supergwit

Hello my friends! I haven't been back for a while (waiting to send my sword to get polished). Quick question: is there somewhere online where I can order a cheap tsuka and saya that I can mount my wakizashi in or do I have to get one custom made? I'd like to put my blade in one that isn't beat up so I can display it in my home. Thank you so much and I hope you are all doing well!

Sorry, Alex. I can see what you're saying. I'm definitely going to have the blade looked at by a professional whenever I can arrange that. The reason for that last post wasn't for my estimation of what the wakazashi is, rather I was curious about the wording (i.e. lettering) differences between the two photos. The two mei appear to be identical apart from those first two symbols on each one and I was just curious what the translations were on each one. You're absolutely right, though. I have blade in hand and the free time after work to stare blankly at it and fantasize about its colorful history. Better to just put it to rest for now until I've got the chance to show it to somebody well versed in the art. As always, thanks for your time. Hope you all have an awesome weekend.

I just found this sword and the mei seems to be the closest I've found yet to the one I have - can any of you tell me what the difference is (and perhaps an explanation for the difference) in those first few characters? The first is a link to the page, the second is a link to my wakizashi. Thank you! http://new.uniquejapan.com/a-harima-kun ... wakizashi/ http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 86f35c.jpg

Respectfully, I must point out that I didn't buy this sword. It was handed down to me by my godfather. In all fairness, though, I have always been fascinated with Japanese swords and their creators. Only now I have more incentive to learn about them. This blade came into my possession rather unexpectedly, whereas if I had been looking to make a purchase I would have done much more research beforehand. On a side note - I apologize for starting a new thread. I have always been under the impression that like a new thought begins a new paragraph, a new question should begin a new thread. I can see how that might be annoying. Once again - thank you all for your insight (and patience).

Alex, first off, I love you. Awesome post. Thank you very much for all of that information. Secondly, I already AM thrilled. Even if this turns out to be a forgery this whole process has been exciting. Now I just have to figure out how to get it "papered". Google isn't really helping me all that much on my quest to figure how to do that. If you don't mind me asking (and please don't feel obligated to answer), just how much would you value your tadakuni at? I've said before that I have no intention of ever selling this blade, but that doesn't stop me from wondering about it's monetary worth. Sentimentally - real or not - this is a priceless relic to be passed on to my children.

Ok ok ok. So after about 78 hours of obsessing over my newly acquired wakizashi I have determined one very important thing: I don't know anything about this wakizashi. I need to bring this to an expert, but I don't know where to go to do that. Are there any forum members who are from New England (I'm in New Hampshire, but I will gladly drive to nearby states) or have any experience with Shinsa in this area? Please help - my girlfriend told me that if I don't put the computer down she's leaving me. I guess I'll have to drive to the appraisal by myself... Also, anybody with any more information (or perhaps with swords made by the same smith) please don't hesitate to reply here, PM me, or email me at BrandonMLaws@gmail.com. http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 86f35c.jpg

I found this description of the smith that eludes to him using different styles. Man, I wish I was able to read Japanese. I STILL can't figure out which of the smith's made this sword by using the swordsmith database (any help would be appreciated).

That was an awesome post. Thank you so much for all of that information. I've never even considered youtube as a source to learn about swords until now. If you need me I'll be watching videos about my new obsession. Thanks again for being so helpful. I really appreciate all of the kindness and patience you and the other members have shown me so far.

It does, but there are more characters in the mei you posted yesterday and it is on the opposite side of the blade. Would these blades be crafted by the same smith?

I've been staring at the Tadakuni signatures in the swordsmith database for an hour and I still can't make sense of it. I'm not sure which characters in the signature on my blade correspond to the ones in the database. Does Japanese read in the same left - right / up - down manner that English does? And in that case would the last characters in the signature be the smith that I am searching for?

I was searching around the forum and I found this link - I've honestly never tried to read Japanese before, but to my untrained eye the signature on my blade looks nearly identical to the one on this blade: http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/08118.html Does that help to solve the mystery?

