ROKUJURO

Hector, there is no reason to be disappointed in my opinion. Having a HAMON on a stainless steel blade would be extremely special and rare in a metallurgical view. These steels would have to contain more than 13% of chromium to remain rust-resistant (they will not be 100% stainless as long as they contain carbon). On the other hand, folding and fire-welding is not possible with the methods used in a traditional forge. Inevitably, oxygen would prevent the welding by forming chromium oxide on the surface which would work as separating agent. Also, a laminating technique as used in traditional forging would make no sense as the stainless steel is completely homogeneous. So for me, there are two explanations for the clean NAKAGO: Either the blade was made with very special steel in an unknown process (in another galaxy) or, as mentioned above, it was preserved so well in its SHIRA-SAYA that no oxygen could attack it. In any case, the SUGATA, the workmanship and features are looking nice enough for me to like it a lot. Having said that, I will look on the ÔMURA site for a stainless KATANA with HADA and HAMON which should not exist in a scientific regard, but hey, you never stop learning (in case you accept that you don't know all). Having the metal of your TANTO XRF-tested would be the first step for me.

Jason, I told you in my post above: ....There is no HADA visible and the HAMON without NIE or NIOI is strange, so it might have been made with modern steel.....

Hector, I read the family name as MORITA. Maybe that leads to more information? From the internet: A Japanese TANTO (fighting knife) signed Morita Sadanobu (森田貞延) typically points to a 20th-century or WWII-era Gendaitō/showato smith, though signed records for this exact name are scarce and often considered minor or lesser-documented local artisans. Authentic pieces require evaluation of the tang filing (yasurime), signature chiseling (mei), and steel quality

Joab, photos would certainly be fine with a dark, non-reflecting background and presented as cut-outs so we could see details! I like your TSUBA!

Joab, actually, this is a frequent problem as I have read, so with some patience everything will be fine. Fortunately, these things are not urgent.

Rob, even on a sword's NAKAGO, you don't want red rust, so removing it and working towards black iron oxide is a good way in my eyes.

Charles, have a look into your PMs. Orientation of the blade tip-upwards, no HABAKI, plain dark background, object presented as cut-out so not much background is visible.

Sorry Colin, they had no video of the old masters.....

Just found this:

Not TSUBA and not the character NAO I think. Dale is probaly close to it. ST, please sign all posts with at least your first name so we could address you politely. It is a rule here on NMB.

It is difficult with these photos and the condition of the blade. Only looking at the NAKAGO and the drilled MEKUGI-ANA, I believe it may be pre-WWII. There is no HADA visible and the HAMON without NIE or NIOI is strange, so it might have been made with modern steel. I have sent Joab some advice for photo-making, so maybe he will come up with better images which will allow to see more.

All the best for this venture!

The question may be allowed if we could improve our knowledge and learn new/old facts. Tempering is YAKIMODOSHI in Japanese, and YAKIIRE is quenching. That is not so difficult, and in the end, it helps understanding the metallurgy of Japanese sword making. But nothing is more persistent than old habits, I know....

Although you might have read that in many places, it is not a TEMPER line. This zone is made by HARDENING/QUENCHING. Tempering does not produce any visible effects on a blade.

Hi Khalid, an interesting TEIMEI TSUBA! They are usually quite different in style and motif, so I am really surprized to see this! The condition is certainly o.k. for SHINSA, but I cannot imagine what you would expect from ORIGAMI. If it is authentic, they will probably just state KISHU no JU SADANAGA without a generation, so it will not be of much help or increase the value of it. Looking at the MEI, it is probably a later generation, so after 1750. Generally, all that washing, degreasing and re-oiling seems to come from a Western concept of "cleanliness", and I never heard about Japanese TSUBA experts or collectors describing similar invasive methods they were using. Unless there is destructive (= material consuming) red rust on it, there is not much more to do than wiping with a dry cotton cloth. Keeping iron TSUBA in a dry place (= KIRIBAKO) is the best thing that could happen to them.

If you read the text above carefully, it says cooking for 20 min, and avoiding all chemicals. If it was my TSUBA, I would never use these methods and just work mechnically. All cleaning should only be done if you have some experience with iron TSUBA and know how they should look ideally. There are very few TSUBA on the market which would require immediate action, so go slow. Always remember that rust is not a separate layer on the base material. It is the material itself, turned into oxide. If you remove the rust, you will not have the originally intended surface and texture!

François, the plural of KATANA is KATANA. Japanese nouns do not have a plural form.

....and a 3 D-printer? I cannot imagine a technique to imitate old fabric.

Jason, did you try a search on the internet? SHAKO is the term for this design that represents AMIDA rays in SUKASHI technique. Formerly, this design was assumed to represent clock gears, so it was called TOKEI (HAGURUNA). Cast iron TSUBA are later manufacture for tourists and do not have collecting value. They can be found on swords where the original TSUBA was swapped out and replaced by a cheap one.

The SHAKO TSUBA looks cast to me.

For Steve:

Looks like one hour or two for mending that! At least the HITAI ATE is in good shape!

Joab, this is the translation section. As your sword is not signed, there is nothing to translate. The NIHONTO section might be more appropriate. Better photos may be helpful for an identification.

Travis, take off the HABAKI. In case the MACHI (= notches) do not align, you can be sure it is a non-Japanese imitation.

Hi Okan, there seems to be a closing button instead of the traditional silk HAORI-HIMO (羽織紐). This could be an indication of late manufacture, but might as well have been copied from Western clothing. The shoulders are probably 'reinforced' to make a KAMISHIMO look wich might point to a high-rank wearer/user (HATAMOTO?)