oneshot onekill

I'm actually in negotiations for what the owner says is an Edo Period sword. If I end up with it I'll post pics and I promise not to be too much of an ass to everyone. I'm taking a chance on this one because the pictures the owner has been able to send don't tell me anything about it except that it doesn't look Chinese and it's really inexpensive. I have no idea about this one. It could have been made last week or 300 years ago. If it's a turd I'll just tuck my tail between my legs and take the lashing. LOL!

Why do so many here start out with negative or derogatory statements? It's OK... just a little disheartening. To me, there ARE only good things to say about my sword. I take in every opinion that has an explanation. I am learning from everyone here. Even the ones I don't agree with. I'm not obsessed, but I am somewhat in awe. Neither you nor I know the circumstances surrounding the purchase of this sword from Japan so speculation about that aspect is irrelevant. I don't believe it is some Japanese national treasure. I'm not naive. The Tsuba doesn't fit very well. I think there are too many seppa and at least one of them seems new. It needs a polish. The muneyaki it appears to have is inconsistent so I think it was probably a flaw in the clay or something when it was quenched. Honestly, its not very sharp. I don't know what any or all of that means but it doesn't matter to me.

The original owner was a Military man (Marine) who bought the sword years ago at a sword shop in Japan during his time stationed there. I think it was more of an expensive souvenir for him, not an investment. My admittedly over-the-top need to have some idea when it was made was purely for the history. I just love antiques. The older the better. Especially being so wonderfully preserved with its original beauty. I don't care about the value because I didn't buy it with the intention of selling it for a profit... or selling it at all for that matter. I want to share it with others. Sometimes I spend long periods of time just staring at it and studying it. Imagining when it was being forged and what else was going on in the World during that time. Wondering who carried it first and how did he live? How did he die? How did it come from then to now? This sword spoke to me.

I'm still new here and only going by something I read somewhere recently. But perhaps the thinning was an attempt to remove the curve instead of the curve being a result of the thinning. I understand the only way to correctly straighten a curved blade is to have a good sword polisher do it. But I don't know what the process would be. Maybe someone with knowledge of this will chime-in.

Thank you. I looked into the San Francisco show for that but I can't afford it right now. One of the kind other members here was guiding me on how to get that done.

Blah, Blah, Blah... Actually, I believe having an experienced person have it in their hands is a thousand times better than posting pictures so people who have NOT had it in their hands can pick it apart without really getting the whole picture. No offense meant to those who don't feel the need to be the "meanie". FWIW, It has never been about the monetary value for me. I did a lot of paraphrasing in my last post because I didnt remember everything in detail. The value I was told this sword could potentially hold makes it well worth investing in a moderately priced polish and Shinsa but I'll probably only get it polished. Possibly Shinsa when it comes back around to the US closer than San Francisco.

My guess would be... No. But I am no expert. Only commenting from looking at quite a few swords.

Well... I was able to get my sword into the hands of someone with over 4 Decades of studying Nihonto. In his opinion it is definitely Koto and most likely made sometime in the late 1400's to early 1500's. He suggested having it sent to Japan for Shinsa and also obviously recommended getting it polished. Since he polishes swords I'll likely have him polish it sometime in the coming Months as I can afford it. I realize it's only an opinion but this gentleman actually held and studied the sword. There is no substitute for that from someone with decades of experience who polishes swords as well. The first thing he said which seemed to be because of the weight was, "This is definitely a Koto Sword". I've learned that older doesn't necessarily mean better but I was hoping for it to be a relatively "old" blade. I guess I should have trusted the Previous Owner when he told me the Sword Shop where he bought it in Japan years ago told him it was Muromachi. ... Oh, he also said it had been shortened considerably and was originally a Tachi blade.

I certainly understand that but the sword I had years ago was papered as well. I'm just passing it along.

Looks nice... and I'm certainly no expert. But I had a sword years ago that had a similar looking Hamon close to the edge and I was told it had something called "Kakedashi" and that was a problem. I think it would need to be examined closely and I may be way off but it's something you might look into.

I just sent a message to you...

