reinhard

Thing is: We can tell, what the real hamon is. To me it looks cosmetically added in the monouchi-area. a) is correct when the heated blade is plunged into water horizontally; the proper way. It is a dfferent thing when the partially heated blade is plunged into water vertically with the tip downwards. b) is definitely correct, but again: We haven't seen the real hamon yet, just vague pixels. reinhard

Ray Singer wrote: "Lewis, my impression is that the corrosion is more recent. The pitted and pockmarked appearance of the nakago has, to my eyes, more of the look of something where the age was chemically accelerated. It does not look like a naturally aged koto nakago." Exactly what I thought when seeing the pics of the nakago. reinhard

There is something wrong with the sori (curvature) of the blade. The monouchi-area seems to bow down. This indicates a retempering of the upper part of the blade. Close expertise (in hand) could solve this question. reinhard

Who cares? I don't. reinhard

Playing the "sexist card" is about what I expected. Just don't bother us with childish and silly emojis any more. reinhard

Gimei is gimei and that's that. "nihonto-museum" is no valuable reference at all. And yes: Guido is a real character, always was. Sadly enough he is not able to participate anymore. As for you , "Dee", I have my doubts who you really are. Playing the "Lady-bonus" here for somebody else ? reinhard

Comparing paintings with blades 1:1 doesn't make much sense, but so-called "AI" is stupid and will do whatever you ask, unless you ask for sensitive and censored information. Nevertheless the question (prompt) marks an in important point: Good Nihon-To is more than a tool. It is the ultimate approach to combine functionality with beauty. reinhard

The thread starts with the following statement: "I did not realize saiha (retempered) blades could paper (unless very famous smith or significant blade)..." The examples of Toshiros and Shintogos proudly presented afterwards fall in the category of "famous smith or significant blade". For the average collector of Nihon-To the device must be still: Saiha is a no go. Collectors of sharp militaria tools can ignore this advice, of course. reinhard

Quoting from the site mentioned above: "Uchida sensei then requested to test the blade with a telephone book of 1 sun 5 bu thick. Artillery captain Omura performed the test with excellent results." Seriously? reinhard

For consideration: True Horimono are made by removing steel. In this particular case the characters were just hammered in and the surface polished afterwards to remove the raised edges. You can see this on blades given to shrines and temples, but this is most probably not the case here. BTW: All mei on nakago, with the exception of Hankei's, are made by just hammering them in. Not removing steel, but pressing it aside. This is an important criterion when examining a mei. reinhard

"I'd truly like to see one of your swords jacques - they must be amazing! What do you collect personally?" ("Deanna") "...put up a good blade of your own" ("Rivkin") You are confusing Insta with NMB. reinhard

You're not in a position to give orders, Rivkin. reinhard

There are a lot of silly, redundant questions and questions about horrible blades posted for discussion here on this forum every day. Jacques has been here to answer them in his unique and not very sociable style for a long time now. You can ignore him, if you want to, but his theoretical knowledge is worth listening to. I wish he could find a less confrontational language in his posts, but then, he is who he is. Better listen to an angry, honest voice than to the ignorants and the crooks everywhere. reinhard

I hope you recover soon, but how's the dog? reinhard

For consideration: The blade is signed on the sashi-omote/haki-ura, meaning: as a katana. There were a few exceptions to this rule before late Nanboku-Cho period, but this "Yasu(?)mitsu" probably doesn't belong to them. All in all, the horrible quality of the fittings and the obscure quality and polish of the blade leave me with the conclusion: The whole package is probably not of Japanese origin. Chinese maybe. reinhard

The reason why I would like to see the nakago is: The "naginata-naoshi sugata" was pretty popular during Shin-Shin-To times. Katana and wakizashi were made to look like a shortened naginata. The Yamaura-school in Shinano, f.e., had weakness for this particular sugata. reinhard

Owning a true Hisakuni-blade is among the most desireable ideas in the world of Nihon-To. Without seeing the blade in hand it is very difficult to estimate its qualities and minor defects. There is a big flaw though easily to see and, fair enough, declared by Aoi-art: The massive chip in the cutting edge. Can you live with that flaw? It will not go away as time passes by and you will never be able to overlook it. This is what makes the blade quite cheap compared to flawless Hisakuni-work. reinhard

This is not a work of THE Nagamitsu from Osafune in Bizen province. Outline of hamon and thin and constricted nioi-guchi are far from his style. Additional old papers, fake or not, won't change anything. reinhard

