atm

Great video and explanation for those unfamiliar with nihonto. But as I watched the curator bend the blade, I doubted that the strict prior Japanese curator would have approved.

Anything is possible, but if that is a shill bidder, it would not make much sense for that bidder to be the first bidder on less desireable items that may not draw other bids. Now if the auction closes with only mrtierney50's bid, and the item gets relisted for sale on Aoi's website, then you might have a case to make. Internet auctions can be unpredictable and participant intentions are unknown. We hope that everyone is participating in good faith, but that simply isn't always reality. There are shills, of course. Some people participate with no intention of winning the item--they like being part of the game and drive up the cost without collusion. Some get carried away and bid well more than something is worth due to competitiveness. Yet others win auctions with no intention of paying. All very frustrating to legit, rational bidders.

Having gotten a preview, I can say that @nulldevice’s project is going to be a great resource—especially for visual learners. Adding/correcting the data will be very worthwhile.

@Rhizosphere Depending on your location in the United States, you may want to attend one of the four sword shows around the country to see if you can find something in person. This helps immensely compared to shopping only from photos. The Las Vegas show is coming up in a couple of weeks.

When shipping in the United States, USPS Registered Mail is best for high value items up to $50,000. It is slow but secure, as the package is signed for each time it is handed off internally and it is held in a secured area while waiting for the next leg of the journey. And the insurance is relatively inexpensive. Otherwise, I insure collectible items using a special policy (like this) that covers items in transit, and I ship them UPS Next Day Air to minimize the item they are in the UPS system.

I cannot speak to the legitimacy of the signature, but it reads Sagami no Kuni Tsunahiro. There are many generations of Sōshū Tsunahiro smiths.

It can get confusing when swordsmiths and schools share names, so you aren't wrong @klee if you were referring to the school. The names Samonji and Sa can reference the school or the smith. So some differentiate by referring to the smith as O-Sa. We run into the same problem when only referring to Shizu--are we referring to Shizu Kaneuji, Yamato Shizu, or Naoe Shizu?

I can see why you were drawn to this blade @Matsunoki. The condition isn't too bad, and a new polish would really highlight what we can already see.

Thanks, @Toryu2020! They are the Taoist symbols for Mount Hengshan (South) and Mount Tai (East).

These appear on a tanto koshirae I own. Do they mean anything to anyone? I have searched bonji charts online, but I am struggling. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for sharing this index, Rohan! I got the book just last month, so this is super helpful for enjoying it.

As a proportion of their work, there are a good number of signed Hasebe tanto. There is, of course, a price premium when buying a zaimei Koto blade. But I think there is a distinct downside to buying a mumei blade when zaimei is more common among a particular smith or school (unless that mumei blade is an extraordinary work). That may partially explain the pricing of this wakizashi.

Beware that shipping is not without its own headaches. A couple of months ago I tried to ship a blade to Japan via U.S. Post Office Express Mail International. I carefully followed the instructions of Robert Hughes, who was going to coordinate submission to shinsa. My package cleared outbound U.S. Customs. But despite my blade being over 700 years old, someone at the U.S. post office rejected the parcel before it was loaded on a plane and sent it back to me because the "destination country rejected shipment"--in other words, they erroneously thought that all Japanese swords are illegal to export to Japan. I later learned that a very experienced U.S. dealer had the exact same experience with his shipment of blades to Japan within a week of my shipment. That dealer was able to successfully reship with a new description of "Traditional Japanese Art." I, on the other hand, decided right now is not a good time to try shipping to Japan, so I'll wait for shinsa some other year.

Although a separate topic (like yours) probably would have been better, it is being discussed here:

It is somewhat rare when a Masamune comes to the open market. I certainly enjoy looking when they come up. But as others have said, Aoi Art's Masamune leaves a lot to be desired. In addition to the photos, there are plenty of hints in the listing about its condition. This is not an entirely fair comparison since they have much different asking prices, but compare Aoi's Masamune with the TJ Masamune tanto that @Ray Singer has available for sale: link. The latter has a far superior condition, TJ papers, and Honma and Tanobe sensei sayagaki confirming the attribution. If you are among the elite who can afford to buy a Masamune attributed blade at 42M JPY, you are probably also able to buy the much nicer tanto. This is not intended to be a slight to Aoi either. I think a lot of dealers would love to list a blade attributed to Masamune, regardless of its condition. It is a consignment sale, so Aoi is doing its job by listing what their client is offering. It is obviously working as we are drawing attention to the listing. Even if it does not sell at auction, I cannot imagine this blade sitting unsold for years. Someone will buy the attribution (and overlook the condition).