Michaelr

Steve welcome. I don’t know what it says but looks like a beauty to me. 
      MikeR

I have also purchased from Ray and he ROCKS. Ray has always been there to help me when ever I have come to him for help. Thanks Ray

              MikeR

Wow Neil you beat me by 2 minutes. I was going to say the same thing. I also own similar    
            MikeR

WOW you do excellent work. Thank you so much for sharing. Your work and the Tanto are beautiful     
            MikeR

I think that it is a great figure. I also love the stick and it looks like they have been together their whole life.  Thank you for sharing     
            MikeR

Kawa thank you very much for your very informative post. I am still very new to Nihonto and your post was so well written that even a beginner such as I could follow it and learn from it. Along the lines of what Babu said I also believe that anyone interested is Nihonto can learn from any quality blade with the hope of someday having the opportunity to study a Great Blade from a Great Master. Until then I enjoy and learn from the blades that I have. Again Thank You for the time you took in writing a Great Post.

                     MikeR

Mike I have also seen swords with a very thin sepa shim made from white plastic. Most of the ones that I have seen had the white plastic on both sides of the tuba which made it look like it belonged there. The important part is that You are happy with the results.  Good luck

           MikeR

I am certainly no expert on these flags and can’t help with the translation but the flag looks post war to me. Just my opinion for what it’s worth

Thank you both for sharing. I love both of them

       MikeR

I was just told that the Shinsa is tomorrow July 19. I don’t have a sword in it but have a friend that does. He is also eager to hear any news. When he hears anything I will report back. Good luck to all.

       MikeR

Peter could it be that the Tsuba that you have is the same one that was on the sword that you show that was sold? Maybe the person that purchased that sword removed the Tsuba and replaced with something else and sold the original? Just a thought.

           MikeR

Jeremiah, congratulations on your Great purchase. I posted back to Ray good luck with the sale and congratulations to the new owner about ten minutes after he posted it. I loved it!! I was still shaking my piggy bank out to try and put together the jingle when I saw you post SOLD. To say the least I didn’t sleep to good that night. Thank you for posting your follow up and more pictures as it is always nice to see someone excited and pleased with a new purchase. Ray is a Great guy and has helped me many times in the past. Again congratulations. 
          MikeR

Congratulations. You have a beautiful blade there.

     MikeR

That’s a real beauty Ray. Good luck with the sale and congratulations to the new owner when it sells.

        MikeR

WOW What a Great Job. Thank you so much for sharing. Looks Great

         MikeR

Great video. Thank you for sharing. 
     MikeR

Don’t know what it says but I like it a lot

     MikeR

Just my thoughts. As a novice in the Nihonto field I thought about your dilemma and what I would do if the sword were mine. I think that sometimes you have to look past a flaw or damage to a blade to see the original beauty of the blade. If you can look past this and imagine ( sometimes it takes more imagination than other times ) the original intent of the sword smith and the beauty that he instilled in the blade is all it takes. That being said I think for me I would have a window ( as large as possible without getting into a damaged area ) polished into the blade. After this I would be proud to display the blade with all of its condition problems, but a beautiful window showing the original beauty of the sword and the skill of the original sword smith. Rather than polish out some of that beauty or change the original configuration of the blade or loose any of the original Hamon, I would be very happy with a “before and after” knowing that I had a original treasure. Just my 2cents.

         MikeR

WOW. I just went back and looked at your pictures in the original post. Your sword is Beautiful. I wish that I could be the swords new caretaker but right now times are a little tuff. Good luck to you with your sale and congratulations to the New Caretaker when the Sword finds him.

       MikeR

 Very cool with a great story. I applaud you for doing the research. Thank you for sharing    
 MikeR

I had posted a blade here back in December with what appears to be the same signature. I was also told it is Kanemoto ( possibly Mino ). I attached a couple of pictures.

  MikeR

Beautiful blade. Congratulations. Thank you for sharing. The pictures are great.

     MikeR

Yes this looks like this is a beautiful sword and I too would love to see the whole blade.

    MikeR

I think we are ALL Collectors. We just ALL collect different STUFF.  Some collect objects, some collect money, some collect pictures of their vacations. I think I am one of the Very Lucky Collectors here on the board. As a old time collector I have had a lot of nice stuff, as a newer member of Nihonto I have a very modest collection of Beautiful Japanese Swords ( with the help of some Great Members here ), as one of the older members ( in age) I have collected money and enjoyed it-then turned it into stuff that I enjoy more. So I don’t have much money, but I do have a lot of stuff. But the collection that I am most proud of is my Beautiful Family, my Beautiful Girlfriend and the Great People here on the board. Thank you to ALL and stay safe in these trying times.

   MikeR

Thank you Paul.  Great photos

  MikeR