Jim P

Hi Guys, A friend asked me to post this and get a better translation and ask what are your thoughts on the mei ? Unfortunately I don't have Fuller's Sword Smiths of Japan and don't know much about Showa smiths but I know he was a important smith with great skill Thanks

Brian,Its hard not to go to Norishige. It has that Norishige look

Hi Darcy, My first thought was Norishige then looking at the posts thought maybe it not that easy so maybe one of the Hasebe ? or as an long shot Nobukuni as I get the feeling that it will not be shinto or later

Hi Yu Li, If you have papers not much more we can add but will try 1) Nakago appears shinto (no chance for sue koto?) - am I wrong? yes wrong, shinto 2) In what tier is horimono (low mid high grade)? not high grade IMHO low grade What you have is a shinto blade with so,so horimono that is probably ato-bori or added later and you said you saw a Jumyo on a website at 20k IMHO most don't go that high and from the photos yours is in the lower range PS.you need to take better photos like all of the blade in one photo and some close ups there are posts on the NMB on how to take photos

Green Dragon, Yu Li An Cho ? your first name Yu Li ? The NBTHK and NTHK thought that they are by the same hand and I was pointing out that the tada kanji is very close as it is a point in working out which Tadayoshi for an example, Art and the Sword - Volume 1 1988 has a article on shodai Tadayoshi's way of cutting tada but it is different to what we see in yours. It is a mine field to work out and there are always exceptions and as BaZZa said No easy answers for the Hizen school

Hi BaZZa,Why thought a chance for shodai was this blade from the 45th-NBTHK Juyo Touken pic, from Touken Komachi,it was on there site last year take a look at the tada on the two

Hi, Posted the right way up for you, IMHO, looks like a chance for shodai but needs to be sent for shinsa to say 100% also konuka hada just tells you Hizen school but not much more

Hi Stephen, Very nice work

Rob, Nakamura lists items on more than one site at a time in my case he had 3 Auctions going, one in UK one on his site and an Auction in Japan all at different prices so you can be cut out if he get a better price also he has some interesting ideas on what a Sayagaki is he does them himself and you are lucky, I got No refund consignment sale but I had him offer to buy the blade back for 250,000Y less than what I paid all before he sent it because EMS would not send it and after a lot of emails I finally got it with the tsuba swapped out for a lower value one and just to finish off he took the shitodome I would be happy for him to explain his practices as he is on the board

Hi Rob, Brian has the best advice, do your homework folks Rob if you look on the board you will find posts on him. He's a dealer that I would Never deal with again and am not surprised that you are having problems but in the end you are better off with your $ And you are lot better off spending your time looking on the board

Hi Ben, IMHO Jean is right oil-quenched

Hi JohnTo, Its Showato, The stamp means that the sword is not traditionally made. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4333-gunto-mei/

Hi Ken, I posted The Pass Rate for 62Th Annual Juyo Examination not long ago and what it told me was they were not passing a lot of swords why? Because they were not the best examples and rightly so. Not all Kanemitsu, are equal so I always thought it was about the best examples at the top and not about $ but as Guido said it's a lot more complicated for later swords but it’s the same for koto so you may be happy with a Kanemitsu, I would be happier with the best Kanemitsu, and how do I know it’s one of the best by looking at the top of the system for other examples like Darcy does when he looks at the Juyo lists not the hozon lists

Hi Ken, Touchy subject? So are you saying that if one of your swords was able to get Tokubetsu juyo you would not jump at the chance? Arnold is stating what most collectors think when they see a big name blade yes I know that hozon is all that is needed to confirm the mei but why do think we all send in swords for shinsa above hozon ? if not to confirm what we and others think of its quality and we all collect because we love blades, why would we sink 10s of thousand’s $ in to them knowing that we will be lucky if we get the $ back if not for love of nihonto I would do all I can to improve my swords standing why because when I am gone others will not have the same understanding I have and the papers will help them understand nihonto a bit more

