Mark

Thank you Morita-san, i can work through the date and now i have the other line. Maybe someone can give me a pointer on the other side. Interesting

I have a wakizashi with a red lacquer writing. It is a bit worn and i can not read it... can anyone make anything from it? maybe there is a date on the right of the first picture, Meiji 22 ?? and a name on the left? the other side is maybe the person doing the writing? Thanks in advance

Rich the seller is a member here (or was ), he has posted before.

it says i have to sign on to see the pictures?

as far as seeing a lot of retempered swords, it could be the "market" - good swords are bought and kept, retempered are passed or bought and then resold, so you get a higher percentage on the market, especially as collectors gain knowledge and try and sell mistakes, same for market in Japan, they try and market the mediocre stuff where they can (outside Japan), and keep the better swords

blade signed katana-mei (so not ko-datchi) and with length it was a short katana or wak when made. shape and length seems to suggest no earlier than Oei, probably circa 1500. The boshi is hard to make out in the pictures and the way the hamon enters the kissaki could suggest it was reshaped. Koshirae looks average. No paper. So the BIN seems very optimistic. You basically have a questionable Koto wak, so unless you see it in hand and like it i see no reason to spend much time on it, not much to learn or be said about it from the pictures. It is real, it is hand made, it is antique, but nothing i see makes me think it is special or anything other than "what you see"

Marcello where are you located? I see you mention PA dealer. I am from Ohio and will be at a small military show this weekend that is in NE Ohio. If you are close i could bring some better swords and spend some time talking with you

what San Diego show is being talked about on the web site? I do not know any shows (sword shows) that take place in San Diego. If there is one it would be good to know about.

i understand the yasuri on main line Gassan blades are unique

from the photo it looks like a porrly polished shinogizukuri blade. maybe it is the picture

poorly written, maybe Kanehiro but i am not sure http://cgi.ebay.com/SIGNED-SAMURAI-KATA ... 43a5e3a7dc

from shape etc (do not think i even know the length - unless i missed it) probably made circa 1800, maybe a bit older, maybe newer. It is not made prior to 1200, not prior to 1300, etc. Where are you located?

from the picture hard to tell if you are seeingthe actual temper pattern or the hadori. If i had to guess i would say it is gunome but has been poorly polished so you see the hadori

there is too little information provided to be sure exactly what smith made it, Nobuyoshi was a name used by dozens of makers. You could submit it to shinsa and the information you recieve should identify the group and time period to help you narrow it down

sad to see and hear the news. I hope the best for all dealing with this disaster

There are a few people (at least 3 i can think of) in th U.S. who i would have remove/restore a nakago

Milt good to hear from you.

Eric i do not think there is a "standard" even for army. I have seen army mons on the fuchi, menuki and where they usually are on the end fitting. I have seen navy on the same areas. as i side note i have an army fuchi with a "mon" on ebay now, i do not see them located there very often http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :MESELX:IT

looks like there is more to the inscription. If so i think it is Nagasone (kotetsu) one of the most famous shinto makers, there is a lot of info on him available on the web

i will be at the show and have a few tables. Please come by and introduce yourself. This is a great show and i encourage any thinking about it to make plans to attent. You can learn a lot in a few days of hands on examination and person to person questions

Rick when you say "you came across this" i ASSUME, wrongly, that you saw it locally or maybe found it and now own it. I would prefer you include a link to a website if it is owned by someone else that way i can understand what i am commenting on. I am happy to help someone learn about their own sword, and do not mind commenting on something owned by others, but i think it is only fair and honest to let us know what the situation is before we comment. As previously noted this sword has aleardy been discussed

i hope everything works out. As Calos points out Aoi Arts has one section to sell blades that are Nihonto and one would expect they are "Art swords" to be apperciated and valued as art or collectible, they also have the "practical or For Use" section and these are marketed to be used as a weapon, not as Nihonto or art so if they are functional that seems the important factor. The price paid for a sword may not be based on its "art or collectibe" features, there are very expensive blades made to be used (much more expensive that antique Nihonto) So one thing to remeber is that if Aoi Arts lists the blade under "for use" section he may have been concerned with how it would function, its apperance may have been of secondary importance......... not sure as i do not use swords and have never bought one for use, just my experiance seeing swords for sale

skull and bones represent battle of Sekigahara not rare but are collectible so you do not see them available that often

when someone asks a question i sometimes ask " do you own the item" before giving an opinion. It seems bad form to get in the middle of someones deal. I want new collectors to learn and expand their interest in Japanese swords so do not want anyone to have a bad experiance. That being said i started before info was so easily available and i made bad decisions, sort of the the school of hard knocks. Not sure if easy is too easy or making a mistake kills interest so it is a tough balance

i have no trouble unless the files are too big. i posted one this morning