PNSSHOGUN

Thank you all again for your assistance, the registration came in this envelope. It's interesting to see an early registration certificate, and that it was first registered in Shimane Prefecture followed by Toyama prefecture.

Have to agree that the blade looks to have some interesting qualities. After examining these closer photos the Horimono is somewhat unfortunate for my eyes at least, but that particular subject of Fudo Myo-o tends to look awkward even when done by known Horimono artists of repute.

Thank you all for you assistance, it's accompanied by a Torokusho for 1953 in I believe Toyama Prefecture so 1951 makes sense.

Any help would be appreciated:

For those who've studied Gassan school smiths and seen their Mei in hand, it's rather apparent how finely the Nakago is signed and finished. Don't think you've missed anything important.

Well I'm not sure if that's a Type 94, if you look closer the Tsuba appears to be solid and the Ito & fittings don't have the detail seen in early swords.

Something not seen very often these days as many were discarded over the years. Not sure if you could put a monetary value on one, but the historical value is significant as occasionally the officers wrote their details on them. Two swords in my small collection still retain original bags, unfortunately one is in tatters but was happy to keep it with the sword. The son of the WWII veteran confirmed it came to his father with the same bag. Others have come with bags that could certainly be original but the post war provenance isn't known. 1: Kai Gunto surrendered in Dutch Borneo 2: Yasumitsu from a US Lt. Colonel

From Japan: https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/u1209946393

A finely made Habaki is such a pleasant object, thank you for sharing.

If it helps I met Mark a couple of weeks ago at an event, this sword and a many of the other listings were on offer.

For what it's worth it's the Seki Tosho Yoshihara, not the Gendai Tosho. You'd want to see some documentation to back up the claims, and a far better resolution photo or video of Admiral Fukudome with a sword to confirm it.

The results from the big English auction sites can always be taken with a grain of salt when compared to the real market. The relative prices of masterpiece swords haven't really changed much in hundreds of years.

Most of these articles appear to be AI generated, wouldn't put much faith in any of the details offered.

Such things have been explored and perfected elsewhere; Howard Clark comes to mind using L6, and Hanwei using various special steels over the years. That market has always been more focused on performance, whereas modern Japanese Tosho perhaps focus more on the artistic side rather than sheer functionality at the cost of everything else.

Jacques raises a good point, the overwhelming majority of good Sue Bizen works with long Mei will feature a Nengo. For those who own Sue Koto vols. Iⅈ you will be hard pressed to find an example that doesn't follow this pattern. There will be exceptions out there, but they are certainly not the rule.