mywei

Just thought I'd share this rare Mito Rekko katana for reference even though its not actually for sale - https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-100823.htm Interesting characteristic hada Makes you wonder if he wasn't so busy (presumably) enjoying being a nobleman he would have been a much more influential smith of the Shinto period.

It is possible that "歩十九" may be an abbreviation of some sort of IJA military formation e.g 歩兵第19連隊 (19th infantry regiment)

Signed Bizen Kuni Norimune I think (unusually on both sides of the nakago) Not sure of authenticity or which Norimune this is, but regardless it will be an older blade More close ups of the blade and tip(kissaki) would help

FYI signed Soshu ju Hirotsugu

Long story short - a sword with zaimei will generally be more valuable than the same sword if mumei But depends on other factors such as age (e.g majority nanbokucho or older blades would be mumei) and overall health of the blade etc... You are trying to compare apples and oranges - you have a shinsakuto, and the store has some mumei Shinto blades with no papers. These are different markets. Fittings shouldn't come into this equation - you are buying the blade foremost. Low/mid range fittings can be dime a dozen.

Pics are blurry but it looks like a shinsakuto by someone from the Higo Akamatsu Taro group Probably would have been best to ask the 'worth it' question before you bought it but I think 4k is reasonable for a shinsakuto by this group assuming this is a katana. You can Google the prices for similar swords by this group on the internet

Yes you are correct 1st gen Echizen ju Harima daijo Fujiwara Shigetaka

It does look like good blade, even though probably not Muramasa Shinshinto perhaps

Koshirae style is called Ebi koshirae (海老拵) I believe it's an old design from the Kamakura era but existing ones now would most likely be late Edo or later See ref https://www.weblio.jp/content/海老鞘拵

Not a legit nihonto signature sorry - most likely on a fake blade too

I wonder what its weight is - 1.5kg at least?

To be fair Tozando is really a budogu store that also sells shinken for martial art purposes - not really a store that specialises in nihonto

Hi David, suriage always happens from the nakago end, not the kissaki I think Steve was wanting a better look a the nakago

FYI signature under that rust looks like Hizen Kuni Yoshikane

You won't decrease the value if restored by a togishi, and then papered, only increase it - but this can be an expensive process as stated previously. It is common for koto blades to not have a signature by the maker as they have been shortened over the centuries (signatures are chiselled, not stamped)

Likely older in my opinion - koto Definitely worth an expert look in hand/professional window or full polish

This looks promising imho Do you have any more closeups of the blade (middle and tip)?

https://www.touken-s...T-mitsushige-01.html Dated Joji era

It does look like Ujifusa (氏房)

Could be - but couldn't find an Ujifusa who used the Sagami no kami title the photos are too poor/dark for me to make out much of the last two characters tbh...

Same signature as in this thread 謹作高山刀 Kinsaku Takayama-To 刀匠 服部正廣 Tosho Hattori Masahiro 研師 山田昭二 Togishi Yamada Shoji

A generic attribution to Echizen Seki would more likely be a Shinto I think as that was their most active period? On a side note, it's great you're planning to make a koshirae for this but be aware that it will not be financially worth it in the end (it never is, regardless of blade) but in this case may end up costing more than the blade itself it you're going for Edo period fittings and the proper craftsmen

Strong hadori

I would definitely invest in books and just looking at as many swords you can before buying anything The blade is classified as a katana, not a tachi - look at the Juyo certificate. Kamakura era blades would have started as tachi before being shortened. It would be very rare for any koshirae to be original for a blade of this age.

Nothing wrong with starting high! However my advice would be to look at all the sites for a period of time, and research a bit more to find out what interests you and guide you in what you want your collection goals to be i.e period, schools, particular smiths etc With your budget you will have a lot of choices to make. Unju/Unji are fairly well respected Koto smiths, but what about this attracts you? And has the price you've been quoted match with other Juyo blades by this smith? These are all questions you'll need to answer before making such a decision. As for whether this will be a good financial investment, who knows how the market will go in the future? Unju is considered decent I think but not a super popular school that will always have heaps of interest. My 2c