It is due to the efforts of three men after WWII that Nihon-To as a cultural heritage of Japan is still alive. At first pacific high command had decided, that all Japanese swords are potential weapons and had to be destroyed. Homma Junji and Sato Kanzan persuaded US liaison officer Col. C.V. Cadwell to intervene. It was Col. Cadwell who finally succeeded in persuading his superiors to acknowlede TRUE Nihon-to as cultural heritage of Japan and worth of preserving. I guess General MacArthur was busy with many other tasks and probably didn't care much about exotic swords. reinhard

It would be helpful to see both sides of the entire blade, i.e. with the nakago, in hi-res. What we are doing here is highly speculative and in not targeting. What I can tell for sure is that shobu-tsukuri is no option. Shobu-tsukuri is a sugata where the shinogi ends precisely at the very tip of the blade. This is not case here. reinhard

Naginata-naoshi blades are highly underrated in present day sword-business. It used to be different in the "old days". Rich and powerful daimyo and even the shogun himself were aware of the supreme quality of some of the old naginata and had them shortened to wear them as katana. If you can't afford buying a tachi by one of the top-rated smiths of the Kamakura-period, you might be able to afford a naginata-naoshi blade by one of those masters. You will be greatly rewarded owning and studiying the craftsmanship of a great master for a price much lower than that of a "regular" tachi. Off the battlefield Japanese women were trained to defend themselves, their homes and their children, during the absence of their husbands. Naginata was their weapon of choice. Being only an amateur historian, I imagine naginata's size and proportions were chosen to fit the lady's strenght and her personal preferences. reinhard

Hi Mya, The pictures of the blade you posted are definitely depicting a naginata shortened to be used as a wakizashi. BTW The term "nagamaki", is only refering to a mounting style of naginata. Excellent naginata were made by top-ranking smiths at all times. Shortening them later in Edo-period to use them as katana or wakizashi was common practice. As far as your particular example is concerned: Telling on the basis of your pictures, attribution is not possible. Nagato-Sa or not: It is impossible to tell. Without a mei and without seeing the blade in high-res (with the nakago) it is impossible to tell where and when the blade was made. It must be seen in hand by an experienced and knowledgeable specialist. You should see its attribution from 1981 critically. Times, and knowledge, have changed since. reinhard

Older blades, who lost their signature and were shortened later to be carried as katana, should be displayed as katana, i.e. with the cutting edge up. No mattter what their original shape and purpose were. reinhard

Mei seems to be within the perimeter of known Shintogo-mei. But even if it can be verified as genuine: The blade has been ground to its core and is at the end of its life-cycle. Imagine a demolished canvas with a famous signature still visible. Is that what you are looking for? reinhard

"You can make it about the objects. Beauty, rarity, historical importance - whatever is more attractive to you." (Kirill) Crucial points. In order to understand and appreciate the beauty and technical quality of a blade you need your own compass resulting from experience. You don't need to own masterpieces for studying and learning; only very few people can afford this method. As far as rarity is concerned, Homma Junji sensei was clear: Look for blades with typical features! Searching for mavericks will blur your vision. Historical importance is no reliable advisor for the average student. This belongs to the field of historians and Nihon-To researchers. An extreme example you can find is a Juyo Token by Sanjo Chikamura with the mei "Chikamura tatematsuru (same kanji as "kami"). The blade was retempered long ago and is a mere shadow of its former self. The mei however is of great importance, for it proofs another Sanjo blade to be gimei: A true Sanjo blade with the mei "Munechika mura-kami" which was always dubious. With the help of the retempered blade it was possible to proof the "Mune"-character was a later addition. Therefore its historical value and its designation as Juyo Token. It doesn't make sense a blade like this is in private possession. "% = (TJ+Jubi+Jubun+Kokuho+Gyobutsu)/Juyo Ko-Mihara Masaie: 37.5% Nanki Shigekuni: 28.6% Shodai Hizen Tadayoshi: 12.7% Ko-Bizen Tomonari: 257%" (Chris) This is what I mean when I say you need your own compass as far as quality is concerned. If you don't have one, you end up up with strange statistics like these. Comparing the handful of zaimei blades of Ko-Bizen Tomonari with the many works of shodai Tadayoshi or Nanki Shigekuni still existing is misleading. For those of you who sneer at the term "Sue-Bizen", f.e., I recommend to have a closer look at the blade recently designated TokubetsuJuyoToken by Ukyo-no-Suke Katsumitsu. It is described in detail in the latest "Token-Bijutsu"-magazine of the NBTHK. reinhard