ROKUJURO

John, not nehonto, it is NIHONTO, and again, this is the NIHONTO section which means it is for traditionally made swords. Yours would belong into the military section in case it was machine made. And in WWII, there were no SAMURAI, so it is probably a military sword, called GUNTÔ.

Max. early EDO JIDAI, I think. But age is not important in these items. Quality and condition make the value.

Yes, possibly KIRI KOMI. But I don't think the TSUBA is very old, early EDO max. You are posting this in the NIHONTO section, but it belongs into the TOSOGU section.

John, I am asking basics to help assess the blade. A signature does not tell all that might be necessary, and if you want competent comments, we need good photos in the first place. As we strongly object any DIY polishing attempts, the actual condition of a blade is of interest and importance. The little that I can see on the less than ideal photos (maybe due to my old eyes) lead me to suspect that the blade was not traditionally polished. Usually, this leads to severe damage and loss of value. So please excuse my critical questions, but I think they were justified to come to useful answers to your inquiry.

Hi John, this made me curious. The blade WAS in bad condition and had even SCALE? So how was that condition changed to its actual shiny state and possibly rounded SHINOGI? Scale can occur when a steel object is exposed to fire/heat which for a Japanese sword means, it is destroyed.

He certainly did not "etch" anything in his blades. Signatures are chiseled with a TAGANE.

Of course as Jussi says. A cheap iron TSUBA in not so good condition was repurposed as BOKUTO TSUBA. Not common, but not very rare either.

If this blade was really shortened by so much as it seems by a first look, I would have expected a considerable material loss on the NAKAGO when it was shaped to the actual new dimensions. This would have resulted in a partial erasure in the HORIMONO and the broad BOHI. Although I like the HADA, some details of the blade are suspicious in my opinion.

Grev, a) and b) are meaning the same. As far as I know, in written Japanese, there is no separation of terms, so you might write TACHIKANAGUSHI (style) or TACHI KANAGU SHI (style).

Justin, buy books first, and read them. Read a lot here on NMB and look at pictures of good swords. Learn the terminology (It is WAKIZASHI, not Wakazashi, and it is FUCHI-GASHIRA, not Fuchi-Koshira). Take your time and enjoy the journey! Coming back to your question: When you have more knowledge, you could decide whether to repair your KOSHIRAE or have one made. Quite expensive! But you won't probably find a fitting KOSHIRAE on the market. On the other hand, you could learn to repair the SAYA, and even TSUKA-MAKI can be learned (if you are motivated and have enough patience).

William, I would not try to remove or clean anything on a sword. In case you had the money, get it in the hands of a TOGISHI (= polisher). You can try to slow down the corrosion by applying a thin layer of low-viscosity machine-oil, but take care that NO oil gets into the SAYA!

William, the TS)UBA photo is upside-down, and the contrast of the blade photos is low due to the bright background so there is not much to see for identification. The corrosion is also not helping. I think I see a SANBON-SUGI HAMON, and as Erik states above, the NAKAGO looks like one of a more recently made (WW II) blade. A good photo of the NAKAGO without HABAKI and light frome the side (blade-tip pointing upwards), made on a dark backgound, may reveal more. Do you see a stamp somewhere?

Okan, can I borrow your door for a while?

Thank you Gordon, for this valuable information! I will add it to the file.

That is truly a TSUBA veteran!

Hi Okan, I take it as a good sign in this situation that you can be on the "hunt" acquiring two very nice TSUBA! At first, I thought of NOSHI motif with the NORISUKE TSUBA, but now I think that it is HOTEI's sack. The CHOSHU TSUBA is also exquisite! Congratulations!

If the blade is shorter than 606 mm, it is a WAKIZASHI. If you want to post some good photos here on NMB, we could give you a comment. Appraisals are usually made in Japan. For translations, we have a translation section.

A new HABAKI alone would not solve the problem. The SHIRASAYA will also have to be restored.

'SAMURAI', please sign all posts with a first name plus an initial so we could address you politely. This is requested to do here on NMB. You can mark your name in your profile.

Kurt, I don't think so. We are living in times when information is spread and stored in many places and different ways, and this to a significantly greater extent than in former times. Literature that was only accessible to a few specialists was translated and made available for many. Items stacked away in collections and museums are more 'approachable' by images, and places like our own NMB have become important sources of information and inspriration. What we usually don't have is enough time for intense study and opportunities to handle the items.

It must be a war relic. Probably a shrapnel went through it.

Thank you Gordon, that is valuable information! As my slender blade has a HOSO SUGUHA HAMON, I think it could have been made by a SUE TEGAI smith.

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?