nulldevice

Thanks for the kind words Adam!

Thanks! This is the feedback I’m looking for! Also the document is open so anybody can add or remove rows and edit things as needed so if you see anything out of place, you are more than welcome to correct it.

That is one of the references I’ve used as well as my books to create what I’ve gotten so far. It’s a great resource and I probably should give it another cycle through and add some schools I’ve no doubt missed.

I'm working on compiling a list of the main koto swordsmithing schools, the province(s) they worked in, and the years they spanned for a project I hope to share with the NMB shortly which I think many will enjoy! I have a public Google Doc link which I'll share below that anybody can access and I've added a number of schools and probably have a lot of mistakes that I've made along the way. This is where I hope that NMB members can help out in helping me curate this list and refine it. I've probably missed a number of key smiths, dates, schools, etc. and I'm hoping that some collective reasoning can help me past the finish line. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NiQi34M8brY-21pM2N3z1emOqvEutC65F4godYsvJM0/edit?gid=0#gid=0 Many thanks in advance and I hope what I've got cooking up will be of use to many once I'm finished up! I've also added a page for Shinto schools but I haven't started on anything as I don't really know how they should be classified outside of the Gokaden (maybe just province?) but if you want to add them, feel free! The data will be used.

https://japaneseswordindex.com/kanezane.htm Read here for more information on this smith.

These are unfortunately not authentic swords.

https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/info/rank_criteria From the link above: Hozon Token 1) Edo and earlier blades with correct mei, or mumei blades on which the time period, kuni and group can be identified, may receive Hozon paper. 2) Blades that meet the criteria given above can receive Hozon paper even if they are slightly tired or have kizu, as long as those may be permissible in their appreciation. 3) Repair on jiba is permissible, unless it significantly impairs the beauty of the blade. 4) Blades made in the Meiji period and later can receive Hozon paper only when the blade is well made and zaimei. 5) For Nambokucho and earlier zaimei blades by famous smiths, re-temper can be permissible if the blade is valuable as a reference, and if the jiba and nakago are sufficiently well preserved. However, this will be documented as "yaki-naoshi" in the paper. 6) Blades are put to "reservation" (horyu) if a decision could not easily be made on the authenticity of the mei. This also applies to mumei blades in which an attribution is difficult to make. Tokubetsu Hozon Token 1) Blades with Hozon papers, good workmanship and state of preservation can receive Tokubetsu Hozon paper. 2) Blades with the following conditions are excluded from point 1. a. Re-tempered blades may not receive a Tokubetsu Hozon paper, as a rule, unless they date not later than Nanbokucho, are zaimei, by famous smiths, if the blade is valuable as a reference, and if the jiba and nakago are sufficiently well preserved. However, this will be documented as "yaki-naoshi" in the paper. b. Muromachi and Edo period mumei blades may not receive a Tokubetsu Hozon paper, as a rule. However, if a blade is attributable to a famous smith and in excellent condition it may receive Tokubetsu Hozon paper. Juyo Token Blades with Tokubetsu Hozon paper can receive Juyo if one of the following points is true: 1) Blades of extremely high quality workmanship and state of preservation, and judged as close to Juyo Bijutsuhin, may receive Juyo Token paper. 2) Blades that meet the criteria given above and made in or before Nambokucho may receive Juyo Token paper even if they are mumei. Blades made in the Muromachi period have to be zaimei and blades from the Edo period and later, as a rule, have to be ubu and zaimei to receive Juyo Token paper. Tokubetsu Juyo Token Among Juyo Token, the ones of excellent quality and superior condition, judged as the same as the top level Juyo Bijutsuhin, or conceivable as equivalent value as Juyo Bunkazai, may receive Tokubetsu Juyo Token paper.

Thanks! One of these days I'll get one of these handwritten inscriptions 100%!

鉄地真丸形両櫃 梶の葉透し 無銘 尾張栃畑 江戸時代初期 昭和五十三年孟秋 宗完 Iron ground, round shape, twin hitsu-ana Paper Mulberry leaf openwork Unsigned, Owari Tochibata Early Edo period Early autumn, Shōwa 53 (1978) Sōkan (Kao)

If you are near any one of the big shows in the US (Vegas, San Fran, Chicago, Orlando) you can go and see many swords ranging from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of dollars and everything in between. Personally, I'm glad I waited to attend a show and see/feel/hold/study blades in person before my first purchase. On the other hand, my budget wasn't happy that I waited as I ended up inevitably spending much more than anticipated later on, but I'm not mad about that! Most importantly, I got to see after reading lots of books and online articles what was actually quality and what wasn't in real life with knowledgeable people who could point out the differences to me and teach a newcomer like me a few important lessons.

Signed 丹波守藤原照門 - Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado. He was a Jo-Saku ranked smith and with green papers, I would assume its a gimei. For $2500, you can get a signed blade, I don't think you need to feel rushed to get a signed blade with green papers. You can find a papered wakizashi, probably even signed with modern NBTHK papers for that price. Just looking at the big dealers (Aoi, Eirakudo, Nipponto, Touken Komachi, and others) there are dozens of signed wakizashi with Hozon and some with Tokubetsu Hozon papers right now available around 400k JPY and below. I think more importantly than getting a blade right now is, if you can, figuring out what you want and why. What blades appeal to you and what ones don't and why?

Here are 2 Tokubetsu Juyo examples of signed Kunitsugu work, a tanto and a tachi

An excerpt from Hiroi Yuichi:

Pretty sure it says it’s a Hitstsura Wakizashi “minayaki” meaning tempered all over Hitatsura meaning a full tempered blade. Lots of good examples for hitatsura can be found here: https://www.nihonto-museum.com/collection/sagami-school-mainline/akihiro also see Masahiro, Hasebe Kunishige, etc.