J-T

Piers, I could google pictures of kusarigamas with the chain attached in end of the handle, but also in the neck of the blade. So I guess both versions existed. I don't have clear close-ups now, but here's how the other side of the weight and blade look like roughly.

Just to contribute a photo to this old topic, this is a kusarigama that I have in Japan, probably antique. It is made of single piece of metal and has no markings on it. The weight on the end of the chain bears kanji which I'm unable to read. It's eerily small (about 20 cm long with 5 cm worn out blade, 1 meter of chain), perhaps it was meant for concealed carrying, or just made as a showpiece/replica? If anyone has come accross similar piece, please let me know.

Check that there is a small piece of paper (Torokusho) with the sword in Japan, unlicensed swords are illegal in Japan, it's a really big deal. This should help to explain the situation: http://www.jssus.org/nkp/japanese_sword_laws.html Cheers Thanks Malcolm, taken care of already.

This is slightly off-topic, but I thought it might still be interesting to some. I will take this percussion musket to shinsa in Japan later this year, hoping to get a permanent registration. The gun has only Japanese markings on the base of the barrel, so it could be a Japanese made copy of a Western musket. Sorry, no clear pictures of the markings right now. I wasn't able to see if it's a smooth bore or rifled, at least the muzzle section of the barrel appears to have no riflings. I found a picture of identical weapon in a Wikipedia-article on Boshin war which also suggests a smooth bore gun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshin_War#mediaviewer/File:Weapons_of_the_Boshin_War.jpg A Houston-based antique dealer also lists an identical gun. According to them, "in the book The Japanese Matchlock by Shigeo Sugawa on page 38. Mr. Sagawa shows an identical musket. He says is "Sakai made" with short stock and no half cock. This gun is 12 1/2" pull, no half cock and has Japanese prefecture and Meiji Registration markings on the barrel. This is patterned after a Dutch Colonial musket." http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Bolt%20Action%20Rifles/Japanese%20Rifles/Japanese%20Military%20Issue%20Percussion/Japanese%20Military%20Issue%20Percussion.htm I now have a one-year tōroku by the police. Whether I can keep the musket or not, I was told the cut-off point is 1867. So I hope it was manufactured before the Boshin war. But I'm not quite sure, Meiji restoration markings aren't very promising... The shinsa will tell.

Thank you for the replies and advice, so it's a scam, I'll skip it. I'm not a sword collector nor even a hobbyist, just a guy who saw an interesting item and came here for a second opinion. I do own a nihonto, but that too came to my possession by coincidence (found it in my house in Japan). So my interest in swords is not very intense. I spotted this military katana replica in Tianjin Shenyangdao antique street, which is said to be one of the largest antique venues in China. I often visit there, but haven't come accross many Chinese swords either. Those that I do see might be replicas as well.

I know very little about Japanese swords, so I appreaciate if someone could tell me his opinion about this katana. I just found it in an antique market in here in China. The pictures aren't very good, and I wasn't able to strip the sword. But to me it looks like a WWII era sword, hand forged, the habaki bears a serial number 11873. Do you think it is an older blade converted to military use, or a military sword, or a Chinese fake? I liked it as an item, think I want to buy it. I know this forum is not for pricing, but could someone please give a rough idea how much would be an acceptable amount to pay for a sword like this, if possible based on this limited info? The seller's first quote was 5000 rmb (800 usd), but I guess I could bargain it down to 300-400 usd. Cheers.

Signature should work now.

Thanks for your advice so far. I'm aware of the registration procedure and working on it. My previous post was cut, couple of photos were left out. Here's the best I can do now for the area under the habaki. Will take a photo of the whole length of the blade next time. I also include a photo of another item just for curiosity. I found this shortened blade among rusty farming tools. Pictured with an old axe. It had a wooden handle, only after I stripped it off, I realized that it is a wakizashi or katana blade which was perhaps broken and then modified to be used as a farming/cutting tool. The blade appears unsigned. Does anyone know if it was a common practice to modify broken blades like this?

Hi, this is my first post here. I know just the very basics about nihonto, so I’m reading this forum hoping to learn more. I recently bought and old farmhouse in Japan and have been cleaning it up. Items like these keep popping up. I wonder if it’s possible to say anything about the sword based on the photos? The blade was all covered in rust, I’ve oiled and wiped it with a cloth multiple times now to get rid of the crude rust. Lots of stains still remain. The hamon is hardly visible. The top third portion of the edge has some small dents. There’s no visible signature in nakago but I think there are traces of a kanji mark or marks (in the middle section close to the mekugiana). Might be just my wishful thinking, though. Any thoughts about this?