DTM72

And many thanks to you for pointing me to that article. I learned alot from reading that. Tis one thing to have a katana and wakizashi signed by the same smith and matching koshirae, and papered individually. <-- very nice Tis much more to have the aformentioned set papered together as a daisho, on the same paper. <-- Goldmine!

I noticed the poor quality of this as well, but wondered if this is truely one of the "last-ditch" pieces rushed into use. Possibly forged and assembled outside of Japan.

I was unable to locate any reference material to Nagasada from Bishu so he is somewhat of an unknown smith. Helping you to estimate the age would require more pics of the entire blade, including close-up pics of the tip of the sword (KISSAKI - 切先 ) so that we can see the hamon in the tip (BOSHI - 帽子). We also need to see a close up of the hardened edge (HAMON - 刃文) and the area just above that to see if there is any grain or folding patterns of the steel (HADA - 肌). Just looking at the tang (NAKAGO - 中心) it appears that it is original shape (UBU - 生) and not shortened/cut-down (SURIAGE - 磨上) The dark brownish color leads me to believe that this is from the Edo era 1600-1867 or in the Japanese sword world that would be SHINTO - 新刀 1597-1780. Shinto = New Sword, Koto = Old Sword, Shinshinto = New New Sword. Readers Digest Condensed Version, so far your wakizashi (WAKIZASHI - 脇差) appears to be 250-300 years old, but again, we need additional pictures to help you date it better. Your best bet is to get it into the hands of a person knowledgeable with Nihonto, in person. If you were near me, I would be happy to look at it for you, but your location is listed as USA...Please mention a closer location and maybe a member here can help, in person. Hope this helps. Dan

Just found another rough shaped mumei nakago on a Type 3 RS on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/284634787477?hash=item42458e2e95:g:qo4AAOSw7odh-XGL @Bruce Pennington @george trotter

Although I am in South Carolina, I would be happy to help someone continue the tradition of this show.

I would give $10 for the blade, just to chop weeds. The blade itself is complete junk.

I agree with John's thoughts. It looks to be early Shinto period. I think I can see some hamon in the pics, and blade appears healthy enough to take a polish. Need to see it without habaki to help with that call. Just like #2, in its current condition, it is not worth much being an unsigned, out of polish blade with no koshirae or shira-saya.

Looks to be from the late koto period, judging by the color and shape of the nakago. The way the blade width tapers down quickly after the hamachi makes it appear theat it has been to the polisher many times. If this is the case, the hamon will be very close to the edge, or possibly run off the edge, killing the artistic and functional value. In the current state of polish, we cannot see the hamon to judge if it can be polished again. In it's current state of polish, with no habaki, no koshirae, it is not worth much. If it can be bought cheaply, it may be worth restoring.

That is a decent kozuka handle and kogatana blade.

Although I'm not a believer in the fortune telling (with cards and palms), I do find it facinating that it was done upon swords. Please post more info if you get it.

Sending it to shinsa is the best way to know for sure, but I think it is worth a shot.

@BazzaLove the kozuka and the kogatana!

Can't say I have ever seen that. Pics!

So now we have @paulatim with a mumei RS, @BANGBANGSAN that had an mumei RS. Now we can add mine to the short list. Plus, mine has the celluloid same' as well. This one is getting very strange.

Yes it is. See my post about it here...

Smith is Fujiyasu Masahira. Still alive and still working. https://youtu.be/rPQn9DsDcWg

The old gentleman I bought these from is holding on to his father's kai-gunto. It is signed 特殊鋼以井戸秀俊作 which is Tokushu-kō motte Ido Hidetoshi saku. The first part, Tokushu-kō Motte is "Special Steel Mix". Best I have researched, and what I see in person is that it is a mix of stainless and carbon steel. He has owned all these swords for 35 years, when his father gave them to him. His father got the kai-gunto while fighting in Guadal-Canal. The others he got while stationed in Tokyo from 1945-1946.

So if this is unusual, that makes 3 out of 4 that are unusual. The fourth being the "last ditch" NCO.

Don't think I'll be keeping the NCO. Doesn't really fit the rest of my collection.

May be odd, maybe not. I have seen family wakizashi in Army and Navy mounts, but never seen a stainless anchor stamped version. Nagasa is 22" (55.8 cm). All numbers on small seppa, large ray seppa, tsuba, fuchi, and habaki match.

Battle damage?

I could only wish.