ChrisM

@Jussi - Thanks! I got the translation from him today. He does very quick work! 相刕住綱廣 磨上而「廣」一次切 同工ノ一作域ヲ示ス者而 製作年代ハ文禄・慶⻑頃也 刃⻑貮尺二寸五分有之 平成壬午歳卯月上澣探山邉道識「花押」 Sōshū-jū Tsunahiro Suriage shikashite ‘hiro’ ichiji kire. Dōkō no issaku’iki o shimesu mono shikamo seisaku nendai wa Bunroku, Keichō goro nari. Hachō ni-shaku ni-sun go-bu kore ari. Heisei mizunoe-umadoshi uzuki jōkan Tanzan Hendō shirusu + kaō Tsunahiro, resident of Sagami Province The blade is shortened and the character for hiro was cut off. It shows one of the known workmanships of this smiths and dates to around Bunroku (1592-1596) and Keichō (1596-1615). Blade length ~ 68.2 cm Written by Tanzan Hendō [pen name of Tanobe Michihiro] in the first third of April In the year of the horse of the Heisei era (2002) + monogram.

Hi Robert, Thanks for the response. It's clear to me that this is a very, very deep rabbit hole and there seems to be room for enjoyment all the way down...! Your suggesting of asking the seller to approach Tanobe-san is a great one. I've just done that (The blade is still in Japan awaiting an export license), and I'll report back if things go well. The mounting will be interesting - the price is... not inconsiderable and your point is well taken. In terms of mounts (including saya / tsuka), I have some specific colors in mind that are symbolic to me so had deliberately bought swords that were unmounted. Likewise, I'm looking for some dragon menuki of a quality (and era) to match the swords that'll be part of the mounting.My hope is that these swords will be with me for many, many years - and years from now I won't remember what I paid for a particular saya, but I'll know that I love what I have. //Chris

It is beautiful - from start to finish. Silly Question: What is the red colored writing near the signature? I can't imagine that's original given the age, yet to color that portion of the sword seems sacrilege...

Hi All, After many years, I've finally started my collection. I feel like a kid in a candy store! Katana From Moses over at Nihonto Antiques, I picked up a beautiful, signed, Edo period blade ranked as Hozon Tōken. This has a beautiful Sayagaki by Tanobe-San. From reading other threads on this board, I've reached out to Markus Sesko for a translation, as none of the "standard" Japanese translators who have looked at it could read it. Wakizashi To pair this this, I picked up a Tokubetsu Hozon ranked Wakizashi off ebay. This hasn't been cleared for export yet, but seems like a beautiful match for the sword. This was (mostly) an unplanned impulse buy that I justified to myself by the rank of the sword. I hit the "Make An Offer" button and (to my surprise!) the offer was accepted. How did I do? Does this match well (period wise / quality wise) with the Katana? Is there anyone who could do a Sayagaki on it to match the Tanobe-San one on the Katana? Where would I find this person, and what would I expect to pay? Other Questions Some questions I've got, that I'm hoping folks can help with. I'm looking for an Edo period Katana Kake. There are some on eBay ranging from about $500 to about $3000, with a sweet spot seeming to be about $1k. Is there a better source for these? Next up is Nurisaya & Koshirai for both, so they match. Any suggestions for who does custom work? My plan is to ask Moses (from whom I purchased the sword) to do this, as his work looks (to my eye) to be very nice. //Chris