Rivkin

Afaik, in China unless you are talking about Taipin rebellion times when everything was in chaos, 5 toes is generally reserved for the Emperor, and even 4 toes is significant. 3 toes are non-government affiliated dragons. In Japan 5 toes is normal. Kirill R.

Problematic horimono, one of the most commonly faked signatures. Kirill R.

Modern smiths are not that different from shinshinto in their technique. I saw Naotane's attempts at Yamashiro - not entirely interesting. So they opt for Bizen and sometimes Soshu. Mino is just a mediocre school to begin with. Kirill R.

Sengaku generation Bizen Morimitsu (another option - Kaga Morimitsu, but this one looks a little bit more Bizen to me personally) in polish unless its drop dead gorgeous - maybe 3-5k usd. Basically the price of polish. If your concern is money, I would sell it as it is. Even investing in brining it to Japan is quite high compared to what you are going to get, but maybe you'll get lucky and it papers to the Oei generation... There are shinsas in the US, but I don't think in AU. It looks authentic enough, so someone interested in Sengaku swords might buy it. Kirill R.

Ok, that looks a little bit later, maybe as late as Eisho (1560). Just a guess. If habaki is stuck, so be it. Kirill R.

Tony, at the first glance with sori shifted towards nakago, with longish kissaki, with relatively somewhat short, wide and beefy nakago (even if its suriage) a guess can be this is something from Onin period or closeby. An erroneous guess by a non-expert. To pin it down it would be great to have 3 photographs - naked blade with nothing on it, full length. Nakago, with nothing on it (habaki etc.), full length. The most active and visible 10 inches of hamon. Kirill R.

Its hard for me to estimate sori by photographs which are taken slightly off-center with uncorrected lens, but it appears to me quite shallow - no earlier than Keian. There is pronounced fumbari, which for most schools I think did not start to appear in any reasonable quantity before Meireki or maybe Joo. Can be later than Kanbun, and there I personally don't know where to put the latest possible boundary. Thick very straight suguha - a few options, most attractive is probably Hizen. Kirill R. Erroneous and personal opinion.

I am sure few or none members here will share my puzzlement, but here it is. Kaga smiths from the period tend to have very distinctive ending to their nakago, which is not here. There was Bungo Yukimitsu who did Bizen Ichimonji style, but he started with sugu yakidashi and had suguha in boshi - as almost every respected Bizen enthusiast of the early Edo. I think the possibility of late Edo or gendai blade in Ichimonji style being strengthened with the mei alluding to Oei Yukimitsu, while strange, cannot be completely discarded. Kirill R. Probably erroneous and certainly personal opinion.

Looks like Kambun shinto shape. Not too many people worked with suguha at the time. Kirill R.

Could indeed be some early shinto Ishido style... The condition of nakago is consistent, sometimes they did not use suguha in boshi. Still weird. Kirill R.

Well, its actually quite a weird sword. Maybe its oil, which can hinder the view, but then we still see nice nioguchi... If as it looks now it has very tight hada, and hamon is very uniform and glassy inside, though in ambitious Ichimonji pattern.. This suggests something late. O-kissaki, boshi is not suguha - this almost certainly not shinto. But if its shinshinto (say Yokoyama school, "Sukesada" or someone) then why a nijimei and shallow yasurime that disappears at times! Could you please photograph it with oil completely wiped oil (maybe there hada underneath and its Momoyama???) and also photograph the first 5 inches of hamon over the nakago - this section is quite characteristic for many late Ichimonji schools. Kirill R.

In most of these cases the disconnect between the American and Japanese side is unbreachable. American believes he returns an ancient family heirloom with grandpa's soul trapped inside. The Japanese side is scared and panicked. A weird person just called them and threatened to ship ground mail the explosives and grenades left behind by Uber Werwolf SS banfuhrer Danke, pardon - an Extremely Dangerous Sword Weapon from the war nobody likes. Their neighbors informed them that owning such weapon without a personal safe and a number of permits which nobody but extremely rich families knows how to get is certainly highly illegal. And also if their kids cut themselves with it, the police will take them away. And they can't just throw it into "landfill" bin, because the neighbors will see it, alert the police and the entire family will go to prison. After holding meeting after meeting with the extended set of relatives they finally find a 97 years old grandpa who agrees to take the sword into mountains and dump it in a forest. He is old enough not to care about the consequences. The family appreciates the selfless nobility of his last sacrifice. They'll politely tell the Americans that it goes into a very important museum. Translated from Japanese it means the hardest "NO!" possible. Two steps above "I would love to meet you, but unfortunately I am very busy and very much away for the next year" or even "I will love to do that for you, despite having a busy schedule", or even "Yes, we should do it", said with a pained face and after a 20 second pause. Kirill R.

No earlier than shinto, but since the shape is substantially altered can be anything. Kambun "straightness" is likely an artifact of a bend, originally it was probably something with very uniform curvature. There is certain freshness in nakago (lack of visible deep rust spots), besides the really bad condition, that might argue even for a poorly handled and patinated wartime item. Kirill R.

