Gerry

Ah, my apologies...from the numerous comments I've seen on this forum, I've always assumed that pretty much all the serious collectors here abhor "Fleabay", but I guess not. And is there really any chance of quietly bidding on anything on eBay nowadays, ha ha.

The "tsugu" character looks like little different from the regaulr soshou-mei, and there's also an additional description at the top right of the mei.

There's a listing for a soshou-mei Shigetsugu made in 1937 at the moment, and it's the first one I've seen with a mostly suguha hamon: https://www.ebay.com/itm/396194115902 Let's see how much it will eventually go for, despite the seller having no idea of the mei and nenki.

Samurai shokai actually has 2 gendaito kogarasu marus for sale if you're considering modern pieces.

I'm in the same mind of thought as you...as with anything to do with art, the item has to elicit an emotional pull. All the swords I've purchased have had to excite me on an emotional level above anything else, so that I get a sense of enjoyment whenever I hold the sword.

This topic also brings up another question I have. With the hobby of appreciating nihonto, how much of the value and perceived quality of a blade is due to subjective vs objective reasons? For example, with my limited knowledge, objectively, collectors look at the tightness and color of the jigane, the activity in the hamon, the physical balance of the blade, no kizu/ware, etc. However, there are subjective aspects also, such as the sori, the pattern of the jigane, the overall shape of the blade, the hamon style, etc. Do seasoned collectors generally agree on the combination of subjective and objective aspects of a blade to determine its value? Or do they have quite varying degrees of preference? I guess that's where the papers come in, to give a consistency in the appraisal of a blade.

Thanks for all the insightful replies, and once again, the breadth of knowledge on this forum is amazing.

Thanks for sharing. this is certainly useful read.

I've seen quite a few Tokubetsu Hozon blades that have prices that surpass those of Juyo blades, but I rarely see Hozon blades over 1M yen. An example is this 2.4M yen Hozon Kanesada katana is priced so high because of the smith: https://www.tsurugin...om/items/a00642.html Has anyone else seen examples of Hozon blades over 1M yen or more?

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Jauce. I've purchased 26 swords through them in the last 10 months, and haven't had any issues with the export permits applications. There's one sword that had a wrong torokusho that had to be re-issued, but Jauce was very clear with updates through the whole process, which took about 5 months. Maybe you can email their customer service people to check if your sword had a torokusho issue, and ask for details? They even told me which month the education board was meeting to rview and re-issue my torokusho, and when the new torokusho arrived.

This kogarasu maru went for quite a princely sum. https://www.jauce.com/auction/u1170168654 The nakago has quite a pronounced funbari, but the hamon looked too odd to me to want to place a bid. And it's weird that the nakago also looks suriage. Why would anyone need to suriage a kogarasumaru? They're usually not long to begin with.

Here's an interesting set of mounts on this shungunto: https://www.jauce.com/auction/w1170939001

Some of the junior licensed swords smiths in Japan make blades to fit antique koshirae. You can find them online and contact them. However, you'll need to send at least the tsunagi in to them, if not the entire koshirae to be safe, and the blade will probably cost you $7K USD or so.

Hi Jussi, Thanks for sharing these links to swords with early nengo inscriptions, so there's still hope if I keep my eyes peeled at the usual suspect of Japanese dealer sites.

It's where the original nakago line ended before the sword underwent machi okuri/suriage.