nulldevice

士魂 矢田明督之作 Shigon Akisuke. Someone else can probably chime in with more info about the smith. Edit: Here is the nihontoclub link to AKI29: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/AKI29

This isn't a real Japanese blade sorry

I believe it’s the Nagamitsu line of Kanemitsu smiths that this Mei is purporting to be. I agree that the hada looks like it’s been “enhanced” and not in a good way. There were many generations of smiths signing Kanemitsu and many signed Bishu Osafune Kanemitsu.

What's your conclusion and why?

A fun little exercise I did using @Jussi Ekholm's wonderful data he's provided to the forum. The filter here is just looking at Juyo blades (Not TJ or above, but I could add that in easily enough), and the first numeric column is the number of Mumei blades and the 2nd numeric column are non_mumei. In the case of the Enju/Enju combo this includes 5 instances where there is a shumei, kinpun mei, or kinzogan mei simply to Enju. The columns in order are: School/Tradition, Smith, # mumei, # non_mumei. Enju Enju 86 5 Enju Kunifusa 0 1 Enju Kunimoto 0 1 Enju Kunimura 5 3 Enju Kuninobu 2 5 Enju Kunishige 0 3 Enju Kunisuke 3 11 Enju Kunitoki 9 23 Enju Kunitsuna 0 2 Enju Kuniyasu 4 8 Enju Kuniyoshi 2 17 There are still some fringe cases that I'm working out the bugs with where the count may be off 1 or 2, but this was a quick bit of tinkering. Edit: I did more tinkering and here's a big table with most of the possibilities of mei realized: Again, a huge shout out to Jussi for the compilation work he's done. I can't possibly say enough about how insightful it has been for me as a data nerd to pour over different possibilities and arrangements of the data he's collected and given to members of this forum. Its truly invaluable and selfless of him for giving this to the NMB community!

I’d suggest doing a little bit of digging on your own and asking yourself whether you think it’s legitimate or not and post your reasoning here before asking for other’s input. Hizento are among some of the most documented works out there and finding comparable examples is easily done.

This might be relevant to this discussion. This exhibit was at one of the geisha house exhibits in Kanazawa.

兼定 - Kanesada Showa 18, 10th month (October 1943)

Noshu ju Kaneshige A day in Showa 19, 2nd month heres a link to another star stamped sword by this smith. Kaneshige

Just a FYI to add to what Brian said. HTTP only sites are usually fine to visit in this case, just don't enter any passwords or sensitive information as that information will be transmitted across the internet unencrypted. PS. Sites should also update their certificates to be HTTPS in 2025 but a lot of these sites aren't made by web developers so understanding that, it's somewhat to be expected.

IDK if it's just me but it seems that just in the last few months the quality of the photos on Eirakudo's site are compressed and blurry where they used to seem more crisp and clear. I wonder if they just got this blade or if they were holding it back from DTI. There weren't a lot of Kunitoshi or Kunimitsu daito at DTI this year that I saw. Lots of tanto for both makers and 1 or 2 Kuniyuki so an item like this would've stood out at their booth.

Its a wartime (WW2) blade and has a "seki stamp" which is a stamp on the tang of blades that identify they aren't traditionally made. Non-traditionally made typically means they aren't made from tamahagane and they aren't quenched in water (usually oil quenched hamon). There are more nuances beyond this but these are the 2 biggest factors. So if you want a war-time sword, this will fit your objectives. If you wanted a handmade, traditionally made blade made from tamahagane and with a water-quenched hamon, you'll have to look elsewhere. Since you're asking about 2 very different blades in your 2 photos, it might be best to first ask, what are you looking for?

I saw that blade in person last week. Very nice, very tight. Kotetsu personally isn't for me, but they let offered to let us see it even though they knew I was mainly looking at earlier koto blades.

Did you find any worth pursuing at DTI? A number of tables had a lot of very cheap blades and I kept thinking back on this thread when I saw you wandering around the show!

Unfortunately the Darcy you’re quoting passed away in recent years However there are other members here who will probably be able to answer your question about top blades at auction. One such blade was the Mikazuki Kanemitsu from the Paul Davidson collection that was auctioned off this year. More info on that can be found here: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/crescent-moon-the-mikazuki-kanemitsu-from-the-paul-l-davidson-collection?lotFilter=AllLots