huntershooter

Anything Nihonto related to do or see in Santa Fe NM? After my 83rd "Fine Arts" gallery (my wife is DRIVEN) I am ready for some "ME" time. Thanks.

Thank you Koichi san. I assumed the first kanji to be an illegible (to me) "Hori". The second-"I" kanji threw me.

The blade in question is signed "Horii ToshiHide".

The "Hori" and "Toshi" kanji are not even close (as Peter indicated).

What sword? I see no link.

Mei looks clumsy, strokes not confident. As Stephen pointed out; above mekugi ana. On mei alone I would say "gimei".

Looking for any information on a Rikugun Jumei Tosho- "Inoue KatsuKiyo". Most likely nothing is available. Only mention of him was found through Dr. Steins site. My thanks...

"Ricecracker" has a MasaNaga in shirasaya with NBTHK papers on their site. The Minatogawa shrine was producing blades exclusively for the Navy from what I understand.

Guess I wonder how he knows the signature to be "Koa Isshin Mantetsu..." without removing the tsuka??? Good trick, that.

From the photos; unexceptional hamon/hada, tired blade (look at the hamachi). Believe I'd pass on this one.

I've a YasuToku (Kajiyama Yasunori) with the inscription "Made for Mr. Matsuda, 1937". It was relatively common for the Yasukuni smiths to produce special order blades and make note of it. I am curious if the Minatogowa jinja operated in a similar fashion.

NTHK papers to Osaka Ishido school? I know nothing of the school. The blade looks to be Shinto. It has some nice hataraki. I would think 4K is a bit much for a mumei, Shinto wakazashi. Personally, I would keep looking. There are a number of lovely Shinto, ShinShinto katanas out there in that price range.

Chances of habaki/tsuka fitting (a/your blade) are virtually nil. Habaki needs to be made for the blade in question, as does tsuka.

I just received an email from the seller: "You're kidding me, right? My thanks XXX" This was in response to my information provided to seller at his request (see auction) for a translation of mei. Yes, of course my translation was: "Made in China, 1999".

When shipping a blade with saya, but no tsuka I use a couple of pieces of 1"X2"-long enough to cover the nakaga and run a sheet rock screw through the mekugi-ana-securing the to "halves". you can then tape the 1X's for additional security.

Well............ there's gunto and then there's gunto by Kurihara Hikosaburo/"AkiHide". There is a book about him (unfortunately in Japanese only) "The Man Who Revived the Japanese Sword Twice". It is my understanding he is held in high esteem in Japan and his swords have increased significantly in value. I would assume along the lines of Yasukunito after Mr. Kishida's book came out.

By "real thing" I assume you mean Nihonto. The sword pictured appears to be a Meiji era "tourist piece" or Chineese copy of one, not a traditional Japanese sword

Thank you Grey, I have your index. Yes, I saw that one Patrick.

Looking for information on Horii ToshiHide. I've found background info on Dr. Steins site and in Mr. Sloughs book. Google search has turned up very little. Would anyone know where I might obtain additional info on this Gendai tosho? Thank you.

Daisaku Damei-made and signed by others. Showa stamp is a cherry blossom. Ko-itame is a small wood grain pattern.

Your katana appears to be by (Fukumoto) AmaHide. The mei looks a lot like the Daisaku Daimei example by Ido HideToshi in Mr. Sloughs book "Modern Japanese Sword Smiths" (pg. 25). The arsenal stamp looks like a "showa" stamp. The fittings are what are generically referred to as "civilian koshirae/mounts". In one of your photos I see what looks like ko-itame hada. The sword is probably "showa-to", mass produced (due to the stamp), but could be a hand forged/tamahagne blade. It would be nice to view the sword in hand.

I certainly agree with Mark and Gabriels advice. Enjoy your new blade.

Thank you Justin. Interesting that the "chika" kanji on your origami is different from the "chika" kanji on the NTHK paper with this blade (mumei). Apparently he (MasaChika) did use both kanji at different times. The blade is currently out of polish with little to no activity apparent. Perhaps by the time I have it polished I will be able to take and submit photos (afraid I'm a bit of a computer moron. Old school, resitant to change and all).

That would be much appreciated Justin.

Much appreciated gentlemen. Thank you.