moriarty

Greetings Trice, As with everything, AI is bound to make mistakes and unsubstantiated claims, as in this case, the kanji given in the screenshots does not correlate to the given image, nor the first translation.

Interesting find Dale! Thanks for the pictures

Greetings Kyle, Thanks for posting clear pictures of the nakago, as stated above by Geraint and by the seller, this piece does a signature of (越前守源信吉)- Echizen No Kami Minamoto Nobuyoshi (17th century). Being that his lineage is reasonably famous, gimei and the likes are quite common. Just by the signature alone, I do not believe it's a gimei. However, more pictures of the sugata would be beneficial to any assessment. As for the koshirae/fittings, they seem a bit mismatched and much later additions to the blade. I've attached another of his signed works for comparison, this one too, lacks the usual kikumon. Kind Regards, Maurice

Greetings John, Pretty interesting insights, I had certainly heard of the military ryūha influencing some aspects of blade-making, but you really bring the picture together. Would you say this influence lasted a major part of the war period, or did it wane significantly? Kind Regards, Maurice

Greetings Jeff, Happens to the best of us, glad you can take it as a lesson. As for eBay sword sellers, unless they're connected in some way to a reputable store or a member of this forum, they're ignorant at best and deceitful at worst. You certainly fared better than my first purchase, poor thing was flaunting all its core steel to the world!

Looking at the state of preservation, I think such samurai didn't wear if for too long 🤣

Greetings Conway, I surmise the 同 may indicate a collaboration since they were smiths under the same tutelage, if they're descendants of GBR Ōei-Bizen Group mentioned by Sesko. Could the date be (文龜三十二月-XX)? Kind Regards

I would be very interested in such a list, Although these low-profile test cutters pop up rarely, it's a fun rabbithole to sink into. Great work on the translation!

Greetings Hennick, From the left line, top to bottom: (三つ胴切落断-XX-九兵-XX)-- Cut through three bodies... Right line seems to be a zodiac year, month, and day: (承應光-X-土辰十二月-X-ハ日挂-XX-土-X)-- Jōō {1652} Earth Dragon(Zodiac Branch) ...December 12th?) Mayble I'll come back and tackle this wonderful mei later, thanks for posting such an interesting piece!

Greetings Ronald, The signature on the blade seems to be 多々良-(Tatara), couldn't find any smith by that signature, but maybe someone with more info available will! I assume the “silver” is just chalk utilized to enhance the view of the mei, as evidenced by the fading first character. Sword seems to be outfitted as a civilian post-war gunto? Maybe someone else can provide more info on that topic

Greetings Thomas, Seems the forum formatting isn't helping your cause.. Maybe a pic would help?

Good eye John! Maybe I was thinking of another piece while deciphering the second kanji. Still, it's a pretty poor description for a smith, perhaps the calligrapher is more appropriate? Kind Regards.

Greetings Ian, I believe you've done a great job translating the first picture yourself “This (piece) is approximately 2 Shaku 3 Sun and 4 Bu” As for the last three characters, I'm currently reading them 武藤住 (Mutō Sumi?). Could be the examiner's or Smith name, hope this helps!

Greetings everyone, As stated in the title, I've come to a stump regarding the theme of these fittings. My best guess for the menuki is a reference to 七福神 (Seven Gods of Fortune), but it may be a stretch. Any help or opinion is welcome. Many thanks in advance, Maurice

Funnily enough, they choose a famous name for the fake mei 兵庫県井上安治 (Hyogo Prefecture, Inoue Yasuji). Big fan of his artistic prints.

Greetings James, Welcome to the forum,and thanks for posting pictures of your piece As for the spots, I've seen similar effects in other amateur polishing attempts, on top of damaging the blade, these polishing pastes tend to react badly to low-oxygen environments (I.e a tight sheath) As for the maker, did you confuse Kyowa (享和) as in the historical era? Otherwise, I read the mei as 神田 (Kanda District), possibly the famous Kanda District of Edo.

Feeling it may be 具怜(Gu Ling?)

Greetings everyone, Recently I've come to purchase an old beater blade for martial arts purposes, but I'm now I'm not entirely sure if it truly is a fake or a very botched nihonto. Given some of the confusing details, I hope someone more experienced could help ease my doubts on this piece. P.D Tried my best with pictures, sadly camerawork is hard to balance with these fingers 😅 Kind Regards, Maurice

Okinawa? To me it seems like a dha or taab from South East Asia, and not a very old version at that. Maybe a tourist trap?

If I remember correctly, they charge something like 8% of the final auction price plus 20,000 yen for paperwork, all of that plus shipping. Not a terrible choice if there's no agent, but as stated above, it's a ruthless minefield

Must've been a Christian samurai! 😂

Thanks, wasn't sure about the last one at all, for a moment I thought it was a title😂

Although the pictures and rust don't help much, I agree with @Ray Singer above. 濃州関住後藤兼廣作- Noshu Seki NoJu Goto Kanehiro Saku It could be a showa-to or maybe the rust obscures the Seki stamp? Link to previous smith discussion:

Greetings Luca, In my humble opinion, both icons reflect Buddhist nuns. Especially with the head coverings and poses. Please compare this image at your own discretion. Best of luck in your research Kind Regards

Greetings Daws, Very thankful for the pictures, although my pool of knowledge is limited, I believe this blade may be a fairly old gimei. Some other server members should give you a more concise opinion on this piece, since it looks so inconsistent. P.S In order to capture the Hamon activity, try using no flash, natural lighting and different angles with your phone/camera close to the blade.