Alex A

Hi Tom, the "rule of thumb" regarding good or bad. I ask because I would expect horimono from these guys only on good blades. If I understand whats written below correctly, the mei can on occasion be the other side. From Nihonto.com site.HORIMONO: Umetada Myoju, Munenaga, or Yoshinaga made all the horimono for the Shodai Tadayoshi. Bo-hi and futatsu-hi are rare. The name of the horimonoshi often appears in a soe-mei. It should be noted that when the Shodai Tadayoshi added horimono to his blades he customarily put the more elaborate horimono on the side that he signed. In the case of his katana, this is the ura or tachi-mei side of the blade. Of course, when the horimono is present on only one side of the blade, the mei is put on that same side. This is an important kantei point for Hizen blades.

Hard to say for sure, perhaps Tadayoshi, Tadakuni (see quite a few with cutting tests) As for the horimono, who knows, may be original or added by a later owner (ato bori), I cant say judging from the photo

I read somewhere, cant remember where and I may be wrong, Tadayoshi did sign tachi mei, but when horimono is only present on one side of the blade, he signed that side.

Was thinking Tadayoshi, but would expect mei and horimono on same side, this appears to have a cutting test in the way. Is there possibly a more elaborate horimono on the other side?

Hi Chris, the bottom horimono looks like Rendai. https://markussesko.com/2015/03/18/kantei-1-sugata-4/ Also, page 79 of connoisseurs Not sure what the two bonji are though

Im reminded of another discussion a few years ago about a similar tsuba, although that showed porosity defects. That also was suggested to be a "presentation" or "tourist" tsuba. The details are too sharp to dismiss it as a modern copy. For me, they come with a ?, that makes other folk go ?, when its time to sell, easier stuff to collect.

This is a good sword, I like it. Moneys tight this time of year for a lot of folk, swords especially are harder to sell this time of year, although im sure this one will sell eventually. Lots to like about it, Hozen, and reasonably priced.

Just wondering if there is a possibility its been done to hide something maybe ? Another vague guess

Handy bottle opener ? Only Jokin

I know someone who had a similar problem with one of their swords, spider rust that would return after a polish. Eventually ruined the blade. Ken, im not saying this is whats up your tsuba, but maybe with this one, keep it in an air tight plastic box with desiccants as folk do with troublesome iron meteorites.

Thats one really scruffy mei, personally, id ignore it.

Good one Jussi, that one really had me going around in circles. Obviously be a lot easier should i have seen lots of blades in hand, but alas, books and internet have to suffice. Looking back to the beginning i was thinking along the lines of what Michael and Paul were saying about the jigane not being refined enough. Connoiseurs mainly mentions Enju with a "fine ko-mokume mixed with a little Masame". It goes on to say that later Enju jigane is "hard" and shows features common with Sue-Koto. I couldn't find a mention of anything "running", until I looked online and elsewhere. I found examples of papered Nanbokucho Enju with either a "running itame "or a "running Masame" . That's when I stuck with Enju, reluctantly. Learned a lot, cheers!

My condolences Jean, you gave Riesling a great home.

Haha, its a case of "I will make it fit what I said it was"!

Jussi, Looking at the oshigata of the boshi, do I see Nijuba ? If so, when combined with masame-nagare, its a typical characteristic feature of Enju. According to a page 751 of koto kantei Just a thought.

Enju late Nanbokucho/early Muromachi (wild guess)

Errr, struggling here Dwain. Best I can do is speculate about the nakago-ana being enlarged at a later date. Maybe you could narrow it down a LITTLE by looking at the shape of the nakago, file marks. Have fun.

Yes John, sometimes i wished id started a less complicated hobby like particle physics

Worn Shakudo can look brown sometimes. Quick example https://www.aoijapan.com/tsubamumei-a-mokko-gata-shakudo-tsuba-of-autumn-flowering/

I thought the same thing Steve. Difficult as not in hand. You can look at hundreds of images of blades, then something grabs your attention for one reason or another. goes with the hobby, i suppose

Franco/Dwain, yes i guess much easier to see in hand. Usually, the first thing i look for on O-suriage blades is signs of the hamon running down past the hamachi. Sometimes easy to see, sometimes difficult to see as it can vanish with the heat during the process. The sword above stood out. If you roughly follow the line of the hamon then i see no reason why it should end where it ends (if blade shortened), looks intended to taper off past the Hamachi. It just don't vanish away like I would normally expect on an O-suriage blade. Heres an example of what I would normally expect, don't think Ray will mind. http://swordsofjapan.com/project/shimada-naginatanaoshi/ Anyways, just thinking out loud, appreciate your input. Ps Dwain, but back in the day I would have gone for something different, too much hamon makes a sword brittle, but that's another topic.

Im guessing you think the nakago is not O-suriage Franco?, or you thinking re-tempered or something ? Or, on closer inspection, you think the hamon and blade are not original length. If so, I never seen an hamon that bright and with that style end so swiftly, without a trace.

This caught my eye, and have been back once or twice to have another look. Almost Katana length, the nakago obviously looks cut short but the hamon and blade looks original length, not something you see too often. The original owner may have witnessed quite a bit of tsuka envy. https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-mumei-shimada/

Well done Bazza, and cheers Ray!

A very good sword, in polish, signed and dated, a great deal at that price!. If it dont sell this time John, will get back to you when im not so skint.