When Necessary

One last thought Cole. If you want to see how much blade edge has been lost by blunting it, unscrew the brass fitting at the mouth of the saya (scabbard). Inside there will be a wood liner which should split into two halves pretty easily (it's only held together by 85 year old rice paste). Then, position the blade against the inside of one half of the liner; if the edge or point section has lost a lot of metal, you'll see it easily.

Yeah - 1,600 EXCELLENT blades which lots of people want.

Cole, it's entirely your choice. My opinion (for what little it's worth)? You lucked out big time getting this particular sword for your first. Most of us started out with something of far lesser pedigree (if not outright junk). The man who made your sword made blades for Imperial Japanese generals, admirals and even the emperor himself. The blunted edge is almost certainly the pay-off for such an incredibly cheap price. Yes, you can very easily swap it for something sharp in 'minty' military fittings which was (probably) carried in the Pacific War. However, it will most likely be machine made and will never, ever have the same value as the sword you possess now, especially should you choose to have it professionally polished - years down the line. Think long and hard and research what you already have before letting it go. Good luck!

Oh, without doubt you could, Cole. Though you should bear in mind that would be like swapping a Jaguar in need of a full respray with a decent Nissan.

Thank you all. S Alexander Takeuchi says: "In case of an animal motif, the “heads” should be oriented toward fuchi while the “tails” should be oriented toward kashira" Iiyama Yoshimasa says: "Principally, the arrangement of the motif always shows towards the kissaki of the sword or to the kojiri of the saya respectively." And: "Omote-menuki: the body of persons or animals faces to the right Ura-menuki: the body of persons or animals faces to the left" So, as I've got two oxen and two goats all walking left, it sounds like Charlie's "doesn't matter in this case" is the winner. (Unless the sole goat looking backward has a hitherto unknown esoteric meaning.)

This is one of several originals I have by Yamaoka Tesshu. It reads 一日千里百福 "A thousand miles and a hundred blessings in one day" However, I got it simply for the incredible dynamics of his calligraphy.

It's a highly sought after Yasukuni smith so don't be so quick to return it. Yasunori signed Takenori when he made blades away from the shrine. If the edge has just been dulled by about a millimetre, the hamon is probably all still there and it can be polished out. (And his swords go for way more than $1,000 - so ignore any "I'll take it off your hands for what you paid for it" PMs.) You can find out more information on him from this old listing from Yakiba.com https://yakiba.com/yasunori-kotani/

Shirasaya originated in the mid-Edo period when the Honami family of appraisers were employed to evaluate, authenticate and index the sword collections of important families. These families had many swords in almost permanent storage and so shirasaya were regarded much like the magnolia boxes used to protect valued tea utensils such as bowls and teaspoons. As with these other wooden containers, the Honami would write formal descriptive calligraphy onto the plain white wood. Then, following the Meiji Restoration, and the subsequent abolition of wearing swords in 1876, shirasaya became a necessity.

Passed Tokuho.

Gentlemen, Despite the much appreciated support I have received, both in private communications and on the last page of this thread, I am now heartily sick of what has become some kind of bizarre witch hunt (or 'warlock hunt' for those of you who like to claim I'm a man). As Hokke @Hokke so succinctly puts it, I have neither attempted to make any profit from this forum nor ever suggested I have superior knowledge which I do not possess. Yes, I've gotten angry occasionally but I have otherwise tried to be an active contributor and helped with observations or suggestions wherever I could. When I first joined here it was a real pleasure to interact with everyone but now I sign on always expecting to be denigrated or baited - so it's high time to call it quits. Lastly Stephen @Stephen, you only got really spiteful and nasty towards me after I asked you to stop sending me PMs - apparently "hell hath no fury like an old man scorned". Your incessant messages were starting to freak me out. (And, before you start spluttering 'it was all part of a cunning ruse to uncover your hidden identity' I took screenshots of all your PMs.) Goodbye to the many nice folks here and good riddance to all the rest. Adios, Dee

Thank you.

Oh, I see! So that's what you do to get a blade papered? Wow - sounds expensive.

Thanks Alex, I'll go and research Uda now.👍

I think maybe you're mixing up the NTHK with the NBTHK. The latter hardly tell you anything, even when a blade passes. The former gives notes on the pink fail slip about why it's failed and what they think it is.

Maybe who actually made it and when? I don't know that.

I was looking at a Japanese site which talks about a genuine Kinju tanto. After AI translating this part, describing why the style of dagger changed from the previous period, I'm pretty glad that my mine is a fake. 身幅広く、重ね薄く、浅く反る大振り※は南北朝時代に流行した。これはそれまでの短刀が刺すことを主要用途としていたことに対し、首級や耳、鼻などを撮き切る合風始が発生したことによる

Who'd a thought it? Mary Poppins - a ninja. Explains a lot.

If the mounts are original, then it's a nice piece for a militaria collector. Dee

I always haunt Yahoo, Curran - and, if I see something unusual, I'll post it here. I was actually looking into a gunto dealer@Stephen asked about when I came across this. Dee

Despite being sold in Japan, this is obviously an oil tempered, wartime blade with unremoved Seki stamp. What makes it intriguing is that it appears to have a very old registration card (torokusho) and is sporting some pretty fancy handachi mounts. Translating the seller's description, they claim that these were made for a high ranking naval officer. Personally, I think it's a post war refit - although all the mounts do seem to match. Opinions? https://page.auction...tion?aID=o1174368795

I searched but this sword is not for sale on Yahoo, Jauce or Mercari. Looks like the seller is only interested in the foreign marketplace.

Yahoo!オークション - 珍品希少 自在/絡繰金具の象...