Francis Wick

Thanks so much guys much appreciated

Hi and thanks I’m trying to find a reliable person to handle the process of getting a few swords into Japan for polish, shirasaya, NBTHK papers etc. Tried one ,but he might be away or unavailable not answering my emails. Any suggestions or contact details would be much appreciated. Thanks

Very interesting info Jussi

Some folks seem to think it’s a kantei point for nambokucho era, but I can find any strong reference to this effect. Once I have the blade I will take better pics.

Could also be shinto or shin Shinto recreation of suriage koto

Here are some more pics. Once I receive it I will take more pics of it. It looks O Suriage and possibly old. Nagasa 28.2 inches and one plugged mekugi ana which is likely the original so it would have been substantially longer ( around 32-33 inch Nagasa ) to start with I would guesstimate

Strictly speaking you could only definitively call a blade a tachi if it is signed tachi mei. A katana is signed on the other side of the nakago. Once suriage it is not possible to make this distinction any more. However a mumei blade in tachi fittings will be called a tachi by most ( but you can find katana mei blades in tachi fittings also ). Most ( not all ) pre muromachi blades were signed tachi mei so once shortened will still be called a tachi ( suriage tachi ), if you can positively identify the school or smith and hence the age of the blade. My understanding might not be all correct but there is one opinion keep an eye on auctions. Good blades sometimes come up for sale. If in high end tachi fittings they will usually still command high prices. I bought a signed koto tachi in shirasaya last year for $1400 at an auction so they do come up for sale from time to time. Just remember auction houses often charge 25-30% commission and then often high prices for shipping. Hope that helps

Hi Brian thank you for the great forum. I bought the sword and will post info as I get it either 👍🏻 or 😞 . I sent a good donation to show my thanks and appreciation.

Ok thank you, I just saw it and thought it pretty odd to do that because the typical bohi ends much further down the blade usually. It would make sende that if you leave that much steel you could reshape a broken striking surface and the bohi would still function to make the blade lighter and the kissaki can be brought closer and closer if needs be. We always think we know it all but people were thinking about these things centuries ago !

Hi yes horimono were often added to remove flaws including bohi.

Hi Jussi thank you, your sword looks like a really big blade ! Probably Nambokucho ?

Indeed these were added later often, as did many other things like horimono etc

Interesting and complex and beautiful sword indeed

I’ve seen this on older swords and was told it was done to “ save metal in case “ thank you

Awesome thank you so much 🙏🏽