Lewis B

I wonder if there has been some acid etchant used or other shenanigans to augment the features.

And Darcy stated that only a small proportion (~25%?) of blades attributed to Go have the iconic ichimai boshi, so its not a reliable kantei feature.

Not necessarily. A lot will depend on the togishi, how interested he is (some will bump other obligations if the blade is particularly exciting to them). I've heard of 6-12 months is possible for some top level Japanese polishers. Talk to Paul Kremers. https://tsuba.info/

Yes, Tensho koshirae are my favourite.

Ahh, the TH Sadatoshi listed 2 days ago. That was probably the one I had seen. Two Sadatoshi in 2 days just didn't compute.

And here's another Ayanokoji Sadatoshi. I saw it yesterday when it posted for 3.6mil JPY. Early Juyo papers too. I was seriously tempted and started looking closely to see why it was so cheap. Checked this morning and the price changed to 7.7mil JPY https://eirakudo.shop/232837

Sayonara Daimyos, konichiwa Shoguns

Assuming you purchased it in Japan, and it's still there, why not use a Japanese togishi? You will have far more options. btw welcome and it looks like you have a very interesting tanto. Does it have NBTHK papers?

Thanks John. I saw that thread when I searched gyakutagane. Interestingly there is very little discussion about this feature, but it could turn out to be a decisive argument, if confirmed, for daimei-daisaku by Norishige. The impression I get is that to be sure, the mei has to be examined in hand, since all we see in photos and oshigata are a 2D representation. A shadow effect for incised chiseling is often cited as being indicative of sakatagane but would depend on the direction of the light source and need to be off axis. To my uneducated eye the feature that shows promise are the numerous areas where the yokan-iro either side of the strike marks has been worn away because they are raised above the metal surface of the nakago.

Why is this an important characteristic, especially when discussing Etchu vs Sagami smiths in general, and Norishige in particular? According to AI using historic Oshigata references, together with extant work, the following is stated:

Is it possible to determine if the mei is in gyakutagane (reverse chisel/raised edge) left to right style, as opposed to sakatagane, from these photos?

Yes, decided to get it. Negotiations ongoing.

Too many Emperor's not enough ashigaru. Shoutout to all the Daimyo's.

From Markus' swordsmiths NOBUIE (信家), Ōei (応永, 1394-1428), Bingo – “Bishū-jū Nobuie” (備州住信家), “Nobuie” (信家), he lived in Bingo´s Kusado (草戸), wazamono

Looks like a cut down long blade. Maybe the previous incarnation was damaged so a shorter Tanto blade was engineered.