Ray Singer

It is not exactly that the shinsa team went as far as they could with research and gave up undecided. The specific history here with this sword is that the NBTHK said to resubmit after restoration. That is what was conveyed by the organization to the previous owner at that time. Polish and submit again, which at least to me implies that they felt there was merit in the mei and that they wanted to evaluate the deki as well. Also, a factor in whether a sword passes shinsa is condition and this one was already in a compromised state, even before restoration. The hamon is weak or gone in the lower half of the blade, and the dealer photos showed the hamon to be thin and drop off the ha at the midpoint. Description and link are below. https://web.archive.org/web/20210727192426/https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/tantou/210/00.html 新藤五國光（しんとうごくにみつ）は鎌倉鍛冶相州伝の始祖となった刀工で、相州正宗の師として大変著名な刀工。最古の年紀としては永仁元年（1293）のものがある。現存する作品の殆どが国宝や重要文化財、重要美術品に指定されており、なかなか市場ではお目にかかれません。 この短刀は2018年6月の日本美術刀剣保存協会保存刀剣審査に於いて『銘に研究の余地あり』として保留となった品で、「常に見る銘とは些か雰囲気が異なるも、偽銘と判断するには決め手にかける。」と言う審査結果です。 今回、残念ながら正真としてのお墨付きは頂けませんでしたが、今後の銘文研究の進展に期待したい。 時代が古い短刀だけあって、刃区から刀身中程迄は研ぎ減りによって匂口が駆け出していますが、中程から先にかけては細直刃健在で、帽子の返りもしっかりと残っています。 現状古研ぎのため、数多のヒケによって地刃の写真撮影が難しく、この短刀の良さを存分にお伝えできないのが残念ですが、地鉄は精良で判然たる映りが立っており、細直刃の匂口も明るく冴えています。 この短刀には保存状態が良い梨地塗りの鞘が附属しており、柄前さえ新調すればすぐに拵として蘇らせることが可能です。栗形はまた、鞘にはこの短刀について書かれた古書が貼り付けてあり、新藤五國光、粟田口、相州正宗の文字が読み取れます。 はばきには日月の透かしが施されており、今は失われてしまった柄前にも、それは豪華な金具が用いられていたであろうことは想像に難くありません。 然るべき腕達者な研師に駆け出し部分の繕いも併せて研磨依頼し、柄前を新調して大切に次代に引き継いで頂きたく思います。 裸身重量91グラム。 ※この短刀は委託品です。2018年6月の審査で保留の結果が出されたことは当店でも確認済みですのでご安心ください。委託販売依頼者との橋渡しをさせて頂きますので、お気になられた方は希望購入価格を当店へお知らせ下さい。仲介させて頂きます。 各種クレジットカード、セディナショッピングローンによる分割購入も承っております。お気軽にお申し付け下さい。

This article below will help you identify such pieces and avoid them in the future. https://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

As mentioned, this is not an authentic Japanese sword (or Japanese mei to be translated). It is unfortunately a Chinese fake.

則光

I replied previously on this one. 則光 = Norimitsu.

Norimitsu

Please see below. http://ohmura-study.net/952.html

Uda Kunimune

Hi Lewis, good luck with the process. I am looking forward to hearing the result of your submission either way. Transparently, I was in touch with the dealer regarding this sword as well. My gut feeling was that it was a legitimate Shintogo atelier piece, made as a daisaku daimei by one of his students. I have acquired two Shintogo in the rough in similar condition, both of which went on to pass shinsa and Tanobe-sensei evaluation (with sayagaki). The sugata on this one felt very right to me, but I could not come to an agreement with the seller and decided to let it go. I wish you the best in the process moving forward. Please keep us updated. Addendum: if you feel confident in the authenticity, the polisher Saito-san is the one I would recommend.

Munechika Most likely a reference to the famous smith Sanjo Munechika (but this is not an authentic example of his mei).

Appears to be signed 兼延 (Kanenobu). I would look first into Muromachi period Mino. https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?order=field_smith_start_era_value&sort=asc&type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=兼延

Steve, it is not that there are no deals but rather that it takes a lot of study to identify them. I am glad to hear that you were able to return the tachi. My suggestion is to focus in a serious way on reading good references, and develop a more specific goal for what you would like to purchase. Then research the candidates that fit your goals. Looking for a "navy cheap enough to get it polished" is fairly vague and open-ended. Are you looking for a gendaito in kai-gunto koshirae, or an older sword in the same type of mountings? I would suggest not rushing, take your time to think about what you would like to collect and study legitimate examples (in books, and in-person if possible). You may find that what you thought you wanted in the beginning is not where your collecting goals end up.

Jelle, this appears to be a showato arsenal blade by Seki Kaneyoshi (WWII era).

Yes, legitimate Kawachi (no) kami Sukesada show kikumon. https://nihontoclub.com/swords/0000-1443 https://nihontoclub.com/sword-images/19834/19835

The mei appears to be Nobutada.

I don't like to generalize, but these blue-background, cheap auction swords are very, very unlikely to provide you with a sword that is worthwhile to invest in restoration. Cheap swords like this are being sold at auction by dealers on eBay who know what they are selling, and are selling pieces cheaply for a reason. Like the "Original Old BIG Japanese Tachi Sword Signed Hamon Horimono" we discussed earlier, these are items which may look cheap on the surface, but if you look closely the underlying mess of issues makes it clear why the price is what it is and that these are not good candidates to invest in. You are much better off waiting and buying a kai-gunto which already has a blade in good quality Japanese restoration, and if you are patient you are likely to find one for less than it would cost to have a katana polished (along with new shirasaya and all the other restoration-related expenses).

I should clarify, when I gave the feedback above I was not just saying gimei but indicating that the blade itself does not look Japanese (typical for Komonjo and similar sellers). What type of feedback are you looking for on the hamon? It is notare, and appears to be vacant of hataraki from what I can see in the photos.

This is in fact a kamon, but it is very crudely executed. Does the blade has a mei of Inoue Shinkai? Compare with the precision of the example below.

This looks much like a Komonjo-type gimei.

Authentic Seki Showato arsenal blade by Kaneyoshi.

The blade is signed Bishu Osafune Sukesada and dated Eisho __nen __ gatsu hi. I believe it is Eisho san nen hachi/roku gatsu hi. A day in the 6th or 8th month of the year 1506. Sue-Bizen blades with dates usually use the months 2 or 8, but this looks like it may read the 6th month of that year.

Kogatana is signed Yamashiro no kami Minamoto Kazunori.

It is very likely that the sword is fatally damaged, the kissaki has been very crudely reshaped, the natural fukura (curvature of the kissaki) removed completely and most probably the boshi is gone at this point. I don't see any indication of a naginatanaoshi here, this appears to be a o-suriage mumei katana (Shinto or earlier) but with likely fatal issues due to the amateur reshaping of the kissaki combined with non-fatal forging flaws.

Likewise, as mentioned in your previous post I feel this is Ainu.

Here are a few reference examples (which you may have already seen). https://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords/KT114188.htm https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords9/NT332895.htm https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=434152672160242&set=a.423863166522526