Ray Singer

Looks genuine to me, but not of great quality. Off the cuff impression of wakimono work like Uda or Hoju.

Yes, the third great Ko-Mihara to come up in recent weeks. This is an excellent buy. Good luck with your sale Grant!

Very sorry to hear this, a great loss for our community. My condolences...

Did anyone here purchase the Dohi Shinryo at auction on Aoi? I did not research the mei, but at a glance it seemed good and sold at a very reasonable price. Hopefully, like the potentially authentic shodai Tadayoshi and nidai Sendai Kunikane which sold in the same price range, one of our members got a good deal on a nice sword. https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-dohi-shinryonot-guarantee Best regards, Ray

Short answer is that many bidders are treasure hunters hoping to buy a diamond in the rough, but more often they will have greatly overpaid after the cost of restoration, shinsa, etc. There certainly are treasures to be found on the auction sites if you know what you look for and have a bit of luck, but those are in the minority. For the most part, papered and restored swords are the way to go.

To my eyes, looks like Yoshihiro as well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030411153425/http://www.togishi.com/Den%20article.htm

Then you are using the wrong microfibre cloth. https://www.amazon.com/Microdear-Microfiber-Deluxe-Cleaning-Cloth/dp/B0002E3WGI

That is the very point. They remove oils without scratching delicate surfaces.

I would likewise recommend against experimenting with chemical rust inhibitors on an old and valuable sword. Choji oil will come off fully in one wipe with a $10 microfibre cloth off Amazon.com. - Ray

Just a note that this is a sword I encountered about 15 years ago. It was owned by a friend/local collector and I gave serious consideration to buying it (at a much higher price than is being asked here). A very beautiful, healthy sword. Good luck with your sale Rohan... Best regards, Ray

Gone.

What I am seeing is a fairly coarse jitetsu with openings and, as Ron mentioned, a turnback. It is difficult to evaluate in the photos you have taken, but looks like it may have saki-zori as well. My impression is Sue-koto. Not a Nambokucho-period naginatanaoshi.

Refer to the June 3, 2015 post. https://www.facebook.com/groups/collectingjapaneseswords/search/?query=gore

A few suggestions for polishing agents: Bob Benson, Paul Martin and Mike Yamasaki.

I would not use the sword below as a reference to value your Jumyo. It is priced as it is because the owner has placed a high value on the koshirae. The blade (in shirasaya) itself is one I personally would value around $5,000. This is comparing apples to kumquats, as that sword is 29", recently restored and flawless, but is also shinshinto and mumei. - Ray

Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro

I was referring to locating that page from the journal, which should specify the generation. Please share your findings here after a copy is located.

If the blade was published then your answer is there. Contact individuals from one of the two current NTHK organizations and see if either can help locate a copy. I suggest Chris Bowen and/or Gordon Robson. BTW, if the sword was published in the NTHK's journal then the kanteisho would also have been from the NTHK. Ray

Paul Martin is a great choice. Good luck and let us know how it goes after evaluation.

Hi Sly, While offhand it does not look like a good mei for Saburo Kunimune, it looks like an interesting piece and it is certainly possible that this is Nambokucho or earlier. Given the abuse, deep scratches, hakobore etc... it is especially important that any polisher that works on the sword is a skillful one, to avoid making a bad situation worse and risking the sword not surviving its next polish. Please let us know if you need any help making contact with someone who can have the sword evaluated by (and potentially restored by) a licensed togishi. Best regards, Ray

It is an effective approach if someone's intention is to disguise a missing boshi, nioi giri, etc (a section of the sword) rather than saiba in which the entire hamon would need to be recreated. If the majority of the original hamon has been preserved there is a greater likelihood that the flaw will pass unnoticed. I am not advocating this practice BTW, most times the intention would be to deceive potential buyers and it is certainly better to preserve the sword for what is rather than drilling a number of holes in the blade. Some may not agree, but I also prefer not to see umegane done for the same reason.

Based on Tsuruta-san's description, this is most likely only the kesho (hadori) that is applied in finish polish. From the photo below, it does appear that there is only a sleepy remnant of the original yakiba. https://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2016/16583-4.jpg It is possible that the sword was in a fire or exposed to heat at some point which caused the hamon to mostly fade away. BTW, polishers can do remarkable things to disguise a missing hamon or boshi. This includes inlaying small pieces of hard steel to replicate the appearance of nie. There was one such sword at a recent sword show, where the lower half of the blade had a "hamon" consisting entirely of inlaid nie and a simulated yakiba done through skillful polish.

Shinto blades are often masame in the shinogi-ji. That is one important kantei in determining when a sword may have been made. A sword must be submitted separately to shinsa for Tokubetsu Hozon. It is not a given that a sword with Hozon can be upgraded to Tokubetsu Hozon. Receiving that level is a factor of the sword's health, quality, etc. There is a specific ruleset which also determines if a sword is prequalified to receive Tokubetsu Hozon, such as the fact that a Shinto blade must be signed with an authentic signature to be considered to receive a kanteisho at that level.

Sadakuni was a Jo-saku smith, rather than a Jojo-saku smith. The Jojo-saku comment was one of Tsuruta-san's sword-specific rankings which relate to a completely different blade and have nothing to do with this one. It is worth noting that the sword has quite significate kitae-ware and areas of coarse hada. IMHO, not a sword I would be scrambling to buy. Not long ago I was able to purchase a nicer, flawless, ubu, papered example by Hojoji Masahiro in koshirae for less than the previous asking price.