ChrisW

I think the backstrap is a cast replacement. The badge on it looks soft and indistinct. The lines on the side look chiseled. The original should have been brass, so I think it was probably broken/damaged and then a cast copper replacement was made using the original; thus the weak appearance of the badge and the chiseled line trim.

I realized I had mentioned that it comes in shirasaya but had neglected to post pictures of said shirasaya, so here it is!

Additional batch of photos:

Additional photos:

Hello again ladies and gentlemen, today I am offering up for sale a very nice 29.5" mumei (but extremely likely Soshu Wakasa Fuyuhiro) katana! Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : Katana Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Mumei Papered or not and by whom? : No Era/Age : Early Edo, circa Genna to Kan'ei (1620-1640ish) Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Shirasaya Nagasa/Blade Length : 75cm or 29.52" Sori : 4cm or 1.57" Hamon Type : An irregular and beautiful Soshu midare-ba with notare and sudare-ba elements. Ko-maru boshi. Jihada : Long flowing itame with masame. Other Hataraki Visible : Kinsuji, inazuma. This blade has all of their characteristic traits along with some Bizen influence as appropriate for the Soshu Wakasa Fuyuhiro lineage. Flaws : A small stretch (about 3") of shinae in the mune of the blade down low in the habaki area. Evidence of it having been bent and straightened. Some tiny ware as expected of a blade composed primarily of itame/masame hada. Sword Location : Canada to Indiana, USA (will explain below) Will ship to : USA primarily, international contingent on laws of destination country. Payment Methods Accepted : Paypal, Cashapp. Shipping discussed below Price and Currency : $3200USD (Shipping included for USA buyers) Other Info and Full Description : Comes in shirasaya with silver-plated habaki. A very nice and very long ubu, mumei katana that is almost certainly produced by 5th or 6th generation Soshu Wakasa Fuyuhiro. This blade is a long one at 29.52" with a WHOPPING 1.57" sori that gives this blade a tachi-like feel (Shinsa may even bear out and call it as such). The first-generation Wakasa Fuyuhiro (若州住冬廣) was an early Muromachi period smith. He was believed to be the son of the 2nd-generation Sōshū Hirotsugu. During 1st generation's life, he relocated from Sagami to Obama in Wakasa Province around 1460, founding the prestigious Wakasa Fuyuhiro school that lasted for 17 generations. The later Fuyuhiro generations picked up Bizen traits and blended that with their Soshu styling to create a well-regarded hybrid style. I predicate my belief that it is 5th or 6th based on all the aforementioned traits and apparent age; however, Shinsa may even call it a late Koto blade. I feel this is a possibility as I've seen some very well-perserved nakago like this one that ended up being late Koto. One important thing to note is that this blade is ubu which is always a big plus! Given that this blade is rather long and is in shirasaya in good polish, the price at $3200 is quite decent. The other thing to note is that this blade is currently located in Canada with the current owner and I am performing the role of estate liquidator. The cost of the blade includes shipping insurance, and tariff/import fees (as of 6/5/26) but may change as geopolitical situations change. Since I am the estate liquidator, the sword will be shipped to me and then I will ship it direct to you! I am doing this at the request of the owner to protect their privacy. There are a couple videos of this sword also available upon request. If you are interested, please drop a message in this thread, then DM me here on the message board or email me at ChrisW7290@gmail.com First come, first served of course. ~Chris

This is a great discussion gentlemen! I look forward to any other input others may have.

Hello gentlemen, I am currently trying to puzzle out this mei on this blade and accompanying tsuba. The blade's mei is written on Sosho script, aka grass script and is proving to be somewhat problematic for me to discern. After working on this a while and discussing it with a few others, I've come to this much of the mei as a working but still yet not wholly decided translation: I came up with Hirotaka and Kansei 6 at first; however Moriyama san has furnished a far more comprehensive translation and I just want to run this by everyone else before settling on it. 藝州住廣隆 – Geishu ju Hirotaka 寛政五年春二月 於 – Kansei 5th year (1793) spring, 2nd month, At … 秋水亭造之 – Shusuitei, made this. 明珍紀 宗古作 - Myochin Ki no Soko saku I also want to publicly thank Moriyama san for his assistance. Thanks to everyone else who contributes! ~Chris

Without seeing the blade itself, it is hard to estimate an age based on the nakago (tang) by itself. For the best results, share some pictures of the blade without any fittings on it with some measurements as well. Buuuut.. based on the crispness of the yasurime (the filemarks on the nakago) and the lack of dark patina, I would hazard to guess that this blade is probably no more than 200 years of age.

