Alex A

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.

2 signed and dated late Muromachi tanto in shirasaya, with Hozen https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/eng/product_details_e.php?prod_no=TAN-0118 https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/eng/product_details_e.php?prod_no=TAN-0116 Maybe put your own koshirae together at a later date ?

All 3 for less than $90, i have a vague memory of seeing connoisseurs at $250 whilst it was out of print, grab it whilst you can

Good starter book Henry, and cheap https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/4805311347/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1538055058&sr=8-1&keywords=the+samurai+sword+a+handbook+by+john+m.+yumoto

Im saying that im not suggesting any of the sellers above are selling anything fake. Be wary around Ebay, every so often I see a sword for sale with papers, and it just don't add up for one reason or another. You would be better buying books and learning more from this site and others, before you buy. (its been said a million times)

Sometimes cheap certified swords appear in the sales section, keep an eye on it, but be quick. Your doing the right thing trying to avoid Ebay as a beginner, I see gimei (with hozen) quite regularly. ps, not talking about any sellers you have presented, not looked at them.

To me, a difficult question to answer as not seen enough. Recently though, ive become interested in works by Enomoto Sadayoshi from the Gassan school.

Yes, thanks Robert, ive corrected it, cheers!

Thought id crack this in an hour whilst the Misses was at the shops, that was Saturday, anyways dont laugh. 1) Bizen Suke Fujiwara Munetsugu, Shinshinto (circa 1860). Originally thought one of the Suishinshi school pupils, Naotane or Naokatsu maybe. 2) Inoue Shinkai, Edo (mid to late 1600,s). Difficult from pics, but sure I see Masame in the Shinogi-ji, originally was thinking Hizen. 3) Rai Kunitoshi, Kamakura (1300). This one was the most difficult. The hamon is interesting, seen it before but cant remember where. looked at everything from Awataguchi to Naoe Shizu, but finally settled on Rai, mainly because I read of the mix between midare and suguha.. Wish I could give a better explanation as to the answers, but the reality is 4 hours of muddling through internet and books

Only just noticed all this, when does entering close?

No worries Stephen