Jacques

Hi, The second mei may be Kawachi no kami Hirotaka.

Hi Michel, No, i don't know why, but my old eyes are open to read your explanations. Tu pourrais mettre ça sur notre forum aussi :D

Hi, Looks like the Hashimoto family mon (real name of Hizen Tadayoshi lineage).

Hi, You can try with a cleaning gun brush 22 long rifle caliber (nylon and cotton only) i've used it for cleaning an old saya of a Kunishige blade.

Hi, Thank you Darcy, Just a little remark, :D i personnally don't find that the mei itself is so near the bottom of the nakago. :?

Hi, this blade seems to have a keicho shinto look, i don't think that it was suriage but perhaps machi-okuri; About the mei, if it is Yamashiro no kami Kunikiyo (hirokawa school) his mei is often low down on the nakago and ends near the nakago jiri (that i should like to see). Hada is not incompatible with this school one. In any case there is a good occasion to learn something :D

Hi, Yamashiro no kami Kunikiyo (frome Echizen) signed in tachi mei.

Darcy, Thanks for the commentary i'll be less ignorant when i'll go to bed this evening. Yes it's a yari (shinto yamato tegai mei Kawachi no kami Monju Kanesada) other pictures: For the pleasure, another Norishige, this one is kokuho :

Hi, May be Katsukuni from kaga :arrow:

Jean, All that say Tsuruta san is not my cup of tea concerning sue-bizen school, yes it is a late muromachi one (sue 末 means end). you can also read this : that come from: http://www.nihonto.ca/yosozaemon-sukesada/index.html

Hi, Jean, Sue-bizen swords are more in nie-deki and this fact will involve the disappearance of utsuri.

Is it Shinto though? I thought it looked Muromachi. I've never seen the Bishu Osafune Sukesada mei on a shinto blade (apart from gimei). The Tadakuni is superb, I have come close to buying it for a while now. I think that's the best deal on a Hizen sword anywhere on the net... Sukesada (real name Shichibei) was a descendant of Yosozaemon no jo Sukesada (16th century) he worked in Manji era (1658); there are many Sukesada trough the shinto era until Shinshinto. In shinshinto we found another descendant of Sukesada, Sukenaga who was a great smith.

hi, I personally think that one of the best book for a beginner is the book written by Kanzan Sato Sensei - The Japanese Sword "a compréhensive guide".

Hi, A photo is often better than a long speech, Matsukawa hada is more strong and chikei are numerous and vigorous and no masame. I've a Yamato tegai blade, look at it, To my eyes it is more similar than Mastukawa hada (but i need perhaps new glasses :D ).

Darcy, Sorry for my bad explanation :? when i said "this one looks more like shinto yamato tegai or Ogasawara" i wanted to talk about the picture that b.hennick had posted not about Norishige hada. About gassan ayasugi hada, a nice photo :

Hi, No, there is no masame in the matsukawa-hada, this one looks more like shinto yamato tegai or Ogasawara.

Hi, I say nothing.... they say. you must write to them and say "sorry but you are wrong". An other exemple. http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_147.htm Read also the connoisseur's book of Japanese swords (Page 33) and Comments on the Construction of Japanese Swords by Harvey Stearn, BUSHIDO: An International Journal of Japanese Arms, Vol 2, No. 3, January 1981. You can believe what you want, it's not my problem.

here is a daisho made by the nidai, you can make a comparison, you are better expert than me. To my eyes three things are wrong on your blade the location of the mei (too near the nakagojiri) the kiku mon (should be more large) and the thick chisel strokes. It's my thought but i'm not an expert.

Hi Patrick, The ura mei indicate the nidai of Kinmichi (kanji so). But pictures of the blade could help better.

Hi, Dai (代) means generation; sho (初) means first Shodai means the first, nidai (二代) the second, sandai (三代) the third etc...

Hi, You have it here But in french :lol:

Brian, that's possible, if it's a shinto smith it is the shodai, The nidai used another kanji "mune" 宗

Hi, No risks, There are few blades from O Sa wich are extant, few tanto and only one Tachi (It belonged to Tokugawa Ieyazu). but no Naginata

Hi, You forget Yasusada :lol: however the yasurime saka takanoha on the ura are not in accordance witth the mishina school.

Hi, Ogasawara Nagamune and his son worked in the middle of the shinto time (shodai 1673-1681, nidai 1716-1736). They lived in Musashi and worked in Yamato tradition. source: les sabres shinto (Serge DEGORE)