reinhard

You better go to sleep and consider this tomorrow again. reinhard

A beautiful and spectacular blade. Nevertheless I am leaning towards Taira (no) Nobuhide as the maker of this blade as far as one can tell from pixels. Congrats anyway. reinhard

Hi Jack, Your katana looks like ShinShinTo-work to me. Let me explain: It has average katana-length but the nakago was either greatly shortened or otherwise reshaped. Sori is still extremely shallow. This excludes older works of Awataguchi, Rai, Aoe. Let's suppose the sugata fits Kambun-Shinto measurements. Other features do not. Hizen-To was mentioned, but neither sugata nor hada fit the criteria. Hizen-To sugata is strongly curved beyond the usual ShinTo fashion. Hizen's konuka-hada, which tried to emulate Awataguchi's nashiji hada, was unique in its clarity and structure. I can't see it here. Hizen-To were also much appreciated for their beautiful boshi, following the curvature of the kissaki precisely and returning shortly. The boshi on your sword is somewhat fringy and shows a pretty long kaeri. But most of all: The hada of your blade is an extremely tight and crispy ko-itame. In the past conservative polish left this as "muji" or muji-fu". It is a unique feature of many blades made during the 19th century. reinhard

Thank you for your ideas and explanations. Allusion to"konotegashiwa" is a very interesting suggestion that did not come to my mind. Unfortunately the surface of the blade is in bad condition (rust and scratches) hence the hamon is partly obscured. reinhard

Recently I was asked for translating the signature of a mistreated and deteriorated katana in a (partly) mismatched koshirae.. The blade is definitely a genuine nihon-to. Mei on the sashi-omote was easy: a 16 petal kiku-mon followed by the mei: Tamba-no-Kami Yoshimichi. Probably second generation in Kyoto. But: On the sashi-ura there are 2 rows of katakana. I found katakana on nakago unprecedented: Can anybody help me out here and tell me me, what they mean? reinhard

Thanks Brian, I forgot to mention the different qualities of hadori-polish. A skillful polisher carefully roughens the ha to a minimal extent in order to group certain features of the hamon and to whiten the ha. Important features remain visible, for they are necessary to judge the blade properly. This process demands a basic understanding of schools and their characteristica and and advanced skills in polishing. I am aware of the fact that minor polishers are just putting "make-up" on a blade to make it attractive for ignorants. The poor outcome of their work should not be the reason for bashing "hadori-polish". BTW: The result of "hadori-polish" will fade anyway during time. Proper sword-care applying uchiko once in a while will do. reinhard

Another derailed topic. For those interested in the difference of "sashikomi" and "hadori"-polish I recommend "The Craft of the Japanese sword". Read pages 119-121 and READ THEM CAREFULLY! The hadori-step of polishing was invented by polishers of the Hon'ami family in later 19th century and became widely popular. It is still now. Wether one likes it or not, it is still the choice of the owner how his blade is going to be polished. "Sashikomi"-polish is just using a different kind of nugui, turning the ji into darker patterns, but not the ha. No big deal and no "lost craft" involved. Just a matter of fashion and individual preferences. This brings me to another point: Both kinds of polishing-methods are revealing all important features of a blade. If you can't see them, it's your fault. Lighting, experience, your eyes.... basically depending on your individual background. reinhard PS.: Andrew Ickeringill's view on this topic would be of relevance here.

BTW, Kirill was so kind to give you an unmistakeable hint in the header. Opening the pic to sword #3 in a separate tab you could clearly see: dotanu.... not many ways to interprete; don't you think? reinhard

Okan, Telling from the bright color of the rust, the spots on the ha look pretty new. Removal should not be a problem. Try a tool like a spatula made of horn, soft enough to not scratch the steel. The cause for newly building rust eventually lies within the saya. Old shirasaya, depending on how they were used in the past, should eventually be cleaned. Now that would be a job for a professional. reinhard

The tsuba in question was offered in 2004 at DaiTokenIchi by a Japanese dealer as "Hikozo"-tsuba without papers. Many knowledgeable people must have seen it in the meantime. Being still without papers and offered for a price far less than can be expected for a genuine (shodai) Hikozo leaves me with only one conclusion: There's something wrong with it. reinhard

