Ed Harbulak

Adam, There is one thing you are over looking with respect to the $1800 sword you based your questions on. Although the blade is papered, the mountings are not. The papers apply only to the blade, not the mountings. Since part of the total price includes the value of the mountings, what would you guess is the value of the blade itself? If you are really interested in nihonto, wouldn't it be better to purchase a papered blade in shirasaya for $1800 and end up with a better quality blade for your money? Yes, I realize that fully mounted blades imply a real, samurai sword with the history and mystique that goes along with that, but in the end, the real value in your example is in the blade, not the mounts. Just something to think about.

Looks like Moto to me too.

Remember that the blade must verify the mei, not the other way around. Judging signatures means you should compare blades made as closely together in time as possible since a signature often does change over time.

I once owned a fairly small tanto that had an oval shaped Japanese coin used for the tsuba. The coin had a hole cut in the center to let it slip over the nakago. Although it was a Japanese coin, I have no way of knowing if the coin was original to the blade or if some enterprising WWII service man made the modification. It certainly wasn't a better quality blade and if I recall it looked more like the end of a broken blade with a shinogi that had been converted into a tanto.

No Chris, the inspectors traveled in person to the sword smith's shop, inspected the blades and stamped them there. My understand is that there were several inspectors covering different parts of the country, where ever there was an RJT smith located. The inspected and stamped blades were then sent to various arsenals to be mounted. Chris Bowen has written quite a bit about how it was done. There might even be some details in one of the older NMB discussions.

There were several inspectors examining and inspecting blades make by RJT smiths. It's reasonable to think each inspector would have had his own individual stamp and preferred place to apply the stamp. Variations should therefore be expected in both the stamps and location where the stamp was applied.

Put a slight bend in the tang of the kogatana and friction will keep it in the kozuka. NO adhesive is needed! Or, wrap some paper around the tang so it's a snug fit and that's all you need. I presume you aren't actually going to use the blade for cutting, so it doesn't have to be more than a friction fit.

Pete,the signature is definitely gimei, so judge the blade and value it accordingly or as a mumei blade. The second character in the mei, zen of Hizen, is wrong for the Tadayoshi main line smiths. It may be a good sword, but the signature is not correct.

Chuck, I hope you noticed that the one blade has a rather serious broken tip and some pretty deep chips in the edge. Are you really sure you want to purchase that blade?

Why not ask Fred what he used, then use the same thing. Perhaps Fred can even provide you with some.

People who fought in the European campaign had access to all sorts of German items including pistols, edged weapons, medals and of course when German fell there were plenty of things to be collected. A friend of mine once told me he know a fellow in the American Army stationed in Europe who's "job" was opening safes when a town was captured. He took the military documents for his superiors and for himself "collected" the small, easily transported things hr found in the safes, mostly diamonds. What people "collected" depended a lot on what was available where they were and what they could easily bring or send back home. An late uncle of mine who was in the OSS "liberated" a Leica 35 mm camera, a Luger pistol and some wrist watches among other things when he was in Europe. Perhaps the most valuable things to be found in Japan were swords, daggers and pistols since as pointed out earlier, there weren't too many choices.

In addition to a standard photograph, perhaps a photo taken with infrared film might bring out the kanji in the sayagaki more clearly. There are still film cameras around these days and infrared film is I believe also still available.

It has the characteristics of a modern Chinese fake. The handle wrapping has all the overlaps going in the same direction which is not typically the way it's done in Japan. The nakago is poorly shaped with no file marks. I'd stay away from this one. Opps, Ray beat me by a second. Now at least you have two identical opinions.

There is a Seki stamp above the signature. That alone indicates the blade was made in the 1940's, most certainly NOT 1903. The Seki stamp also indicates that the sword is NOT traditionally made in the way Japanese swords are normally made.

In the book "Modern Japanese Swordsmiths 1868 -1945" by John Scott Slough in Part 4 is a four page article by Patrick Giacobbe entitled Making Oshigata. I think I have seen other articles on the subject and an Internet search may provide more information. Some years ago the Florida Token Kai had a class on making oshigata at the Tampa sword show. Suitable paper, magnets to hold the paper in place and the necessary Japanese "ink" were provided. The "ink" reminds me of a black "crayon" or Craola which might also work.

Based on the rather poorly done yasurimei or file marks on the tang, I'm inclined to say this is a WWII blade which might also explain why the tang looks fairly clean. I see Geraint has just made a similar suggestion.

You have to remember that packing a sword with the tuba mounted makes for a somewhat bulky package. It was often easier for the soldier packing his souvenir sword for shipment home, to remove the tsuba and store it separately from the blade. In that case, the tsuba can easily be lost and a replacement added later. I once bought a WWII Japanese sword that was missing the tsuba for perhaps that very reason. That is one possible explanation for a replaced, non military tsuba on a WWII military sword. On the other hand, I also once owned a fully mounted IJA sword with an older, traditional iron tsuba that seemed entirely original to the sword much like the sword you have Didier and the one Neil showed in his post. Unfortunately, swords can't tell us what happened to them, so as collectors we have to try and figure out what might have happened. To me, your sword looks totally original so enjoy it for its non-regulation tsuba which can also be thought of as an homage to the samurai warrior of a previous age.

A blue and brown tassel that I obtained with a sword a good number of years ago has the blue coming around both edges of the brown. I'm sure there were a number of different manufactures of these tassels and there are bound to be slight differences between them. The tassel pictured by the OP looks genuine to me. I have also seen a few where the blue color has faded and almost looks green.

Hi Pete, you are 1/2 right. Main line Hizen Tadayoshi Katana are signed on the ura, but tanto and wakizashi are signed on the omote.

It looks to me like it might be KazuYoshi, but let's see what other's have to say.

This is the third Yasukunito this seller has offered in the last couple of weeks. He had a Yasunobu a Yasuyoshi and now a Yasunori. Yasukuni blades are not that common so either he bought someone's collection or something else is going on. The two that already sold went for just under $4,100 which rather surprised me.

Hi Peter, I purchased pressure sensitive paper from Fred Lohman in the past. You could check his web site or phone him to see if he still stocks it. I wonder if an office supply store might also carry it, so perhaps try Staples.

Hi Arnold, I'm not a mechanical engineer, so my "theory" may be wrong. But, if one assumes the blade needs its maximum strength when it is used for cutting, then the Hi has not reduced the width of the blade which is where the strength of the blade is most needed. However, I would expect in side ways bending, the strength of the blade IS reduced slightly because of less metal in the blade. Fortunately, when used properly, all the force on the blade is directed from the ha to the mune and since the Hi hasn't reduced the width of the blade there's no significant loss in its cutting strength. I'll let the mechanical engineers provide a more scientific answer.

To me, the top of the kanji for Kuni looks too rounded and the O in Omi just doesn't look right. I'm inclined to think it's close, but most likely gimei. Does the workmanship in the blade look characteristic of Hizen Omi DaiJo?

I agree it's a fake and poorly done. Definitely avoid buying it.