Jimmy N.

So it's probably Shakudo foil over a base of copper? Thanks, Jimmy

Thank you for the response. I have a cleaning kit on order, and I actually should be getting a better camera for Christmas. I also have been meaning to set up a light box for photographing small things in good light. I'll get the photography equipment set up when I get home, I'll clean the blade up as well as I can, and I'll take all the pictures you could want . There's a lot more to this subject than I ever would have guessed. I'm learning a lot, and I'm looking forward to getting into the books I have ordered. I'm impressed with (and thankful for) the amount of time and knowledge you all have shared with me. Thanks, Jimmy

Rich, thank you for the comments. A quick question for clarification. It is my understanding that Shakudo refers to an alloy of mostly copper with a little gold which has been chemically treated to have the nice black patina. Does the term "Shakudo" refer to the black patina, or the alloy? Thanks, Jimmy

Thanks everyone for the comments. Given that the mei is questionable, is there any way to estimate how old the wakizashi might be? I assume it would be worth having polished at some point? If/when I do get it polished, would it be worth trying to get papers from NBTHK or another organization? How questionable is the mei? As an update, I have ordered several books on the subject recommended by Gabriel Lebec, and also a cleaning kit. I'm looking forward to learning what I can about all this. Thanks, Jimmy

Hi, I have a thread in the main Nihonto discussion section about the wakizashi that this Tosogu came on, but I thought I would post over here as well to try to get some more information. I hope that's ok. The thread in the other section is here RE: the posting guidelines, I fully intend to keep this wakizashi and its koshirae, so any information that you give will be used purely for my personal edification. To be very brief, my father brought this wakizashi back from Japan on a tourist trip in the late 50's/early 60's, and it ended up lost in a crate in the attic of his parents' house. He told me about it years ago, but thought it had been stolen as he had looked for it and couldn't find it. Unfortunately, he passed away several years ago, so I can't ask him any more about it. I have picked up that it is an authentic Nihonto, and am in the process of trying to learn all that I can about it. Anyway, here are the pictures (thumbnails... click on the little picture to get a big one): A closeup of the tsuka: The habaki: The menuki: The tsuba: The fuchi: Signature (I assume?) on the fuchi: The kashira: I'm just interested in anything that you can tell me about them. I am aware that the fuchi and kashira are waves with droplets, and that the habaki is rain with droplets, and that the tsuka is dragons. I'm not sure what the menuki are. I may have them upside down in the picture? Someone mentioned that they might be a butterfly on flowers but wasn't sure. I have been told that the fuchi, kashira, and habaki are shakudo, and that the signature on the fuchi is Inaba with a kao. Basically, I'd just like to know more about them - if anyone can give me an estimate as to age of the different parts, or if anyone recognizes the Inaba and/or kao and can tell me about that, or if anyone can tell me what the menuki are. Also, I'm sorry the picture of the tsuka is out of focus. I intend to take some better pictures of it, and will take pictures of anything else that will help in my search for information, but I will not be back home for several weeks and will not be able to take the pictures until then (I'm a college student). Thank you for looking and any comments, advice, or opinions you may share. Jimmy

I will take the picture you recommend, but I can't do it for a few weeks. I am a college student in engineering, and found the sword over Thanksgiving break. It stayed home, and I won't be back until just before Christmas. Thanks, Jimmy

I forgot to post these here... I do have two pictures that are a little closer of the mei, if it will help at all. I also have been advised to try a rubbing or better lighting for the photographs, which I will do, but I won't have access to the sword again for about three weeks. Top part: Bottom part: Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'm pretty much clueless on kanji and Nihonto, so while I have done some reading recently on sword care and all the different parts and their names, I don't know much about what any of it means in a practical sense, so I appreciate any comments and advice that are offered. Does anyone know what the menuki are? Also, Bungo/Milt, it was not actually a vet bring-back, none of my recent ancestors have been military. My grandfather was a pilot for Pan American, so they could fly wherever they wanted for free, so they did a ton of traveling. The sword was purchased during a tourist trip to Japan in my father's youth. I think it would have been late 50's, might have been early 60's. Should I make a thread for the koshirae in the Tosogu forum? And what is a kao? Thank you, Jimmy

I'd also like to learn more about the koshirae... I figured that since I already had this thread here, I ought to go ahead and post them in this thread. If I should start a new thread in the Tosogu subforum, please tell me. Specifically, I'd be interested to know what the menuki are (I can't tell) and what the signature is on the fuchi. Some pictures of the koshirae (again, changed to thumbnails... click the little picture to get a big one): A closeup of the tsuka: The rain-theme habaki: The menuki: The tsuba: The wave-theme fuchi: Signature (I assume?) on the fuchi: The wave-theme kashira: Thanks again!

Hello everyone, I recently found a wakizashi that my father brought back from Japan in the late 50's/early 60's. I've been searching for information on it, and posted over at sword forum. One of the members suggested that I post over here also, so that's what I'm doing. It does look like, from what they've said, that it is an authentic, antique Nihonto. As a note, I know some of the pictures aren't the best, I will try to take better ones, but I'm currently in a different state from the wakizashi and won't be able to take more pictures for about three weeks. RE: the posting guidelines, I absolutely intend to keep the sword and will not be selling it, so no replies will be used for commercial purposes. I became interested in Japanese swords a while back. At that time, my father told me that he had brought back "a Samurai sword" from Japan some time in the late 50's or early 60's, and that he was sure that it must have been in his parents' (my grandparents') house somewhere, but he had looked quite a bit and had concluded that it had been stolen. He was very insistent at the time that it was "real" and that it was folded steel. Two weeks ago, my family was cleaning out my grandparents' house, and I came across a shipping crate in the attic that had a bunch of my dad's things in it from when they moved in the early/mid 60's. In that crate, which apparently had not been opened since the 60's, I found a wakizashi, which I assume is what he was talking about. Unfortunately, he passed away several years ago, and his parents years before that, so there's no one who knows any more than what I have already written down - that the wakizashi was brought back from Japan in the late 50's or early 60's. You'll have to excuse me if I use any of the terms relating to Nihon-to incorrectly, as I had not seen most of them until about two weeks ago when I started trying to find out more about the sword. It is decidedly NOT in polish, which I would guess makes it a lot harder to tell about the sword. Some measurements: Overall length, with tsuka in place: 26.5" or 67cm Cutting edge, from end of habaki to tip: 20" or 51cm Blade thickness at habaki: .24" or 6mm Blade thickness at yokote: .16" or 4mm Blade width at habaki: 1" or 2.5cm Blade width at yokote: .75" or 1.9cm It's funny, I guess I'm more like my father than I thought, because I really like the size, shape, and balance of the sword, and the koshirae is among my favorites of the ones I have seen. I was really hoping that someone could translate the mei for me (and the signature on the fuchi). Also, if anyone has an idea about when it might have been made. Thank you for looking and any advice you may have. Some pictures (I just changed them to thumbnails... click the little picture to get a big one): The whole wakizashi: A closeup of the kissaki: A closeup of the edge, showing hamon: The nakago with mei: There are some more pictures of the blade (several closeups) and nakago (closeups of the mei) at: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/jnewman606/wakizashi/ To view the images in the photobucket album full-size, click on one of the images, then click "full size" near the top-left corner of the image. Thanks, Jimmy