John C

Sorry, Jacques, I miss your meaning. Are you talking about the book or your own penchant for negative responses? A lot of new collectors, me included, would find the information in some of the older (i.e., cheaper) books useful. John C.

I love the detail and clarity of the hamon pics in Paul Martin's book. Nice way to pick out and study the details. p.s. picked up another good book - Leon Kapp's Craft of the Japanese sword. Goes through the forging and construction process. John C.

Just two more cents - I think a polish would bring out some nie and make it more obvious. Still leaning toward water quench. Caveat - that doesn't necessarily mean gendaito (in our sense of the word). Could be water quenched and semi-hand forged using Swedish or types of steel other than tamahgane. John C.

My copy is arriving today. Review to come... John C.

Ron: Just my two cents, though I would lean toward water quenched. I'm not seeing the typical dark spots or dark shadow line of oil quenching. But I'm also not seeing nie. Could that misty line be nioi-deki? John C.

Not as bad as some. Here is a chippy Kanemune. John C

Jun: As others have said, I would not alter its current state. In addition, Japanese blades are not sharpened like western blades (i.e., focusing solely on edge geometry). When the blade is polished, the geometry of the blade from the shinogi to the ha creates the cutting edge. Here is a decent explanation: "The Shinogi and Shinogi-ji are best remembered as a pair, with the Shinogi being the ridge line where the sword transitions from the angled portion that forms the edge to the flat section of the blade, which is called the Shinogi-ji. The portion of the blade from the Shinogi to the Ha (edge) can be said to have a little or a lot of hira-niku. Hira-niku, or 'niku' as it is sometimes called, can be translated to mean 'meat' and a blade with a lot of niku has an appleseed bevel, which may not be as sharp as swords with less niku, but they actually cut better and are considerably more durable." John C.

Second column from the upper right could be a Nagoya mark? John C.

#1 and #4 above are the same pic. My initial thought is fake. The Tokyo canon mark is not done well; the dimples on the tsuka are not correct, and the release latch is not at the right angle. John C.

Average examples go from 800 to 1,000 on ebay. With some rarity and tassel, you could certainly add a bit more to yours. John C.

Emil: I'm not seeing a lot of activity in the hamon. Could it be discrete nioi or dense konie? Possibly, just not sure. Here is a good explanation for why you may not be seeing much. It speaks about blade and steel quality. John C

Thomas: I wouldn't say it's a bad buy, but I would agree it's at the top of the market. Pluses include the origami and the tassel. Being papered suggests it is water quenched, since mass-produced, oil quenched blades generally do not get papered. John C.

SaM: I'm sure you probably know this, however there should be no need to take it apart. These weren't signed, however some did have the W stamp on the nakago. The tassel could use some leather conditioner to preserve it. A gentle dab without rubbing should do it. Coach and some other purse brands make some gentle stuff. John C.

Not to sound morbid, but is that because they "went down with the ship" or because there were simply fewer Naval officers? John C.

It's definitely a tough one. The temperature of the blade during quench can affect the size and amount of nie, but I'm not seeing enough to point one direction or the other. If I were to lean in one direction, I think the lack of definition points toward oil quench. John C.

Looks good to me. Marks look good; correct screw in the tsuka. I too think the tassel is probably original. That's worth a couple of hundred by itself. John C.

Here's another one. I think we may have seen this one before. The seller guarantees its authenticity!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/267044004791? John C.

glad it was you and not a reseller. 293 was a good deal based on current prices. John C.

I think I have one for your data set. Jan 1945 Katsumasa with small seki stamp. It came with one bamboo mekugi near the kojiri, however the mekugi-ana near the tsuba end does not go all the way through and may have been a screw originally. Only one chuso release. John C.

Just to clarify, the link to that sword is sohei_swords (Matt). John C.

The painted numbers are a type of control number. Looks like A (in Katakana) 15563. John C.

It was! Actually, I can make out a 2 but that's it. The good news is that a serial number adds to its legitimacy. @Bruce Pennington John C.

David: Any chance of getting a pic of the serial number on the nakago mune? We track these mantetsu. @Bruce Pennington Thank you, John C

One obvious possibility is that, since the war did not end for another month, any remaining undamaged parts and equipment from Toyokawa could have been moved to Tenshozan to continue war production. John C.

Just curious if there is a similar address on a parallel street where you live? I have had packages delivered to a house with the same house numbers one street over from ours on several occasions. Fortunately, those folks are honest. But I certainly would not put it past a crooked USPS employee either. I would also contact the postal inspector and file a report. John C.