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Nice! Your swords are on CNN http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/15/design/samurai-swords/index.html

Some really nice stuff Ray, your Iwamoto daisho tsuba are amazing!

Research and a fair amount of luck.

Thanks gentlemen I really appreciate the positive replies!

Well after getting my first nihonto in May I was hooked. I've spent most of my free time since then immersed in the world of the Japanese sword, buying and reading books, reading the forum, surfing sites with swords for sale, researching sword smith rankings on nihontoclub.com, ect and decided I was going to make another purchase. I was initially dead set on getting a sword from the Yasutsugu school due to my long time fascination with the Tokugawa shogunate. I found a couple wakizashi that I liked and the prices were in the right range, but as I was browsing websites, I kept coming back to one wakizashi, an Omi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro the 2nd. It looked amazing, had recent Tokubetsu Hozon papers and was in my price range, so I did some research on the smith. Lo and behold there was entire book dedicated to just this one school, so I went to Roger Robertshaw's site and bought the PDF. Great read! Awesome history behind the school, Hizen province and the school's connection to the Nabeshima daimyo. So I decided I'd go with the Tadahiro. The unexpected part of this was I sent Roger an email thanking him for the book and I attached three pictures from the sword dealers website of the sword I purchased. He promptly got back to me saying it looked like a good start and hinted that I should pay careful attention to the yasurime and the chisel marks of the mei and hinted that the 3rd gen Tadayoshi was the best of the school. So I spent a ton of time with the pictures from the website and Roger's book. I found that the yasurime was strong and slightly katte-agari suggesting that Tadayoshi 3rd made the blade. All of the chisel marks of mei were consistent with that of Tadahiro 2nd and I was able to narrow down the date of signing to around 1672. So I concluded that the blade is daisaku mei and Roger agreed. Awesome! Big thanks to Roger for his guidance and correspondence, great guy. The sword has sated my crazy need to add to my collection for the time being, though I'd really like to add a Hizen Tadayoshi katana to it some day. Here are a couple pictures, there are more on the flickr site https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/ Steve

Nice looking wakizashi! I have a Tadahiro 2nd dai-saku mei wakizashi arriving this week, so I've spend the last month studying the hell out of the mainline Hizen Tadayoshi school. It's definitely not an early mainline Tadayoshi the hada is not quite as fine as the quality they produced. The nakago seems a little chunkier than the earlier mainline Tadayoshi produced. The yasurime appears to be be steeply sloping katte-agari, which rules out all (?) of the mainline Tadayoshi smiths. The temper runs off the edge of the sword below the hamachi. From Robertshaw's book "It is normally considered a Shin-Shinto trait, and some would argue never seen on Hizen swords". Just some of my observations. Steve

Not sure if I agree with Alan about swords not being an investment. Fewer and fewer people are holding more and more of the world's wealth and they are looking for avenues to spend it. There's been a huge boom in high end art being purchased by these people and I'm sure high end Japanese swords are on their radars. If you could get a high end sword into an elitist auction you could probably make a multiple fold profit. I was browsing through Christie's and was blown away at what people are spending on some swords. As far as future interest goes. I'm in my early 30s and was part of the huge Japanese anime, manga and video game boom. I think this phenomenon was able to hold out to kids at least 10 years younger than me (thanks Pokemon). So I think interest in Japanese culture is going to be around for a while. Whether or not that translates into collecting nihonto, I don't know, it did for me. Steve

Thanks guys. I got a PM from Barry as well recommending Brian Tschernega. Tony, yes I really have a problem...I might have made another purchase: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, awarded 2014 I spent a fair time researching smith rankings vs cost of nihonto and it seemed like a good investment. I was drawn to the history of the Hizen Tadayoshi school and their tie with the Nabeshima clan. I really like the elegant shape and masterfully done suguha hamon. I told my wife it was the last one and picking up fittings and having a koshirae made will be my hobby for the next year or so, but we shall see. Steve

Did a forum search and couldn't find anything. I'm thinking about having a koshirae made for a wakizashi, which only has a shirasaya, and was wondering if there is anyone in the States that specializes in crafting them. I would purchase Edo period tsuba, menuki, fuchi and kashira ahead of time. With that said I'm looking for bird themed fittings if anyone has any for sale or links to some...I've found a few so far. Thanks in advance, Steve

Most likely made for style and aesthetics.

My name is in my signature no? I have purchased four books on Japanese swords since I got back from Japan. I have been studying two of them, the other two appear to be on back order despite Amazon saying they are in stock. Unfortunately the Connoisseurs book is one that's hung up... I like having nice things and it bugs me when something isn't "right". So I'll hang onto the sword and do a ton of learning and move on to another purchase. I actually really like Yasutsugu's swords, but I don't know if I'd be able to afford one. Not a big fan of the ones with horimono though, it seems really wrong like putting red racing flames on the side a Bentley. I'm a big fan of Masamune, Muramasa, Kotetsu, growing up in the 90s playing Japanese RPGs, where they were often the best swords in the games. It's fun, I'm learning!

Due to my lack of knowledge in the area I may have put too much faith in the shop. Oh well....a fool and his money...luckily there are bigger fools with way more money than me in the NYC area

Kazu uchi mono because the mei isn't dated or based on the actual craftsmanship of the sword?

Do you think it's worth me trying to get the sword papered?

No date on the ura. So kazu uchimono and gimei signature is the conclusion?

Tony, yes they were very helpful at Kuraya and no pressure at all.

Thanks Jean, I appreciate the info.

Tony I bought the blade from Kuraya Hashimoto by Nijo Castle. I live quite close to NYC and I'm planning to attend the next Token Kai meeting there. Steve

Thanks for your comments. I think I paid 220k yen for the blade and the koshirae, hopefully I didn't get ripped off With the yen plummeting it looks like it's a really good time to buy swords from Japan. I was a little worried about a sword from the Sengoku period and it possibly being mass produced. Is there a method of distinguishing between o-maru and ko-maru boshi, I'm still learning...The illustration in Yumoto's book isn't helping me. Thanks! Steve

I spent two weeks travelling around Japan (went to all three major islands) with my brother who lives in Kyoto and on an impulse I bought my first Japanese sword from a shop in Kyoto with a good reputation. We were able to figure out the mei as Osafune Tadamitsu. Which one I do not know, from my research it seems multiple smiths of this school used this name. I've purchased three books on swords since I've been back and I'm thinking about expanding my collection once I've gained some more knowledge. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to authenticity of the smith, quality of the blade, and if so what kind of value it has. The blade did not have NBTHK papers. pictures are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18273417172/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18273416512/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18091020129/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18277213985/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18089400378/in/dateposted-public/ mei: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46661974@N06/18273414622/in/dateposted-public/ Thanks in advance, Steve