The nagasa is 19" and change. Who are these two professionals? I LOVE the idea that only two people on the continent are qualified to restore this blade. I'd love to see them work.

I took a better picture of the signature - hopefully this helps: http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 51cd31.jpg

Grey - I couldn't find the post you're referencing. I've been collecting other things (mostly firearms) for years, though, so I can appreciate that newbie excitement. I understand this is a whole different ball game, and that's why I came here looking for your opinions. Quite frankly, the saya, tsuka, and tsuba are so worn (the saya is actually split down the blade-side seam) that at the very least I would be inclined to replace those parts before I put it on display. Getting the blade polished isn't incredibly important to me - it isn't like I'm going to be using it to kill zombies - however if isn't a foolish thing to spend my money on I wouldn't mind doing it at all. Especially because I would love to see how this blade was intended to look. Anyway, I appreciate your attempt to point me in the right direction. Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself too much. Thank you.

I was searching for a suggested thread when I found this one. My name is Brandon - I'm a manager at a very busy Irish Pub in southern New Hampshire. I've always been fascinated with history - particularly the history of war and war machines. I have a modest collection of antique firearms, and an ever growing love for the craftsmanship that goes into the creation of older weapons. The saying "They don't make 'em like they used to" couldn't be more true. I am a musician, collector, investor, world traveler, and family man. Always questing for knowledge (a little too eagerly at times), and supremely appreciative of anybody who has a lesson to teach me. Thank you in advance for all of the knowledge and insight.

Doing that now - thanks for the tip.

Thank you Jean, I appreciate it. Do you know anything about the signature? For instance - is it one that is often faked? My google searches suggest that this sword is some 350+ years old if it is authentic. That is just amazing to me. And one more question: do you think the sword is valuable enough to justify spending the $1000+ on getting it restored, or would you just leave it as is? Thanks again. I see you're in France, by the way - beautiful country. I spent a few days in Paris and a few in Nice two years ago. Even the train ride between the two cities was amazing. I can't wait to go back.

I'm not very savvy with resizing pictures, so I'll just include a link to my photobucket folder containing the photos. Sorry for the inconvenience. This was a real sloppy introduction. It can only get better from here! http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 188957.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... f238a4.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 3715ed.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... b8535a.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 3600e7.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... f4e24e.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... dc142f.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... f425a7.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... d50e13.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 166e0c.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... da1a85.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 950fc5.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 7ed625.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 3ad8dc.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 5a86d2.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 7ae4a0.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... f212b0.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 02f792.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 3d9dec.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... a7cfc4.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... eaca3c.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... b1bdb4.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 19f747.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 3b28ae.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... a818fb.jpg http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r53 ... 534094.jpg

Sorry about that - problem fixed.

Well this is embarrassing - I need to retake the photos with less resolution - the files are too big. I'll be back in about an hour and I'll redo this post. Sorry.

First, my name is Brandon. Thank you so much for allowing me to join your forum. I'm a resident of New Hampshire and I couldn't be happier to have the problems that I am asking you for help with. I inherited a sword from my god father recently that his father brought back from WWII. It didn't look very special to my untrained eye, the blade was in ok condition but the rest of the fittings and parts seemed cheaply made. As I have no intention of ever selling this sword, I was just going to hang it on a wall as a display piece and pass it on to my children - THAT is when I started searching for sword refinishing and preservation and I realized that I needed to do some more research before I ruined the value/history of this blade. I'm going to post a whole bunch of pictures - I apologize if that annoys you, but I know very little about this potentially very valuable piece of art so I don't know what photos are good and which are not. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Furthermore, I would really like to know your opinions about whether or not I should pay to get the blade restored, have the individual pieces replaced before mounting it, or if I should just leave it as is. I am aware there is a legitimate chance this is a copy or a fake. If anybody sees any indication of that and would like to point it out I will be grateful for that, as well. Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to learning more from you.