DoTanuki yokai

I think it does not look really old or at least in the pictures it looks like the blade is healthy without the typical strong tapering that old blades show from many polishes where the blade starts.

I can imagine that the the 2nd kanji could be a cut off Mitsu, anyway looks like a nice sword from Nanbokucho or Keicho period . Maybe some close ups of the blades tip and other hamon activities can give a direction wich Kuni(Mitsu) this could be.

Some weeks ago I came across this Ainu study group/museum on Instagram. They even motion capture traditional Ainu dance rituals but I don’t know much more.

I found them on Ando Yusukes Instagram Account, he is the smith at the Bizen Osafune sword Museum.

This pictures show how broken and flawed blades become the core steel of new swords. But also the broken swords were made by the smith.

At least the big one in the rim looked for me like someone put a screwdriver into a gap I think you guys will be right but I always think they had a lot of time to take damage from various sources.

Dale i thought the "jagged casting" parts in the ebay Tsuba could also be the result of delaminations in the iron of the tsuba. I think the picture is not good enough to be sure

I think anyone that wants publicity would have chosen another hobby Paul makes a great job in a world that does not care much about Nihonto. He makes a lot of stuff to reach people and tell about Nihonto while others that post what socks they put on or what they eat every 10 minutes reach million of people without any work. He promotes our hobby so it can stay alive and then there are people like you Dereks.

I just wonder because the NBTHK uses exactly what is written on the Tang on the papers. Is there something that connects the paper with the sword without doubt ?

Yea the paper also says „Bizen KUNI“ what is not written on the tang. Maybe the paper is not for that blade ? Is there something you can check if it fits the sword like Nagasa, I’m not familiar with these papers.

I also think the Jauce auction Tsuba is more suspicious and can imagine that the eBay one is overcleaned so I miss a certain proof for a cast one. I’m not saying it is not cast.

I think we have witnessed the birth of the next „Samurai Monkey“ in the past years.

I think the blade is naginata Naoshi shape and not shobu Zukuri from your description

I would expect a brighter Hamon from an oei Bizen sword but this this relays on the polish and picture quality. After reading Rivkins post and looking at the blade again I think it could be also a possibility. After we all see crab claws I think we can say it is at least not older then late Muromachi.

I would say it looks like a late Muromachi Mino work. What made you think it is Oei Bizen or Soshu, maybe I miss something. I see kani no te and togari in the hamon in my opinion.

Looks pre 1600, so it looks like a koto blade that I would say is shortned in my opinion. Koshirae looks like edo period with leather cover for the saya to use it for WW2.

Yes I see it and I think it would be an insane work but they added the surface structure after the cuts

I would also say it is engraved with chisels.

I would guess Kanemoto or a Showato

“ http://www.ksky.ne.j...ie99/appreciate.html if you go through the pages information part alot more information can be found. Your pictures show the steel pattern well but i wont be sure if the "rough" parts are more influenced by the folding or the hardening. You will need to adjust your angle to the light to see the effects of the hardening work. When you do it like this in most cases you wont see everything at all but the most will happen around the reflection of your light source. I will try to explain what you can look for with pictures from Aoiart of a Hizen Naginata. Now you "play" with the relfection of the light and different things will be visible close to it. 1. This is actually the first thing i would check if i look at the Hamon of a blade. Is this Nioi or Nie Deki ? (I will answer this later in case you want to guess yourself) 2. Around the reflection of the light on the Ji you can see the Ji-Nie. In this case the surface is full of uniform reflecting little dots what is known as the Konuka Hada of Hizento. 3. Look how wide the Hamon is , this could be part of point 1. This varys much from wide Hamon of Soshu blades to very thin Yokoyama school Hamon for example. 4. There are some Ashi that are not very long and dont go down to the edge, they make this Suguha based Hamon more a Ko Midare in my opnion. These are part of the activitys in the Hamon called Hataraki. (the disconnected from the Hamon Ashi are actually Yo) https://markussesko.com/kantei/ Hamon and boshi#1 of this articles will get into much more detail about this and all the other articles there are also full of useful Information.“ I wrote this in another thread some time ago but I think It could also help here and I don’t have to write it again on my phone.

Ok sorry then it was just some coincidence but some pictures could help for better understanding of what goes on.

The blade has openings where the acid goes in and the oil or isopropyl doesn’t neutralized the acid.

I think it is this blade, from a similar story shared on Reddit where he said it is a reproduction sword. I would also say it’s an acid problem.

Can you give us some measurements ? How thick it is where the blade starts and how long the blade part is would be very useful information. I think it could be older then Edo period but the Nakago (tang) looks shortned.