Ken-Hawaii

Nice tanto, Adam, & probably worth the $1,199 that the seller is asking. But are you buying the blade, or Mr. Sato's "guarantee" (which is what those papers are)?

Welcome aboard, Clive. Too bad you had an unhappy experience, because Takako isn't usually like that. I've worked with her for more than 10 years, & she has always been upfront on the very few times there's been a screwup.

Old yari?

Pretty amazing! You did a great job with all the photos, Dan! Many thanks!

I can see Hideyoshi being gradually promoted by Nobunaga, but at least he was a known factor. It's the Kondo Isami's that make me wonder if the Shogun & Daimyo really had a clue about who was wandering their domain. Somebody housed & fed these guys, so was the society really so rigid & fixed? It sure seems that, if you had the cojones, you could promote yourself, starting around Sengoku Jidai, by picking up a sword, & learning how to use it. Does it matter if you're a yokel, if you can beat the crap out of your latest opponent?

What differentiated a farmer with a sword from a ronin? Assume that the sword got picked up from a battlefield, & the farmer somehow got enough training to live through his first battles. Could he then be considered as ronin? It's not like someone issued permits to carry a blade, so how could a Samurai tell the difference? It wasn't legit to carry a sword without permission, but whose? There were lots of former ashigaru who had at least some weapons training, so what kept them from "promoting" themselves? Many ronin were hired by Daimyo to train their troops, which could advance them to gokenin, or even goshi, so there had to be some level of control. Consider Musashi. Although he was the son of a Samurai, & allowed to wear a sword, how could anyone tell that a 13-year-old bruiser was legitimate? I guess that after winning 60+ battles, he self-defined, but what about his equally-hulking neighbor, who was a farmer's son?

I think it pretty much depends on the blade, George. Polishing isn't a "one size fits all."

The term "Koto" means any period prior to Edo. Within that era, you have Azuchi-Momoyama (1573-1599), Muromachi (1392-1572), Nanbokucho (1333-1391), Kamakura (1185-1332), & Heian (782-1184). Take a look at NMB member Yurie's timeline (https://studyingjapaneseswords.com/2017/07/16/2-time-line/) to see how the pieces tie together. Now take a closer look at ypur blade's sugata, & see if you can time it a bit closer than just Koto. Kirill is giving you some strong hints. Please ignore the mei, unless it has been authenticated by shinsa. The vast majority of signed blades are gimei.

Agreed, not shingane. Can't tell enough about the hamon area to determine what your hataraki might be. John could be right, or it could be inazuma/kinsuji. Pretty nice, in any case.

The area above the shinogi is thicker than the area below it. Do NOT discuss performing cutting tests on NMB!!

You're looking at the wrong question. From a collector's viewpoint, ANY gire is fatal, because it seriously devalues the blade, & makes it uncollectible. From an engineer's standpoint, a partial mune-gire has little, if any, impact on the blade's usability. From a martial artist's consideration, I wouldn't trust that blade, if another sword was available, but I would use your blade if was the only one I had for a battle. Practically, is the gire on a tanto or a tachi? Longer blades allow more bending/torquing forces, that could impact a failure mode.

Looks wakizashi length, but dimensions would be helpful.

Doesn't do a thing for me, either, Curran. Eye of the beholder, & all that.

Here's the Heianjo equivalent, although not overlapping:

I'd love to fence with that rapier!

That's one of the brightest nioi-guchi I've ever seen, & usually indicates a high-quality blade. Wonder why Tsuruta didn't mention who the smith was, or that it was attributed to a den?

Mei is the last thing to look at, Matt, although few yari that I've seen are gimei. Almost looks like sunagashi, but something doesn't feel quite right.

The sugata screams Kanbun Shinto, but I wonder how you were able to label this post as Bizen?

Not the original seppa. See how it partially covers the hitsu-ana? And looking at the sekigane, I'd be surprised if a blade that well without more fillers. &/or reshaping of the nakago-ana.

My three tsuba arrived in great shape, & they're even better than I expected. They got stuck in customs for 2 weeks, but arrived without a note. Thanks, Jimi-san!

https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MOR726

Nice utsushi.

Kyle sells very high-quality tsuba. I was more than pleased with the Heianjo he sold me!

Totally imprectical!! No way to draw or sheath that blade without cutting yourself!

+1