axeman1984

Thanks! I feel like the mei are not a good match unfortunately. Particularly the "suke" character looks very unique compared to any others I have seen, especially the curving downward stroke on the right which crosses over the main vertical stroke at the bottom.

It is a heavily damaged and tired blade out of polish and mistreated by the previous owner. Nakago appears to be ubu. I posted it previously but the pictures were rough. I found the right light and angle combination where you can finally see the hamon a bit, so that may provide some clues. I also took a new picture of the mei. My gut feelings at this point are that the blade is Bizen, and possibly from the Sukehide of the Yoshioka Ichimonji school around 1346-1370 listed here. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/SUK93 There are many Sukehide from Kamakura period, but since wakizashi are not supposed to have been created before the Muromachi period that points me to this smith. However I cannot find an example of his signature to compare, and I don't know enough about hamon to know if there are any clues for or against my theory hidden there. My assumption is that in this condition only the general hamon shape is really visible and things like nioi and nie would require a polish to bring out. I would be happy to be wrong though.

Do those longer form examples hold true with shorter blades like wakizashi? It was my understanding that it was not uncommon to use a 2 character name only signature for wakizashi even if a longer form was used on longer blades.

Which Sukehide is the question I am hoping to get clues to through comparing with known examples. The mei is only 助秀 on a wakizashi, so the extended signatures in Nihonto Club aren't very useful for ID. I really need a picture to compare the actual engraving. I was able to find one book I could buy that presumably has a picture (unknown if mei is included) of one Sukehide blade in "Bizen Ichimonji: Hanayaka na Nihonto". However I am not inclined to spend a large amount of money for an out of print book that may not have what I am looking for.

Hi All, I want to find known examples of signatures to compare with my blade. Are there places (perhaps Japanese sites) or perhaps special search terms that can be used to search for pictures of mei for a specific swordmaker? Of course I have attempted google searches in many forms, as well as the great resources on nihontoclub, but I cannot find examples of "Sukehide" to compare with my blade.

Interestingly the blade has had some repairs in the past. An Umegane repair has come out on the ura side just past the machi, and two intact repairs can be seen on the omote.

This is a wakizashi that looks to have been potentially over polished and mistreated. I am not sure if I can make out the hamon very well. I can see some hada that makes me confident it should at least be nihonto. Mei is "Sukehide" (助秀). My best guess so far from the blade features is Bizen from late koto, which seems to fit with several smiths that signed this mei. Here are the measurements: Nagasa - 40.3cm Nakano- 12.5cm Kissaki - 3.9cm Sori - 0.87cm (slightly saki-sori, widest sori is just past the halfway point) Kasane - 0.61cm at machi Mihaba - 2.69cm at machi Has bo-hi and soe-hi (though some of it is polished away). Koshirae is very mixed including WWII serialized seppa, a cheap looking cast fuchi, modern cheap saya, and a very old looking tsuka and kashira which looks to have a Kaga-Maeda crest (Kage Ume Bachi). The tsuba has a signature of Shoami Kanenori, but almost looks like cast bronze so I am unsure if it is authentic. The tsuka-ito has a type of braiding near the kashira that I haven’t seen before. Only the tsuka (and maybe habiki) appear to be fitted to the blade, so I assume the proper fuchi must have been much taller, because this one leaves wiggle room even with 4 seppa. Any thoughts on authenticity, condition, etc are very welcome, as well as advice if this blade is salvageable.

Apologies if I offended you.

Thanks for posting an example Mark! It seems like maybe a lot of dealers don't post their less desirable pieces. I presume this is to keep the perception of their overall collection positive? I love that this wakizashi includes koshirae for the price. I hope it isn't considered rude for me to try an attempt at analyzing the blade so I can perhaps get corrections from you or the group. From the pictures it seems like the blade has been polished pretty heavily causing a change in shape past the habiki. I have never seen a nakago jiri where the mune side is the longer angle, is that a specific style? The hamon is hard to make out due to the polish of course, but am I seeing an ito suguha hamon or is there not enough visible to tell? Finally, is there no yokote, and if so would that make this a shobu zukuri kissaki? Is there anything about this blade that would indicate the period it was made?

Thanks Patricius! I have spent a while reading through that site, great resource!

Thanks everyone for the great advice and links! I will take some time to look over everything and see about picking up a couple of books. It looks like unless I get as lucky as Ken M. I will probably be looking at a little larger investment for my first blade than I had initially planned. For clarification my first thought was to see if there were corners of the internet where blades in the $100-$300 range existed that were complete, but perhaps covered in rust and patina (but not worth a polish). More like authentic curios than valuable collectables. From what I am seeing now it appears that if these kinds of blades exist they are rare. I suppose it is a good thing that a lot of once beloved swords aren't sitting around neglected and in rough condition. For now I will keep an eye out on all of the sellers that were listed (keeping in mind the helpful words of caution) and see if anything speaks to me and happens to fit my budget while I continue to read and learn more. I am sure I will be back here with more specific questions for all of you kind folks later on. Thanks, Justin B.

Hello all! I am new to nihonto collecting and have been trying to see how inexpensively I can get started. I know most collectors look for quality pieces with a great polish (or pay thousands for a polish), and one day I may be in a position to do the same. Right now however I am on a budget and looking for the best way to get my first authentic traditionally made blade. Not really looking for showato at this time. I am okay with a poor polish and some rust or patina, but I would like to avoid permanently damaged blades (broken blades, super deep rust pitting, etc). Are there any tips on where I should look for these lower collectability pieces that most collectors would pass by? Are the ~$600 blades I see on ebay from Japan the only way to go? I assume the dealers on this forum only deal in much nicer pieces but do any of them have a "bargain bin" for people who know to ask? Any suggestions or advice are greatly appreciated, Justin B.