Hi Simon, If you want the members to comment you need to give us some more info like pics of the blade? My best guess with the very limited info would be look at later Kyoto generations maybe the 6th ? plate ll but as Darcy stated if the NBTHK is not always confident in the generations then we don't have much of a chance some more info, YOSHIMICHI TANBA NO KAMI ROKUDAI [HOREKI 1751 YAMASHIRO] SHINTO CHUJOSAKU He is called Mishina Tokichi, and he received the title of Tanba no Kami in Horeki Sannen (1753). He is said to have become an excellent smith, and he died at the beginning of the Kansei era. Even during a time when the sword industry had been crippled for a long time, the Yoshimichi Ke continued the industry of their ancestors even under bitter conditions, and moreover, he took pleasure in meeting the demand for swords until his twilight years. Signature: TANBA NO KAMI YOSHIMICHI with a KIKU MON inscribed. Plate II: TANBA NO KAMI FUJIWARA YOSHIMICHI with a KIKU MON inscribed. Caption: ROKUDAI YOSHIMICHI, Sixth generation Yoshimichi

Hi Guys I thought some of you may find this interesting, This year 888 blades were submitted to the Examination but only 149 blades were able to pass. Only 14 of the blades that passed were made after the Shinto Era. from, https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/eng/blog/2016/11/08/26th-annual-jyuyo-examination-nov-8-2016 Not easy, but that's how it should be

Thanks Ken,

Thanks Steve, but they don't ship US to Australia, from amazon (This item does not ship to melbourne, Australia)

Hi Curran, I was wondering why I was seeing wakizashi with dates like 1414, 4 in 6 months it make it a bit clearer, must have been a peek time and I too have seen that horimono at the base on 3 of the 4 I looked at, It is just about a kantei point for him all the ones I saw had current papers only this one was with old papers so had me wondering what I was missing I thought that the Dr. Walter A. Compton papers maybe one of its selling points but it does not show up in the catalogues so it’s one of those with a ? that we see in Nihonto from time to time and like you I do like his work. Being self-employed and having screwy cash flows is still better than living outside the US at the moment. I think for US buyers it a good time to collect alas I remember not too long ago the Aus $ was a lot stronger its dropped back to about 75 cents and I missed that window and like a lot of the collectors outside the 3 big markets US, Japan, and the EU we are at a bit of a disadvantage just ask Brian the SA rand does not buy what it used to and in OZ nihonto is just about nonexistent for the mid to upper range. I see you are leaning to the dark side again buying swords and not just concentrating on Tosogu but I still am not a convert of old iron so am not asking Santa for a Nobuiye Hi James, That Morimitsu Tachi is a interesting example, in that its mumei and has a ubu nakago we today wonder why no signature on a blade of that quality.

Hi Steve, Do you remember where you got the stands ? I like them

Hi Stephen, It seems that this blade is not in the three Compton catalogues or the 100 masterpieces. Much thanks to one of the members who checked for me so a bit of a ? This is the link http://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords3/WK327301.htm

Hi John,Thanks my Japanese is not that good so ( Wa o ru taa A. Ko n pu to n ) translates to Dr. Walter A. Compton at least I can recognize the A I don't have 100 Masterpieces so can not check a the moment so I had a ? why it has not been submitted to a current shinsa Stephen it’s up for sale and has a price to match the name

Hi Guys, Can someone give me a hand with these papers one lists Dr. Walter A. Compton as the person who submitted the sword (you don't see western names on papers often) does the Koshu Tokubetsu Kicho paper list who submitted it ? Its coming out of Japan and no current paper ? maybe it does not need one as it has a sayagaki ?

Hi Ben, IMHO. I think Franco has it right, shin-shinto or possibly later Jitetsu looks shinshinto? and overall does not have that late koto look to me and I don't think its old koto so that leaves shin-shinto copy of older blade ? and if it was about 75cm when it was original is also in line with shin-shinto but that's just going on the pics. Carlo, I also think the kissaki has been reshaped maybe to fix a chip in the boshi ?

Hi Steve, Let us know if you do get it to Shinsa. I would bet on second