Mark S.

I know we all default to this answer, but the polisher is the best person to ask this question. Obviously, if he can’t or won’t provide the answer it’s time to find a new polisher. If the tobiyaki is a ‘mistake’ the polisher can best tone down its appearance. If it belongs there, the polisher can best highlight their appearance to match what the smith intended.

I really think you are going to need to be more specific. Katana, wakizashi, tanto? Fully mounted or in shirasaya? Koto, Shinto, Shinshinto? Papered or unpapered? Signed or mumei? What are your collecting goals? Any characteristics, schools, smiths you are interested in? Something? Anything? Famous quote: “Help us help you”

“You’re gonna need a bigger shirasaya!”

It is both a fatal flaw and and a part of the blades history. The two are not mutually exclusive. Whether it is ‘acceptable’ is left to the artistic sensibilities or collecting goals of the owner, or potential buyer in the case of the sale.

Poor state of condition. Previously ‘cleaned’ with steel wool or sandpaper and overall general abuse? The thinner bohi is disappearing which usually indicates a fair amount of steel loss. Not sure how much is left or will be left if you try to have polished again? Nakago looks ubu, but machi-okuri and possibly unevenly done? Sometimes it is hard to tell from photos and the angle the blade is at when photo is taken. My ‘guess’ is it is pretty far along in the polish life-cycle of a blade, Would need an in-hand expert opinion from a trained polisher.

She will kill you for ‘something’ sooner or later… might as well make it worth it…

There are a few WW2 news magazines for sale on EBAY. Just grabbed a few images of covers that might be of interest although not much detail really. Wasn’t sure where to post them. Sorry if these have been posted before.

While I can’t answer definitively for the people that coordinate such things, Shinsa is usually done every several years (4 to 5?) at any given US location. HUGE amount of work for those involved and probably not enough items to make an every year Shinsa economically feasible.

Just got my room. Last year hotel talked us into a special deal to get us to think about a timeshare… WHICH WE DID NOT DO!!! We did take the last single trip deal they offered but it was a painful process. I recommend if ANYONE offers you a free breakfast for a little of your time DO NOT GO!!! You have to be strong-willed to say NO and they waste a bunch of your time. See everyone there.

I’ll ask you to tread lightly. We have a general rule that we don’t comment on pending sales (which I did not know this was) and I would hate to be accused of meddling with a potential sale that could be between members here (of course I don’t know the details of your purchase). I am not here to help or hurt either you or the seller and am FAR from any type of seasoned evaluator… I was just sharing my opinions on the details of a blade from a school I enjoy.

I very much like the Hojoji school. My ‘feeling’ about this one is that it is fairly atypical of the school. I will only speak in generalities because I am far from an expert in the school. And there doesn’t seem to be many Hojoji Sadahiro references I could find. Usually the hamon is more subdued than your example… slight undulating gunome to almost suguha. The school is well-known for its deep regular gunome-ashi in the hamon that is very close to Kotetsu school. Although the papered example I referenced has ‘some’ of the hamon features your blade has, so maybe this smith worked a little more atypical of the school in general? File marks on your nakago are relatively close to Hojoji style. My ‘impression’ of the Mei is that it is not as well cut as the papered example I referenced… and the “hiro” kanji gives me great pause when compared to the example. Hojoji blades are usually fairly straight (lacking sori), are heavy and wide. While I haven’t handled an extensive number of blades to know if that is always the case, yours ‘appears’ a bit lighter, more slender and has a bit more curve than I am used to. Boshi are usually O-maru and wide. Yours is a little more narrow than I have seen, although it does turn back in the proper shape. So what is my final evaluation? You have a nice blade in good condition. However, it does not exhibit many of the standard characteristics of a ‘typical’ Hojoji blade and I think the Mei is a bit weak. Of course I could be COMPLETELY wrong.

Here is one that was for sale here a few years ago. Search feature is your friend…

Most definitely Seiryushi, but strange no name afterward. Here is a Seiryushi Moriyuki I own. Passed NTHK-NPO. He used the simplified ‘ryu’ in mei.

I have 2 blades in gunto mounts and they are close to what mdiddy stated… however, 2 blades are only anecdotal info. My WW2 era made blade = 26.5” nagasa Old Kai Mihara blade placed in gunto mounts = 27.9” nagasa

If memory serves (but I trust it less and less now… stupid memory ) last time (in 2018) it was 3 or 4 months before papers showed up. We probably have a few more weeks to go.

As is always stated, “EBay can be a minefield”. Sometimes you need to be MORE educated about nihonto to be able to successfully make purchases off that format, especially less expensive blades. You first need to know what you want and why you want it (school and correct attributes for that school, etc.) and then REALLY know what to look for to avoid the pitfalls of not having the blade in hand. You will notice some sellers always put the flaws of the blades in their pictures near the bright, shiny flash from the camera or bright spot from the lighting, or they will place flaws at the very edge of the picture. You can see them if you look hard and know what to look for, but it can be VERY difficult. Some do not remove the habaki so you can view the hamachi area of the blade to check for issues or get an idea if the blade is polished down, and some don’t even remove blades from shirasaya/koshirae so you can view nakago. You can ask for more pictures, but run if you get no answer or the information you ask for still doesn’t clearly show what you are looking for. So many potential flaws don’t even show up in pictures such as bends, non-open fukure, faint hagire, etc., especially when pictures are less than optimal… or worse, designed to deceive. The hardest part of a blade to take good pictures of (in my opinion) is the kissaki and EBay sellers rarely get it right. This is an area of the blade that is also critical to evaluate condition of the blade correctly. Be careful and study. We understand the eagerness to ‘want’ to rush into something. But please listen to the advice to avoid doing that. Wish you the best of luck in your future studies!

PM Sent

As requested. Tried a couple different lighting and angle set ups. Nakago is Machiokuri.

If it was a papered koshirae that was believed to be originally configured a certain way, then yes, it might be a collector’s / historical faux pas. But in this case, who knows who put it on when? Good luck with the hunt.

Very much like your blade. There is something about the geometry of the kissaki along with the bohi that is very elegant. I hope you won’t consider this a hijack. Just attaching a pic of my 2nd Gen Darani Katsukuni who in several references is quoted as working very much in the style of the Seki Kanemoto school. Just thought it might be interesting to compare.

Both are very nice!

What Mark said. My only advice is you better KNOW A LOT and LOOK REAL CLOSE… and then some.

And one from Markus Sesko’s Shinto-meikan, page 318.

Two mei’s to compare (on either side of mei in this thread). Both are from the: Hizento Handbook by Eguchi Soshin with translation by Gordon Robinson page 215 and attributed to the 3rd Gen Tadayoshi. No judgements… just for reference.

I apologize for not responding sooner. Thank you for giving your thoughts. This one is different than what I am used to. Oh well… learning experience.