Ray Singer

Yasushige, a Yasukuni-to (sword made at Yasukuni shrine) and dated a lucky day in July, 1940. Attached is the write-up from Tom Kishida's book on Yasukuni-to. Best regards Ray

Interesting. Is that the only naginata-naoshi attributed to Masamune? I recall that there was a Norishige naginata-naoshi Ju-to offered by Seikeido a few years back, but I don't recall ever seeing an example placed with Masamune. Is the Akihiro which passed the former Juyo Bijitsuhin that was discussed here last year? Best, Ray

Does the blade have ubu-ba? - Ray

Scroll down to the section featuring Kani (no) tsume. https://markussesko.com/page/6/ There is an oshigata under:'3.2 Hataraki and conditions of the hamon' Best regards, Ray

I would guess from the nakago jiri that there was a threaded extension to fit into some type of military koshirae. Best regards Ray

Agree with Grey on this. Sadamune is a frequently seen gimei. I recall two laying out in tables in Tampa this year. FWIW, the mei does not appear well signed to me. Best regards, Ray

The lost Juyo Bijitsuhin Soshu Akihiro (first in the published list of missing important Japanese Swords) was found in a pawn shop just a couple of years ago. An ubu signed Bitchu Aoe tanto sat on eBay for months and months at a low Buy It Now. I had arranged to meet the owner at the Tampa Show, but the tanto was sold to a dealer before I arrived and is now Juyo. A friend found another signed koto tanto on eBay which later went Juyo to a Yamato smith. Great swords are still out there and continue to emerge. Jim Kurrasch used to say that there is an unrecognized (potential) Juto sitting on the table at every show, waiting to be found if you know what to look for. I can think of a number of great swords which were bought of the floor at shows in just the last few years (Shodai Kanenaga, Mutsu (no) Kami Tadayoshi, Kenjo Kanenaga, Nidai Nobukuni, etc), all at relatively low prices by collectors who knew what to look for in terms of quality. - Ray

http://www.bugei.com/oshigata-kanenaga-700-prd1.htm Best regards, Ray

Minamoto Nobukuni Heishiro Yoshimasa. Best regards, Ray

Will be withdrawn at the end of this week. Anyone interested, please email raymondsinger@gmail.com. Best regards, Ray

Forgive the crude markup done on my phone.

The short middle stroke does appear to be there, angled slightly downwards to the left. The top of the right stroke is lost or obscured due to corrosion. There appear to be two horizontal strokes in the left radical, which is specific to TOSHI. MURA has only one horizontal stroke in the left radical (middle stroke is present, top stroke absent compared with TOSHI). The location of corrosion has made it less obvious overall where FUNE ends and the next kanji begins.

利 宗

I read as Toshimune. Best regards, Ray

There was a large, thin book published which I bought when Tanobe-sensei came to the 2003 Tampa Sword Show. I do not recall seeing an electronic copy, but a member here may have a copy of the spiral bound book for sale. Best regards, Ray

The kitae ware should be mostly or fully covered by the habaki. This may be the reason that the sword is its current length (if osuriage, the shortening may have been just enough to conceal the kizu). I would not consider this to be a fatal flaw. A friend owned an exceptionally nice Juyo Yamato blade with a very large and deep rust pit which was similarly positioned. There was also a great osuriage mumei wakizashi that passed at 77 points to Uda Kunifusa in Tampa, also having a large flaw concealed by the habaki. Best regards, Ray

One thing to keep in mind here is that the munemachi may sit higher or lower in the habaki depending on how the habaki is made. I have seen a few where the munemachi was quite low, which would create more distance between the mekugi-ana and the habaki. The mekugi-ana is still implausably high up the nakago though, as others have said. Best, Ray

Seki ju Hoshiya Yoshinaga. Best regards, Ray

As I mentioned to Bob offline, I know this sword and encountered it in person a couple of months ago. It came out of the same collection as the Dotanuki Genzaemon katana I purchased in February. My impression at the time was Sue Koto Mino Kanemoto. The sanbonsugi seen in the photos is the real hamon, definitely not an artifact created through hadori. I felt it was worth collecting and the fact that I did not try to purchase this one in addition to the Dotanuki was more a reflection of my finances at the time. Best regards, Ray

Appears to be Sadatsugu. Best regards, Ray

Like Paul and Barry, I am leaning towards gimei. Best regards, Ray

Hizen (no) Kuni ju Mutsu (no) kami Tadayoshi. This is the signature of the 3rd generation mainline. You will find plenty of information on this smith online. Roger Robertshaw is the best resource for evaluating mei of this school. http://hizento.net/index.php http://www.sho-shin.com/shinto-hizen.html - Ray

I agree with Lance that this appears closer to a Kao than the kanji I suggested earlier. Look forward to confirmation either way. Best regards, Ray

Possibly Yoshi (善). - old fart Ray

Looks like shinae. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/shinae.jpg Best regards, Ray