ROKUJURO

Thank you again Ray! So it seems I have the one and only FUJIWARA YASUMITSU TANTO in the world which would make it extremely valuable!

Thank you again Ray! I don't know how to use this to find FUJIWARA YASUMITSU with these name KANJI? Do I have to apply for membership first?

Thank you Ray! I always appreciate your expertise! I also thought of FUJIWARA, but then I rejected it as unusual, as you say. As I don't have books on swords, I will try to find something online.

Adam, i know and I understand. My remarks were meant to be helpful for a successful sale.

Selling is always a lot of work. In case one doesn't want to invest some care and work and keep it easy for oneself, they will see by the results if it was good enough. Brian will perhaps let us know how he wants this handled.

I have a slim TANTO signed YASUMITSU, but I cannot read the KUNI. I would appreciate any help in reading this. Thanks in advance!

That's surprizing! How did they manage to take photos of my NETSUKE ?

Hi Bob, as the length (= NAGASA) is 51,2 cm, it is a WAKIZASHI. The OVERALL length remains 66 cm. Although not 'really' old (= SHIN SHINTÔ), it looks like a nice piece which should be competently restored.

Bob, this is not a KEN but a sword with (rare) KOGARASUMARU shape ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogarasu_Maru ). On the photos, I cannot see the KISSAKI ( = tip) very well. The blade length is not the overall length but it is measured from the notch above the NAKAGO ( = tang) to the tip. The SORI is probably more than just 7 mm, guessing just after the photo. ( https://japaneseswordindex.com/measure.htm ) Unfortunately, I cannot help with the text on the NAKAGO. It does not look like typical MEI. Is there something written/chiseled on the other side as well?

Thank you Clark! I got this NETSUKE as a present from a friend in 1969. We had seen it in a shop window in southern Germany every time we went to town, and as I liked it a lot, she eventually bought it for me. It may well be Chinese, but at that time and with no expertise......it happens! It was expensive, by the way!

Adam, if you posted the images here on NMB (preferred), it should be possible to add a price-tag. It is probably a bit of work, but not difficult. It is the rule here to show prices with an item for sale. By the way: Not Tusba, and not Tsubas (no plural form in Japanese).

I was told that JOI was/is very famous for fine work on faces. I bought this KASHIRA as "JOI school/workshop" piece. It is not signed, but good work in my eyes. Although rather flat in design (not at all MARU BORI), placing the face on the edge of the KASHIRA gives it more 3D dimension. 34,4 mm long

Perhaps a dried "baby" HYÔTAN?

...but they exist: The chicken can be moved a bit in its egg. Signed MASASHIGE with KAO. It is elephant ivory, probably made in the 20th century.

Piers, that is exactly my opinion and experience.

It certainly looks 'correct' or even better for a machine made blade in my opinion, but Bruce knows best as he is an expert with military blades. To my eyes and considering the less than perfect condition of the blade (scratched and even fingerprints), this HAMON does not look typically oil-quenched if compared with the standard SANBONSUGI HAMON of many NÔSHÛ SEKI military blades. Perhaps it would be more obvious if the blade were in good polish.

Well, you asked for it: On Sunday on a local flee-market, I bought a traditional tool that I will restore (very lightly as it is in good shape and as museum piece, I don't want it to look like new) in the next few days. It has a very solid hand-forged blade of 210 mm length and a max. spine thickness of 8 mm. Similar tools have been used in many cultures world-wide, called "billhook" in the English-speaking parts of the world. In my region, it was traditionally used for forest and agricultural work.

Very nice! That will not stay here for long!

This archaic leather SEPPA goes for an early KOTO one and - together with the blood loss - may even increase the value of the sword!

I apologize, I did not see the SEKI stamp, so likely a military blade with a rather nice MEI. On the less than perfect photos I thought I could see a (water-quenched) HAMON, but I am probably wrong.

Jon, what you have looks like a HIRA ZUKURI WAKIZASHI, and the TSUBA is probably one of the NANBAN style. The photos don't allow to see much more. Perhaps better ones with a dark, non-reflecting background and presented as cut-outs might help, but the condition seems to be so bad that the usual features like HAMON or HADA are concealed. A proper restoration could only be done by a traditionally trained polisher and would cost serious money - I think it would exceed $ 2.000.--, if at all possible. If you want to honour a Japanese sword, don't display it.

Why not present it to the TOKEN Society of Great-Britain? (https://to-ken.uk/) ? They have regular meetings and will be happy to look at your sword, I am sure.

Harvey, the TSUBA close-up photo is lying on the side, so reading is difficult. Oriented edge-upwards (with rare exceptions) would be better. The blade is probably not Japanese, I am afraid.

Hi Harvey, if you orient your NAKAGO (= tang) photos vertically (tip-upwards), the signature could be read easily. It looks like CHIKAMURA indeed. Have you looked up CHIKAMURA online? He was a swordsmith in the 12th century so not very likely to appear on the open market now. The tang of the blade has wrong shape, the KOGATANA knife-blade is wrong, the SAYA seems to have been altered. The silk wrapping of the handle is made in a wrong technique. What about the MACHI (= notches on the blade just above the NAKAGO)? Are they on the same level or is there a differnce? Better photos could tell if this might be an older damaged blade transformed to a WAKIZASHI.

Greg, we have some experts here, but you will not get a certification with photos alone. The sword has to be seen in-hand, and the signature is only a part of the process. If the features of the blade are in line with INOUE SHINKAI's work, the signature will confirm its authenticity. As Uwe has already found out, the signature on your blade might no be authentic. As I said, this swordsmith is a famous one, and there are many faked MEI found on blades. This does not mean that your blade could not be nice and a pleasure to look at!