Alex A

Sounds like a good excuse for a drive Colin

No faith in them Colin, whatever i post, I'm prepared to lose, sadly Parcelforce/UPS best of the bunch, for me.

Would be a lot cheaper and safer to deliver it yourself If it matters so much you will have to avoid the larger couriers like parcelforce Private self employed couriers can be expensive, only ever used one and he charged £1 a mile. I would look for a private courier in your area

Steve, just a quick one. Once bought a sword on here and from memory it was on here around 9 months, way way back in the for sale pages. Folk don't always have funds available at the right time. It can take a while, that's how it is sometimes.

Would be great to live somewhere like Tokyo and see swords in hand before a purchase., for a lot of us though, pictures is all we got. For what i like, the chances of me seeing a blade in hand in this country before a purchase are virtually zilch.. Obviously some dealers provide better images than other dealers and go the extra mile messing about for you with extra daylight images etc. To the point where with seeing enough swords you get a good idea of what is being presented. If you cant be certain when looking at images, don't buy it. Agree though, buying in hand is really the only way to be sure.

Hello, yes, we like to have a go. Add some clear images of the nakago showing file marks plus all the dimensions. Plus if you can get better images of the blade Also confirm whether there is masame hada in the shinogi-ji please, hard to say whether just scratches or not from images. Cheers

Often hear the term "commercial polish". Once spoke to a polisher about the obscure looking Hadori that you see and his reply was that some dealers don't want to spend the money and just want something basic with less time spent, more profit. He said he didn't like to do them but that's how it was. Would be good to hear again from Andrew Ickeringill

Tough one, with what's available Reminds me of Hizen A mention of a similar boshi https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1958-0730-156-a Just for fun, nothing factual. You need to check the rest of your sword with other examples, nakago etc,

Hi Everett, so long as no active rust then ok. That's a tiny chip, they dont bother me but we are all different. The opening on the mune is a bit of an eye sore, a polish wont make that look better. Understand why you want it polished, sentimental reasons. If you do get it polished then you will need a new shirasaya, around £350 also. Cheers

Its ok on a good sword with lots of activity and done well. Sometimes though, looking at dealer sites in its difficult to know whether a sword has a bad polish or its just a bland sword. One Japanese dealer in particular seems to have a lot of these swords and im guessing they use the same polisher often, hence i was always a bit reluctant to buy from, especially as unwilling to provide further images.

Hi Everett The fittings are Edo, some or all of it may be originally fitted to the blade after it was made. Folks have an habit of swapping stuff about over the years so its difficult to say for sure. There were particular styles of koshirae linked with certain periods, an example would be Tensho koshirae for Tensho period. Koshirae during the Edo period became a bit more flamboyant in comparison. Its rare to find Koto Fuchi kashira in comparison to Edo. Your doing the right thing regarding oiling the blade, only need a little. Wouldn't bother getting the blade polished, looks good enough, save your money. Ps, lots of useful stuff online, and check out beginners books, a thread somewhere. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm http://www.sho-shin.com/index2.htm Learn a lot from online stores like this, once you learn some terminology https://www.aoijapan.com/

You have the blade in hand and it is in good polish so there are lots of clues. Nakago is good showing shape and file marks, Blade shows grain pattern and hamon. Agree about Edo, though i think if you can spend enough time on it with it hand you can narrow it down significantly. Il be honest, it can be very time consuming and difficult, especially from images. I was tempted to spend a few mins looking for Edo blades with similar nakago, you can find similar in 5 mins online (matching nakago-jiri and yasurime). You need to to do this with every element of the sword and narrow it down. After that, Shinsa, should you think its worth it.

I mean the months around xmas, obviously The type of collectors that would buy a sword at that budget are unlikely to be flush a month or so after xmas and the new year. As said, its slow out there at the moment, for other reasons too.

Bad time sell anything around Christmas, especially antiques. I've been noticing its very quiet with sales. Sure it will sell eventually, its a nice set for anyone looking for an old sword in ww2 mounts.

Hate to say it but im guessing a Samurai wouldn't feel too confident about it.

For what its worth, one more that thinks there is a decent chance its genuine. but as mentioned a million times on here its never easy from images, especially poor images. Bickering with folk wont help you to sell it, you just narrow the field, a lot. Folk new to the site often get upset when someone says something contradictory about their sword but that's how it goes. I bet someone could post a papered blade here and some folk would still say its gimei. All just opinions, from educated and not so educated on a particular subject. That's forums, live with it.

Followed the sales of Sukekane swords for several years as his choji has always been of interest. Sometimes you see it and its amazing, other times, well. Prices have risen, felt to me like all of a sudden folk became interested in Shinshinto, especially Yokoyama Cant ever remember seeing a gimei. not to say there isn't any. Think Colin mentioned Yakidashi in the other thread but never heard back, i think, to se if its present. The person to buy your sword will be the person that does not have to pay an arm and a leg getting it polished. Also, finding a polisher is difficult for a lot of collectors these days.

Blades described as Kanbun shape can have very little sori. Used to have a katana, it was not far off straight. Sori was only about 5mm

Ken, the nakago and hamon scream Bizen, though you see others like Takada with similar nakago, from memory. Be good to see the boshi and clear image of the mekugi-ana Judging the shape of a sword in images can also be misleading, especially sori

I give up Very surprised indeed at that answer. Nakago didnt say Kanbun to me, reminded me of Sue-Bizen As always though, we look at pictures.

Id bet $50 its by a Sukesada, possibly another like Norimitsu, its Bizen Muromachi.

Looks to be a chunky sword, from the images and not reading the measurement i assumed it was a lot shorter than it is.

Id be surprised if that wasn't already there. Sometimes you just don't notice little marks, then notice them later.

Well done Colin!. Difficult from those images but the kogai has a bit of a Ko Kinko feel about it. As for the Tsuka, Bal does great work, perhaps ask him.

Hi Lukas, usually never a problem with swords leaving the UK. Parcelforce Global priority has been a reliable service, you will NOT get insurance for antiques though. UPS worth looking into, maybe they insure, i don't know. Make sure the package is worded correctly with the correct customs tariff number, a thread on here somewhere about that. Cheers