ROKUJURO

Yes. possible. It is MAGOROKU

Grev, the photos are all out of focus, but in case bamboo had been used, I would also think of a DIY box.

Arnaud, as far as I know, the Japanese swordsmiths of olden times did not have furnaces with a vacuum chambers.... In case you can bury a workpiece deep in a charcoal fire, you will have more carbon monoxide and thus create less scale, but the higher the temperature, the more reactive with oxygen the iron will be. So scale will not be avoidable in any open fire. Using water on the anvil while pounding will blast most of the scale away. It is generally overlooked how much material is lost in firewelding. The necessary high temperatures "burn" away the steel at a high rate, so only 25% of it is left in a blade after 12 to 15 foldings. However, there is a considerable difference between iron and high-carbon steel.

Perhaps MINO 美濃 ?

Thank you Arnaud! Your results are exactly as expected! Higher temperature would have produced still more scale but not a "melted" surface.

James, the MENUKI may be pure gold or gold-covered. You will have problems seeing that mounted, so - as Geraint stated - when the TSUKA-ITO is being redone, you can have a look at the backside of the MENUKI.

High Octavian, welcome to the NMB forum! You have posted in the NIHONTO section which is thought to deal with traditionally made Japanese swords. Your sword was probably machine-made in WWII, so it would be a good idea to post your request in the military section as we have some experts there. For relevant answers, your photos should be made on a dark, non-reflecting background, light-source from the side, with the blade pointing verically upright. The NAKAGO (= tand) is important to show without HABAKI and also vertically so any signature could be read. Good luck!

What can be found in the literature about YAKITE has not been tested by the authors and is pure assumption. The surface of a TSUBA may indeed LOOK LIKE MELTED (perhaps something like TOKA ME in Japanese), but it is definitely not! The melting point of pure iron is 1.538°C, wrought iron has some impurities, but almost no alloy metals content, so its melting point can be assumed to be about 1.480°C. In case you heat an iron object up to close to that temperature, it will deform on the underside as well, destroying any design that may have been created before, and it will take on the structure of the ground it is laying on. So this would never work! And the build-up of scale on the surface has not even been considered!

Florian, there is no "fast and easy" in TSUBA making! The discussion about iron/steel in TSUBA is finished. To have the desired function, it has always to be iron, never hardened steel (or cast iron, for that matter). You can try your personal methods on my TSUBA forging workshop.

Florian, you could do the same on an iron plate without a problem. TSUBA are not hardened steel! The surface migt have been left a bit raw from forging, and additional YAKITE KUSARASHI did the rest. You could replicate all this in my TSUBA forging workshop in July!

Jeff, that is exactly where real sword knowledge and competence set in! To determeine what a sword really is, you need blades in very good polish and condition, possibly some special literature, and a lot of experience! In the past, there were a few smiths with excellent craft skills who could copy a masterful blade in a way that even the Japanese experts had problems differentiating it from the original. Also, it should be remembered that copying a blade and a MEI was not always done to deceive buyers. So, in some cases, a GIMEI blade can be of excellent quality.

Thank you Adam! I think a SAMURAI was a very competent customer!

Dated BUNSEI fifth year, May, so 1823.

Hi Jackson, it is a very good idea to gather some authentic information BEFORE starting to write! Generally, that could be quite an adventure as the different parts of the KOSHIRAE were made by different craftsmen. In olden times, the SAYASHI would take care of the woodwork only and leave the lacquer work to another expert. Often the metalwork was divides among artisans, so the TSUBASHI would just do the TSUBA and leave other TOSOGU to other metalworkers. The raw TSUKA was sent to a TSUKAMAKISHI for finishing with SAMEGAWA and TSUKA ITO. In case you wanted to expand on this subject, you could even go as far as to the making of a SAGEO on demand and a new HABAKI!

Jeff, as was mentioned above, the photos do not tell much. What I meant so say was: If a smith intentionally made a blade in the style of another more famous smith and added a (GI) MEI, this would only make sense it the sword had the characteristics of the (faked) smith. Of course, one could take any MUMEI blade available and chisel any signature on it, but such a sword would be difficult to sell to a knowledgeable buyer/customer. But the market is quite diversified today as there are many beginner collectors who buy a sword IN THE HOPE that the signature might be authentic but without really knowing what it is.

Yes Adam, this is possible and a danger for those who buy the signature and not the sword.

SHUZAN (秀山) is a name associated with Japanese bronze figures, OKIMONO, and NETSUKE often dating from the late MEIJI period (1868–1912) into the early 20th century

Not Japanese and not older than 30 years in my opinion. Better photos on a plain dark background may prove me wrong.

Does not look like KAMAKURA (or HEIAN, for that matter) at all to me. It is either a blade for a SHIKOMIZUE (仕込み杖), or (very likely) a MAGURO HOCHO (= long Tuna knife).

According to Ford Hallam, the finer AMIDA YASURI was not chiseled, but scraped with a sharp tool. Another YAMAKICHI BEI: A following YAKITE KUSARASHI treatment is very likely.

In swords, this shape is often referred to as KOGARASU-MARU, after a famous historical sword. This shape is indeed complex and considerably more work than 'simple' HIRA-ZUKURI blades, but nothing extreme. YAKI-IRE will be less critical as you have a YAKIBA on the back as well. This will distribute the quenching/hardening stress more evenly. This type of 'memorial' TANTO was seen especially after the war. As Brian stated above, these were often not traditionally made, and the sloppy NAKAGO makes identification easy.

Yes, it is a simple form of AMIDA YASURI, but not ISHI ME (stone surface).

Thank you Piers! My vote is for KASHIWA as it also has some traditional meaning behind it. I really like it as a motif on TSUBA.

Mechanical removal is possible, but it will probably not create a "natural" looking surface. Scraping and grinding would work best on a completely level surface. 'Burnishing' (= MIGAKI JI) is a technique which does not remove material. It only creates a glossy surface. URUSHI will stick firmly to a clean metallic object and is quite difficult to get rid of with mechanical methods as it creeps into the smallest gaps and fissures. Please find below a test-piece with (artificial) corrosion on one side and URUSHI on the other. Without heat, it is not possible to remove the lacquer completely as it remains in the fine structures of the surface. However, I scraped and ground most of it away, leaving an almost glossy surface.

Kin, this would have been a topic for the TOSOGU section. In my opinion. it is a tourist souvenir. I hope you did not pay much.