Don't think too much about this one. It's just a replica thing from anywhere and should be announced as such. It's neither a proper "Gendaito", "Samurai sword" or whatever makes your heartbeat go faster. As far as I'm understanding NMB (see entrance side) discussing obscure wall-ornaments and Japanese-looking bamboo choppers is not its task. But maybe I'm wrong. Finally it's Brian's baby. reinhard

Taking it to the extreme: Blades made as ken or in moroha-tsukuri shape have a shinogi, but kasane would be zero when measured at the base of a non-existing, separate mune. This would make no sense. Nevertheless the kasane of blades made in proper shinogi-tsukuri shape (not naginata-naoshi and the like) is measuring the length between the two corners at the base of the mune, not from one shinogi to the other, even if the distance from one shinogi to the opposite shinogi is a little bigger as it is in some examples. Like it or not: Japanese authorities made this clear. No reason to discuss definiton of kasane over and over again. reinhard

No Guiseppe, it has not. The 2mm broad area you are considering a separate structure, is just the ridgeline. The measurement of kasane is taken below. As was suspected before, your blade is most probably not a shinogi-tsukuri katana; more likely a naginata-naoshi blade or the like. Pictures of the munemachi-area whithout habaki would be helpful. reinhard

A little help to solve this riddle and some to come. reinhard

What exactly do you mean by "genuine"? reinhard

Listen to Moriyama-San's kind assistance here and forget your silly translation apps! Mei on swords are about artist's chosen names. This is far beyond Google's translation-abilities. They won't get you anywhere when it comes to mei on NihonTo. The mei is GISUKE, which can be read YOSHISUKE as well. Suruga Shimada ToKo signed like this during Muromachi-period. Verification of the signature is still pending though. reinhard

Agree with "Yoshioka (no) ju Sukeyoshi". The rest is highly speculativ; gimei anyway. Again: The mei with the name-part is on the wrong side of the nakago. Sukeyoshi of the Yoshioka-Ichimonji school signed his long swords exclusively with tachi-mei, i.e. location and name on the haki-omote. The vast majority of swordsmiths did so until the end of Kamakura-period and into Nambokucho-period. Exceptions are only some of the Ko-Aoe smiths in Bitchu Province and some of the Ko-Bungo smiths like Yukihira. It seems to me, that western enthusiasts, fascinated by their newly acquired ability of translating mei on NihonTo, easily forget basics. reinhard

Don't.

One poor blade and a poor koshirae, that's all; but two threads to discuss them. Fuchi and kashira are typical for cheap Showa-To work. Tsuka-Maki was done even later by a bloody amateur. Hectic activities all over the place though. Relax and try to focus on essentials. NMB is too good to be a simple platform for quick trades and free translation. reinhard

Thing is: Fakers need their products to be made fast and cheap. That's why their forgeries are always silly and ludicrous shades of the originals. "Adjusting" their forgeries would be a very time-consuming and expensive process. That's why they won't do it. It might be easier for them to fake papers like torokusho and others, but the shitty blades and koshirae will give them away, always. Therefore my advice: Have a close look at the blade and the koshirae and don't buy dubious swords on the basis of papers you can't read nor judge. reinhard

Prices for kiribako vary strongly, because their quality varies strongly. You get what you pay for.. It doesn't make sense to order a high-end, custom-made kiribako for a mediocre tsuba. Average workmanship will do. If you want to store a genuine Kano Natsuo tsuba you should go for the best there is, and you will find it only at high costs. reinhard

The blade is signed with name and place on the sashi-omote and the nengo (date) on the sashi-ura. Famous Kagemitsu working in Osafune, Bizen province, during late Kamakura-period never did that. His Daito were always signed with a tachi-mei (i.e. the other way round). Going into details of the mei is therefore obsolete. This brings me to the question wether there is an app helping with kanji on swords. Even if there is one: If you don't know basics it won't be of much help. reinhard

On and on again. "I have studied this particular blade/mei very well. Why does NBTHK not share my point of view? " Condition of a blade is what matters most in making a judgement. That's what makes NBTHK's papers much more valuable than NTHK's or others. reinhard

Sorry to disappoint you, but this tsuba is far from the craftsmanship that can be expected of Umetada kinko. Another famous name abused for commercial purposes. reinhard