Katsujinken

Actually, check out this gendaito: http://www.katana.giheiya.com/shouhin_list/japanese_sword/iaiyoushinken/01-1344.html "Swordsmith Hizen no Kuni Yoshihiro 肥前國吉廣, real name Fukuda Yoshikazu was born in 1934 and learned under the famed swordsmith Miyairi Akihira who was an intangible national treasure and Mukansaka." The style of the strokes are not all the same though, to be fair. Thoughts?

Yes, I see that extra stroke in the top-middle of the character. So I guess the next step in any case is figure out how old the blade is, even if the mei is false. Haven't seen it in person yet, but will keep folks posted if this continues to be interesting. Thanks Bazza.

I'm leaning that way too, but the Keio period Yoshihiro signed 肥前國義廣... so... gimei?

Here's a mumei blade that went Juyo to Niji Kunitoshi from Darcy's site: http://www.nihonto.ca/niji-kunitoshi-2/ There is however an example oshigata there with a verified signature for comparison. To my eye it looks quite different, but this board is filled with other more knowledgeable folks who may weigh in.

A friend bought a blade for not a whole lot of money at a charity auction a long time ago. It's either a big wakizashi or short katana – it is right on the edge. Looking at the mei, I see Hizen no Kuni Yoshihiro. The signature is katana-mei. But I'm a bit stumped, because the only Yoshihiro I can find that signs with five characters like this apparently uses a different character for the "yoshi" and is from the late 19th century right before Meiji. I found a Hizen Yoshihiro that does use these same characters for Yoshihiro who worked in the early Edo period, but his signature is hizen kuni ju ise daijo fujiwara yoshihiro – not the simple five character signature you see here. Which leads to me ask: might this signature be gimei?

Following up on this for all who may be interested (due to the database rollback). Naoe Shizu Enbun goro 直江志津 延文比 磨り上げ 刃長二尺三寸四分余 Suriage Hacho-ni shaku san sun yon bu amari (2 shaku 3 sun 4 bu) 昭和癸亥年神無月 Showa mizunoto i kanatzuki (October 1983) And of course this sayagaki is by Dr. Honma Junji (本間順治, 1904-1991), who used the gô Kunzan (薫山).

Received mine yesterday. Thanks for the heads up on this!

I received a nihonto just recently via FedEx. It was a domestic shipment though.

Hi all, Long time lurker, first time poster. Thanks for all you do here. If anyone has the time and inclination, I would be grateful for a translation of this sayagaki by Honma sensei. I'm afraid all I am qualified to recognize is the blade itself – Naoe Shizu – and Honma sensei's signature. Any help with the meat in between would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks, M