atm

As a beginner, I have appreciated (among the other books already mentioned) Markus Sesko’s Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords. It is a great help with terminology that often goes unexplained in other books.

Thank you all for the input and especially to @SteveM for generously correcting the rough translation. The sword is finally on its way to me, and I am very excited to study it in hand.

That’s quite a history—thanks for sharing!

Mr. Tanobe completed the sayagaki. Here’s the translation I received (he had a lot to say about it!): Bingo Koku Ko Mihara Masaie Osuriage Mumei On the Nakago, there is an Hon'ami Koson's gold powder signature. But it is peeled off and illegible. The blade is wide and O-Kissaki, a magnificent figure. Shaped like a Enbun(1356-1361) and Jogi(1362-1368) era. The Itame Hada flows close to the Ha. There are beautiful Utsuri. Calm and elegant middle Suguha Hamon with Ko Nie. Boshi is Tsukiage shape and small round back. Yamato Den mixed with elements of Aoe. Komihara swordsmith masterpiece representing a master craftsman. This sword is very similar in appearance to the important artifact sword with the Keio date written on it. Blade length is 2 Shaku 3 Sun 7 Bu Han. Written by Mr. Tanobe in Feb 2024.

I second Ray’s suggestion. I bought the ebook and it is a very worthwhile resource. And it appears that your smith is in it.

I’ve been using Singer machine oil: Link It is lightweight and spreads easily.

Impressive!

Thanks all for the thorough explanations and advice—it is all super helpful. I’ve confirmed that Mr. Tanobe will still write the sayagaki as Ko-Mihara Masaie despite the differing HBTHK appraisal, so I’ve asked for that to proceed without any modification to the kinpun mei. I knew the sword was a very good work; having him confirm that with his sayagaki is even better!

I need to clarify this with Aoi Art. If those are the only options, then I'm inclined to just have them send me the sword without the sayagaki. I don't think the time, effort, and risk of reappraisal at TH is worth it.

I recently purchased this katana from Aoi Art: https://sword-auction.com/en/product/20194/as20427-katana-yoshi-transmitted-as-aoe-school-青江nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/ As stated, it has a partial gold mei and NBTHK appraised it as Aoe school. I asked Aoi Art to arrange for a Tanobe sayagaki. Aoi Art just relayed this to me from Mr. Tanobe after his examination: Mr. Tanobe judged this sword to be top-class Ko Mihara Masaie, not Aoe. He said that this sword looks really similar to the Juyo Bijutsu Ko Mihara Masaie. So he does not want to write the Sayagaki as Aoe. If you want to get his Sayagaki and new NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, we have to remove the gold signature completely and re-register the sword. It would take a lot of time (at least a year) and cost. There is no guarantee that it will be Ko Mihara Masaie because Mr. Tanobe and NBTHK have different views. In any case, Mr. Tanobe praised this sword as a rare good one. So, here's my dilemma. Do I ask that the sayagaki be done as Ko Mihara Masaie and have it different than the HBTHK appraisal (if Mr. Tanobe is willing to do it) or do I try to have it reappraised with the removed mei? If going through the time and effort of removing the mei and reappraisal, why not try for Juyo rather than reappraising Tokubetsu Hozon, which it already has? I lean toward the first option, as I greatly value Mr. Tanobe's opinion, it would not require messing with the sword, and it would get to me more quickly. But I am mindful that one day I (or my heirs) will need to sell this sword and am I better off taking the time now to hopefully (but no guarantee) align the appraisals or even shoot for Juyo? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Adam

Thanks to @Mark for organizing this show. Thanks also to all who answered my very novice questions and allowed me to handle and view their blades. This was my first sword show, and I learned a ton! The demonstrations were great, too. Adam