Sengaku blade, no Norimitsu of importance. Typical options are Kaga and Sue Bizen. I don't remember their yasurime by heart, sorry. Kirill R.

I will be a bit of a contrarian here... From very little seen on the blade it can be a quite active Soshu piece (not that many Muromachi smiths did such large nie patches in ji so that they are visible even out of polish), which sort of matches the signature Hiromitsu. So in deep theory the transaction can be worthwhile if you are near a good polisher, so you'll end up with a signed Soshu tanto from about 1510 AD for 2700 polished... That sounds a little cheap. And Soshu works are generally hard to find. Even during Muromachi mainlines like Tsunahiro were not churning up blades en masse. But it works if you actually see the item in hands and 100% convinced it will polished well (surprisingly these large nie patches can sometimes even survive saiha, so no warranty and the way dark shadow rises from nakago is a little bit worriesome) and nothing opens up (and with Soshu it can open up wide and quickly. These blades have as much stress as they can bear). And you don't mind spending time/money on it. In other words - you have significant experience, convinced you are right, and know you want to gamble on Soshu. 5 years ago I would have looked at the blade in hand, huggled for 1000-1300$ and likely take it up for a project. Soshu is great. This one looks like hitatsura. Today, not that interested. Rather pay much more even for unsigned Tsunahiro (you are not supposed to buy those, but I am a fool, so can do whatever I want) but get exactly what I see rather than gambling on something that even in the best case can come up only 90% right. Kirill R.

The centuries old samurai sword might be a stretch here... as is some museum exhibiting it. At least i sort of hope so, knowing how hard it is to exhibit even something deserving. The rest is.. well anyone can make a gift of a sword. i never quite understood why in cases like this there is an aura of benevolence involved, since the emotional connection between the Japanese family and the sword is obviously lacking. And why should it exist actually? The item is from what limited is shown might be half an inch improvement over some 1904 pattern parade saber bayonet - and in questionable condition at that. Which somehow nobody expects to find the "rightful owner" of. Kirill R.

Thank you! Kirill R.

The check of boshi for suguha would do much to challenge or support shinto. My personal reasoning is following: Subdued hada, while hamon is bright and well preserved. This excludes the chance of being tired and puts the sword into shinto or at least Momoyama category. Also hamon exhibits nie concentrated around the outer edges, while the inner portion is quite uniform. No earlier than Sengaku. Also the gunome-choji are well separated from each other. Kinju, Naotsuna and other peak-based hamons from Nambokucho would have been much more random in placement, more dense and with lots of sunagashi, more active than here. O-Kanemitsu would be periodic, but more dense and in nioi. Omiya can show peaks in nie like this, but more dense and a little bit more random. So again something no earlier than Sengaku Mino. Yet Sengaku production tends to be rough. Greater variation of nie. O-hada, which partially delaminates. Mokume-masame at places. Darker color. This one looks more pristine, more shinto. Kirill R.

Can't pass an opportunity to fail at kantei. Mino, can't see the suguha in boshi, but still assume the earliest shinto. Jumyo or one of the kane-something names. Kirill R.

Theoretically, it can be exported temporary, but it is a seldom (if ever?) used option. Storing it in Japan can be more efficient by comparison, and offers a pathway to unusually classified items. Kirill R.

Leibstandarte, a very famous store (politically). That's where Igor Strelkov, "Bad soldier" and I think Viper-NS are from. They don't ship abroad, and aside from one person I think high class blade collectors from Russia have a tendency to prefer more southern climates for convinience of polishing. Kirill R.

Without seeing the details I would just argue that the probability of this one papering to Muramasa is below 5%. Otherwise, for myself Muramasa is one of those invented biographies, which correspondingly makes it difficult to argue in substance on such issues as where to draw the line between "real" and "fake". There are suguha, hitatsura and "conventional" Muramasa of a wide range in quality and sugata all accepted as the second generation, but you either have a "paperable" conventional type, or an unconventional type verifiably from a very old collection, and thus also accepted as the original. Kirill R.

No, they were in ruined condition. Kirill R.

Taikei Naotane at a mumei (NBTHK Hozon) price! Nagasa almost exactly 27 inches (68.5 cm), this work by sai-jo-saku, one of the most celebrated smiths, presents brilliant Bizen styled choji in nie, combined with an outstanding itame hada. Most likely comes from around 1820, when Naotane produced a number of similarly styled Bizen blades. Unfortunately, the item was rescued from the military mounts but not before there was a characteristic rust damage (dots) in couple of areas (as pictured). There are tiny ware. In fresh Japanese polish. Comes with a shirasaya, habaki and a sword bag. 7,000$ to paypal shipping included, but open to negotiations. My first attempt at some commercial gain on the forum, but it looks like without the fees it can be a good option - and thus I can do both a donation and negotiate a price a little further than usual. All items have a two week return guarantee, no questions asked. Kirill R.

The big problem will be that sori is non-uniform. Old blades, up to Nambokucho blades can appear almost straight when severely cut down, and "extending them where they should be" is rather complex - especially since these cut-down forms were extensively copied at later times, or accidentally reproduced (cut down Oei can be a close match for cut down late Kamakura). Just a personal take. Kirill R.