John C

Could this be due to military standards? I'm sure you have considered that. What is your theory as to why he changed? John C.

FYI I posted this on page 4 with the link a couple of weeks ago. John C.

Bruce: I was looking for any connection with the number of petals on the various pieces. Notice the beautiful tsuba posted by Peter has 6 petals. Must have to do with space limitations. Have you noticed any connection with the designs? John C.

Noah: Not sure if you have seen these, however there are some good detailed shots of handle and guard removed from the sword for future reference. I have included two shots below. Not sure if they come from the stuff you collect. https://www.ebay.com/itm/165777930195?hash=item26992277d3:g:E5MAAOSw6DdjclS9 https://www.ebay.com/itm/134327729661?hash=item1f468e7dfd:g:Gr4AAOSwSe5jclTq John C.

Dan: The answer to those questions may be D: All of the above! From an historical perspective, remember the Japanese did get much of their information and insight from the Chinese. And indeed, there was a lot of experimentation with different methods of production for probably several centuries. Remember too that most smiths at the time were guided by shintoism and everything, including the water, fire, river sand, and oxygen used to make the sword had a kami, or spirit. It is conceivable therefore, scientific production methods were blended with spiritual methods. John C.

Dan: I don't think it's a problem with your math, but simply a problem with interpreting the way the data was written. They are talking about percentages and you are trying to convert to decimal. Don't convert. .5% is less than 2%; indeed, 4 times less. If converted to decimal, 2% is .02 and 1/2 percent is .005. So 2 is still larger than .5. Hope that helps. John C.

I have seen similar pictures in an article about slag being left in the steel during the forging process. Maybe just under the "skin" and brought out by the polishing? John C.

Neil: I have found you need to do a double translation with Google translate; first the google literal translation then the Japanese equivalent. There was a tanto posted here recently with writing on the handle that google translate showed as "pine island." One of our amazing translators translated it as Matsushima, which does indeed mean pine tree island. John C.

So is there an "unwritten" pass ratio or is this a reflection of what is typically sent to the panel? John C.

There are probably some forged-in-fire type folks who would try to make a tanto out of it. John C.

Another interesting idea that may affect the ratio of the accepted swords was discussed on another thread, though I cannot remember where. But essentially, the discussion centered on whether or not acceptance rate was more subjective than it should be; meaning swords were not compared to a set standard but rather to other swords submitted in that particular shinsa. I might be misremembering, however. John C.

James: The stamp looks like a cho symbol used by, among others, Kobe Steel works. Could also be the mark of a private sword shop. @Bruce Pennington Bruce would have much more information on this topic. John C.

Howard: I agree with Jeremy. Hamfish was merely stating the hole may have been put there some time ago to appeal to westerners. Remember there was a large trade in swords to western tourists when Japan opened to the west in the 19th century. John C.

Tom: Agree with Thomas and Chris being a souvenir sword. The big tells are the oblong shaped plain tsuba and the clipped end of the nakago. You will also find the fuchi and seppa are a one-piece design. John C.

Just asking this because I don't know...does the relatively ko-kissaki and long nakago on this sword tell us anything about showa-to/gendaito differences? John C.

Derek: Not sure if this helps, but remember there was a dagger found in King Tut's tomb made (supposedly) of meteorite steel. That was placed there around 1324 B.C., if that gives any indication. John C.

Georg: I think you would have to control for 1) the same panel doing the judging, and 2) the quality of items being submitted to that panel. Higher quality would obviously mean higher acceptance rate, regardless of the number submitted. Unfortunately, the quality of submissions is probably not known. But looking at the acceptance rate for the same panel over time may give you an indication of overall quality of items submitted. In this case, the acceptance rate is the dependent variable and the panel of same judges the independent variable. Quality of items would be a control variable, if you could figure out how to measure that. John C.

Noah: I'm a little skeptical. The mei does not seem to have a nice flow about it. It kind of starts and stops; the way a forger might write it. In addition, as a Nobuyoshi owner and researcher, I have not seen that particular syntax on a 1st generation Nobuyoshi. Usually, he would use Fujiwara or Minamoto Nobuyoshi. And lastly, 1st and 2nd gen Nobuyoshi typically used chu-kissaki and the picture in the auction looks O-kissaki to me. John C.

Andrew: The crack you refer to is called a Fukure = a blister pocket where the weld didn't take. The fix for it is called Umegane = which is a steel filler. The real question is whether or not it is worth it. In this case, I would say just study the blade and practice looking at all of the different aspects and memorizing the terminology. I could be wrong, but it appears to have fire scale, which is a "fatal flaw" and makes the blade just a study piece. Good luck! John C.

The dark "plumes" coming from the hamon near the habaki remind me of oil quenching, which would make it Showato. John C.

Howard: I believe David is on the right track. Gold coins were carried in the saya at times, particularly on long journeys. John C.

Your chance to own a Yoshimichi for the low, low price of 250k! And from a seller named Shady! https://www.ebay.com/itm/133998952943 John C.

This homemade piece is also being advertised as WW2. John C.

My guess would be flour? Seki ju Kanemitsu? John C.

Still not sure about the signature. Here is an interesting thread from 2010 showing how Naotane changed his signature over time: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5020-naotane-and-his-mei-and-kao/ Also, the pic below is from Markus Sesko's article on Fujiwara Ligature showing how he changed the Fujiwara radical over time. The cleaned nakago, which the seller confirms, by the way, is a different story. John C.