reinhard

Some collectors are still fascinated by the myth of "the" MURAMASA, although there were at least two generations by this name in Ise province, maybe three. It is true that many of their mei were changed or even erased during Edo times, but this particular one was not obliterated enough. The top two kanji on the sashi-omote can still be read as: "Bishu" meaning Owari (province). Unfortunately no MURAMASA ever worked in this province as far as I know. It must have been the mounting then, or somebody will be really disappointed soon. reinhard

Provide us with an example, please. It will help us to understand what you are talking about. reinhard

Felipe, Etchu NORISHIGE is one of the greatest names in the history of Japanese swordmaking. His blades don't pop up just like that once in a while. If one of his blades with full naga-mei existed, it would have been a treasure four hundred years ago, well documented and stored in fittings appropriate to its value. - Your sword is a rather naive and therefore old forgery. You better focus on the blade itself and forget about the mei. - BTW the one pic of mei including name and province is a composition of different fragments. When checking mei, it is desirable to get pics of nakago taken as one shot and depicting the entire nakago. Thanks. reinhard

The habaki says it all. reinhard

Mark, There is no standard procedure of how to verify/falsify a signature. What goes for KOTETSU and Kajibei cannot be applied to nidai TADAHIRO's mei and some minor changes occuring during his long span of working. Both mei look quite allright to me and what's more important: They are placed where they should be. reinhard

Compare this kanji "Shin" with any true and verified version of SHINKAI's mei. Jacques showed you the way. reinhard

Don't give in too quickly, Sean. Problem is: State of preservation allows hardly any conclusions about quality or characteristics of this blade. On the other hand, nothing seems to be obviously wrong with it so far. - I wished the area underneath the habaki revealed some news, for it is usually the best protected area on deteriorated blades, but for some reason, it looks even worse. (This is supporting the "mismatching koshirae"-theory, BTW.) Advice (or even expertise) on the basis of pictures is very difficult in a case like this. You better show this blade to an experienced collector whom you can trust. We could go on speculating wildly for some time, but this is probably not what you are looking for. reinhard

This mei reads : Inoue SHIN(KAI), but it doesn't really matter, for it is subsonic (gimei). BTW a real name besides your avatar would be nice/is expected. reinhard

Hi Sean, When trying to understand this sword you better separate the blade from its koshirae. This particular koshirae is an occasional assembly of mismatching parts. There are a leather frog and a tassel pointing towards WWII, but the tassel is not where it is supposed to be. Tsuka and tsuba seem to be of earlier date, but at a closer look they are not. The crossings of tsuka-ito are all made in the same direction and the diamond shapes in between look poor. This is pointing towards a later date of manufacture. The habaki is not fitting the blade properly. Seppa are asymmetrical and of poor quality. - All in all you better focus on the blade. The koshirae can be neglected. reinhard

Hi Jimi, I'm inclined to believe this sword was retempered. One particular feature pointing towards this direction is the Ha-Hada (Hada clearly visible within the Yakiba). This can be seen often in retempered blades. This could be due to a poor polishing job as well though. This katana was polished by a togishi from a minor league. Hadori finish looks stiff and awkward and lacks refined taste. - Another irritating feature are mekugi-ana. The "older" one (below the "actual" mekugi-ana) looks quite fresh, particularly on the inside. The nakago seems to be shortened in a quite careless manner, judging from nakago-jiri. All in all, it looks like a retempered katana trimmed to look old, but this is just a guess on the basis of pics and we all know what that means. reinhard

The mei reads "YOSHIMITSU", but it appears to be a crude fake. No real smith to track, I'm afraid. reinhard BTW, please add your real name to your post. That's the way it is on NMB.

Pictures are not very reliable, but hada seems to be a very tight and crisp ko-itame. This is typical for many swords from Bakumatsu times and later. Constricted nioi-guchi (shimari-gokoro) is pointing towards this direction too. reinhard

Hi Peter, This is pointing to a later date of manufacture; ShinShinTo or later. Does the blade feel well-balanced or top-heavy when lifted? Many ShinShinTo and GendaiTo feel like a bag of stones compared to their handy predecessors. reinhard

The "konnote gashiwa"-concept harks back to Tegai KANENAGA and Kamakura times. It has been known ever since, but it was applied to swords very rarely. reinhard

Allright then quoting "eddie" in chronological order: "picked up this old tanto" "looks to be from from early koto period" "wether it's gimei or shoshin is not the concern" "it will be a nice koto piece to display" "Please enlighten me as to how you came to that educated opinion" From ignorance to sarcasm in no time. Unwilling to learn, but exposing himself and his intentions in an exhibitionist's way. Some fun's ahead. reinhard

I can see neither elegance nor taste in this particular example. reinhard

Kanji in signatures can differ strongly from textbook examples. That's something you will encounter quite frequently. It's the same with our personal handwritings. Most of it cannot be deciphered by somebody, who is not familiar with Roman letters and our language in general. - After seeing and understanding many mei, you will get a feel for it. reinhard

Enlarged and put side by side, the first example looks more informative to me. reinhard

Amida yasuri on this tsuba don't look like file-marks to me. Some of them vary slightly in thickness and some of them aren't perfectly straight. They seem to be made by a very fine chisel. My guess would be: rather by pushing than by hammering (Ford?). My question to Richard: Do you think the rim was added after the plate was finished or is the tsuba made from one single piece of steel? reinhard

That's the least you can expect from "Awata duchi Omi no kami Tada" reinhard

I do not insist in the KANEKURA theory. As I said, it's just a possible track, because the second kanji doesn't remind me of anything I've ever seen. An abbreviated, reduced version of KURA however could eventually make sense. If it's by one of the seven generations in Sendai or another smith, I don't know. reinhard

Thank you Moriyama-san, that's the one I had in mind. reinhard

It's a bling bling package for ignorants. reinhard

Other schools using this kind of kanji for KANE quite frequently are the Monju-school in Wakayama (Kii province, ShinTo period) and followers of the KUNIKANE-school in Sendai (Oshu province, ShinTo and ShinShinTo period). Both of them claimed to have their roots in Yamato tradition (Tegai and Hosho respectively). - BTW I can't see any "MITSU" nor "MOTO" in the second kanji and I suspect the saya-gaki to be a mistake. The KANEKURA line in Sendai might be a trace, but I could't find any reference material. reinhard

Like Moriyama-san pointed out already: There is none. It's just a matter of agreement how to translate the kanji of "shimo/shita". BTW, Moriyama-san has a right to be adressed by his proper name like everybody else here. If you are friends with him, you might call him Koichi, if not, it's Mr.Moriyama or Moriyama-san. Calling him "Mori-san" is an inadequate abbreviation. - I'm interested in somebody trying to translate the remaining parts on sashi-ura. This is going to be some fun, for they look even worse than the mei on sashi-omote. Anybody trying? reinhard