or even original research. The translator/author will be paid for his or her time. Rather than go into detail here, if you want more information please email me (or call if in the US) and I'll get back to you. Grey Doffin, JSS/US Publications. gdoffin@cpinternet.com 218-726-0395 central time

Hi Brett, While it is possible to buy a true Nihonto on ebay and not pay way too much, and it's even possible to buy one and pay way too little, it is highly unlikely that either will happen if the seller is someone who sells Japanese swords regularly on ebay. The bargains tend to be from sellers who don't understand what they have and list their swords with a $300. buy it now. If the seller knows what he has and the auction runs the whole 7 days the final value is usually at least full retail, if not way too high. Buyers with more money than knowledge tend to bid recklessly. Better deals will be had from some of the dealers with websites and some of us who don't have sites, and from dealers at sword shows. Ask around, attend shows, do some homework (books, books, books), and then you're more likely to end up with something you'll be proud to own. What I'm getting at: while either of these 2 swords may be worth owning, something of equal or higher value likely can be bought for less elsewhere. Grey

If I'm remembering properly, I've seen the notches near the bottom of the nakago of gunto, WWII swords, not earlier blades remounted as gunto. I could be mistaken, though. Grey

Warm water and a gentle toothbrushing, followed by a thorough drying, should do no damage. Beyond that, if more is necessary, I'd leave to someone who knows more about the subject than I do. Anyone have a better idea? Grey

I can remember seeing these on Gunto; not sure I've seen them on earlier blades. If they are a Gunto thing it likely has to do with inventory in some way. Guess I don't know. I also have a faint memory of a thread from a year or so ago on the same subject. A search through NMB archives might bring it up. Grey

Hi Gary, On your sword, the answer is no. No possible way to know for whom the sword was made. What's more, most likely the sword wasn't made for any specific customer. It was made and sold/given/whatever to whoever happened by. "Kin Saku" (respectfully made), as written on your sword, is something you see from time to time. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is special about the blade. Sometimes, on older, traditional Samurai swords there is an inscription stating who the customer/patron was. This is fairly uncommon. Can't remember ever seeing a WWII era sword with this kind of inscription. Grey

Thanks; now I don't feel so bad about not being able to make sense of the mei. And thanks to all who helped. Grey

That's Ko-Bizen Masamune, not Soshu Masamune. Grey