You've got a 16" nagasa (cutting edge) authentic Japanese wakizashi. A wakizashi is a short sword that falls between 12+" and under 24". It appears to have four mekugi-ana (holes in the tang) which suggests an older blade that has had several remountings in its lifetime. It would say that the mounts were restored somewhere in the recent past 30 years or so by an amateur restorationist. The hamon pattern appears interesting, but without closeups of metal particle activity, it is hard to say much more. The tsuba is really nice. As for value? I would say that you should meet someone knowledgeable to get an in-hand opinion of your piece. Photos online can only do so much. I am located in Indiana, but there may be others that are closer to you.

Probably Gunzoku (civilian military contractor) mounts, carried in the war by someone who'd be a desk jockey, construct military structures/airfields, oversee labor, etc.

Just to make a little light fun... but someone is going to get a broken neck craning their head around to get a look at these mei! On a serious note, always try to arrange it so the tip of the sword is pointing upward in the photo so the mei is at the easiest angle to read. This can be easily done by editing the photo on your computer before posting it.

#3 and #6 have been sold at the show today!

Not meaning to muddy the waters here... But there is nashiji hada aka "pear skin" and several other forms of densely forged hada. As well as mu-hada "no hada". All three can appear very frequently in Shinshinto blades. This one might be a good candidate for Shinsa, just to get an expert opinion on the hada alone!

I've seen some real dogs in my time studying/collecting wartime blades... This one is something new. So ugly it might be a whole new specie! (of fake)

Thank you for the kind words. Everyone else, you've heard Marcin! Don't let this one sneak by. A very reasonably priced blade that would be interesting to submit for Shinsa. It doesn't really need any further work than that!

$2500 + shipping, last price reduction!

I don't know if I'd call that a standard machine-made blade.... if it has futatsu-hi, then I would say its either a custom-ordered blade or something older possibly. But the pictures are a bit blurry, so it is hard to tell if that is a standard bohi or the fancy double.

$2700 + shipping takes it home today! This blade would be a great candidate for Shinsa too.

Accepting reasonable offers! This would be a very fun piece to submit for Shinsa guys, tons of activity for study too!

Thanks all! What a beautiful piece.

Even more:

More pictures:

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, After gathering opinions on here and other places, I am placing the Keicho Shinto katana up for sale. Here are the vital statistics: Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : Katana Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Mumei Papered or not and by whom? : No papers, but should paper to something interesting. Era/Age : Keicho Shinto (~1596), could be as early as Late Koto Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Full Koshirae Nagasa/Blade Length : 26.9in or 68.3cm Sori : 0.875" or 2.2cm Hamon Type : A very active, chaotic choji-midare. Jihada : A very irregular itame Other Hataraki Visible : LOTS of uchinoke, nijuba, kinsuki, inazuma, tons of nie and nioe formations, the boshi is different on each side which I find to be very unusual! As well as more activity I can't even name properly. Flaws : A couple of old black rust spots, a few dimples, a few ware... all expected of a blade of this age with so much wild activity. Sword Location : Indiana, USA Will ship to : USA primarily, international contingent on laws of destination country. Payment Methods Accepted : Paypal, Cashapp. Shipping options discussed at time of purchase. Price and Currency : $2800 USD. Fair offers also accepted. Other Info and Full Description : In full mounts. This sword is a very unusual blade to say the least.... the activity on this is wild. It has uchinoke (crescent moon shaped activities) scattered about the blade, tons of kinsuji and inazuma as well. There is nijuba; the boshi on this blade is different on each side with one side being a well-formed turnback with kaeri and the other having a wide 'bridge' of particles that connects hamon on the boshi to the kaeri on the spot, forming a sort of tobiyaki within the boshi. The blade is ubu which means it should do just fine at Shinsa. Their have been multiple opinions on this blade from Mino to Owari-Seki to Bitchu Mizuta Tameiye (often transliterated as Tameie) to Keicho Shinto.... so take your pick! Or it could perhaps be another late Koto school. All of these are just opinions and final judgement should be reserved for Shinsa. The mounts are also very decent. It features a smooth shiny black lacquer saya with kurikata and sageo. The tsuba is signed "Kunihiro" and has a mon on the opposite side as well. Original copper habaki. The fuchi features a torii gate with gingko tree, a monk is sitting under an umbrella on the kashira. The menuki appear to be Mino Goto styled floral arrangements. The ito is black and has been lacquered. The same (rayskin) features several emperor ray nodes, denoting a good quality setup. Matched sets of seppa. The price is $2800 but I will hear fair offers. If you are interested, please drop a message in this thread, then DM me here on the message board or email me at ChrisW7290@gmail.com First come, first served of course. ~Chris

A fascinating topic. It could also be that they are afraid that they're not able to tell apart the top quality real blades apart from the top quality fakes... as seen in the example you gave us. So rather than open the floodgates, they admit very sparingly only blades with pedigrees that are beyond reproach. Also... I would love to see any pictures of this blade as this is the first time I've heard of it... and I LOVE ken blades. ~Chris

Any other opinions out there? It would be appreciated, thanks gentlemen!