Cream Cheese

@SteveM That’s perfect, as I was also looking for something relatively local to participate in (hopefully to further my knowledge on Nihonto in general). I’ll be sure to contact their facebook account. As for the blade itself, I suppose I’ll take a chance and bring it (even if a solid determination cannot be made). I plan on going regardless, so there’s no point in not bringing the blade I suppose. Thank you for your help, I look forward to participating in the Nanka Tokenkai.

@O koumori Whilst that is a valid option, I wouldn’t exactly call it inexpensive. It’s a 13 hour drive each way for me (without stops), and I’d have to pay for a hotel room as well. Not that I’m unwilling to do so, but I’d like to see what options I have before I commit to such a trip. I’ve been recommended Mike Yamasaki (as he supposedly is located around 40 minutes away in LA), but I have absolutely no clue how to contact him. Regardless, if I’m not able to find a reliable local source, then the SF sword show sounds perfect for my needs. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

I’ve never heard of this technique before, very interesting. Thanks for informing me about this method of examination, I’ll be sure to look into it.

@ROKUJURO Understandable, I usually only use imgur if the file sizes exceed the limitations of the site. I've provided some compressed examples of some of the photos below, thank you!

Some photos of the tang in better lighting, as the original photo doesn’t display the proper details: https://imgur.com/a/vwoy4cz

Hello NMB, I was directed here by a member for any Nihonto related questions I may have. I’m relatively new to collecting Nihonto, and need help validating the authenticity of, and finding a place to restore for my Wakizashi. I’ve been able to identify the signature as that of Yasuhiro’s. However, I’m aware gimei are rather common, so I’d like to see what you folks think of it. I haven’t translated the kozuka yet, and there happens to be two of them included with this blade (I’m aware that at least one of them happens to be added at a later date). Both kozuka match the color and texture of the kashira and fuchi. Dragons are also displayed across both the kashira and fuchi. The rayskin has a rough/hard texture, and has grown brittle from age. The habaki and tsuba were extremely difficult to remove, as there was a lot of dirt congealed beneath them. The Let me know what you guys think, and if it happens to be a gimei, I’d be interested in how to identify such convincing fakes in the future. The previous owner(s) didn’t reassemble it correctly, and most of the photos taken are before I removed the tsuka, and reassembled it properly. Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/uNMKrkg