PalmParrot

Chicago Shinsa declared it the Kanbun Shigeyuki Other mumei sword was declared Eiroku Fuyuhiro which is pretty darn amazing. Cameron Larson

Thank you John, that was fast. I searched and found other mei with the shige character and now it is an obvious match. Amazing how it just pops out at you. I understand now that the mei is the last thing you should look at. Very interested in learning the rest so I can get to know the mumei katana. Is there an antidote to this new obsession I have? Cameron Larson

First, thanks in advance for any help. Just started looking into two swords I inherited and am amazed at the spirit of the community of sword collectors. Grandpa was Seabee and collected two swords in WWII. They were well cared for and in good polish. They are not gunto, I'm quite sure, from what I have seen looking online at swords and fittings. Sword 1 is Wakizashi with fairly clear mei. I was able to figure out 6 of the 7 characters myself, thanks to all the very helpful websites around, but I am stumped on the 6th. I can tell that it is not certain characters but have not been able to match any complete mei in the databases available. Sword feels heavy, like it may have been cut down, straight hamon, not able to characterize boshi. Sword 2 is beautiful mumei Katana, will post pictures later. I'm not going to tell the characters I translated so you can enjoy the delight in arriving at the answer like I did. Just need that 6th character. Enjoy