I can vouch for Ray Singer. Not personally yet but I have a friend who has bought quite a few swords from Ray and every one of them is Fantastic! And a fair price.

I thought this years Orlando show was canceled because the organizer tragically died recently. That link took me to last year's Orlando show.

Il have to look into how that works and how long it takes.

Agreed... and thank you for that! As I've said several times this Sword Spoke to Me. I spend so much time (too much according to my wife who doesn't understand) examining it and staring at it and just enjoying it that it doesn't really matter exactly when it was made. But I do want to get it polished. Can I get recommendations? Maybe Stateside?

For what it's worth the Nakago doesn't show any evidence of being modified any time recently aside from Suriage that I can see, which would have happened long ago. The patina on the bottom edge and top edge are the same as everywhere else and the edges seem uniform and correct to my eye. Anything that was "modified" was done long ago. I will say it looks like the Nakago has been handled a lot which I think has made the color look odd. Someone may have even cleaned it some time in the past (Ouch!). When I look past the color and just at the "corrosion look" of a Nakago it looks old. At one point I even thought I saw the remnants of a signature in the form of what look like very old, shallow deliberate gashes but I can't get them to show in pictures. I'll keep trying.

Really the only things that pointed me to Bungo Takada was the overall "look" of the Hamon and the shape of the Nakago which I read about here: https://www.nihonto.com/bungo-takada/ Also, the blade seems to have more curvature than what I've seen on Kanbun Period blades. I will concede the time frame being later than Muromachi because of the length of my blade but the Hada is confusing to me and someone earlier said it appeared my blade had been shortened. Keep in mind I'm extremely new at all of this so my thoughts and findings could very well be way off. The more I get schooled here the better. Most of the Japanese descriptive words elude me at this point (even when I look them up in some cases), so much of what I'm deciding comes mostly from pictures I find online as well as short articles like the one I linked in this post.

Thank you. I'll add those to the ever-growing list of publications I'll be trying to acquire. I believe the Bungo Takada School was making swords into the Kanbun Period so that could be. The determining features for me thinking it might be older are the fact that it appears it have been shortened and the way the Hada looks. It has been looked at by a more knowledgeable collector who told me the Hada does look different in person than the pictures I posted. When I have it polished I think I'll know more.

As I continue to research my Nihonto I'm leaning more and more toward my sword being from Bungo Takada School. My research has revealed that many swords from this school were Mumei. It also revealed that the Nakago is usually long and narrow. The Hada on my sword is coarse in several places and tight in others (Mokume?). You really can't see that feature in the pictures I've posted because my camera doesn't pick it up but also because the sword was not very clean when I took the pictures in this thread. Sorry for that. I've since done a little cleaning with Acetone and Choji oil as well as one wipe after a few taps with a Uchiko Ball and the Hada is quite a bit more noticeable. The length from what I read would suggest a later made sword but the Hada being kind of coarse in places suggests it might be an older blade that was shortened? Also the Hamon on my sword appears to be very similar to the "kind of straight but slightly wavy" Hamon I've seen on most other Bungo Takada blades. I'm not versed enough on other features so obviously I might be WAY off but at least I'm trying to figure this out and I don't have any books or studies ... yet. Thoughts from the experts? *I'm sorry I used regular english words to describe the features but I wanted to get my points across without butchering Japanese or mis-using a descriptive word.

I think "collecting" stops when you've amassed all of the knowledge available about that which you are collecting and it becomes sort of "Ho-Hum". That said, in the case of Nihonto and all that goes along, you can NEVER amass all of the knowledge available in a lifetime... And THAT is exactly what attracted me to Nihonto in the first place.

I won one of his auctions after watching and bidding on his stuff for a couple of years. The sword I won was not really how it was described. I'll be kind and leave it at that. He took it back without any hassle so there's that.

Ah... Sorry. I just couldn't figure out how to describe them to get an answer to come up in google. My lack of command of the English language.

I downloaded a picture from online to ask a question. The picture below is NOT my sword. I'm just using it to ask...What is this feature called and what is the significance? (The stripes) My Google-fu is lacking.

I must say after studying all of the subtleties and features and marks and design I'm more and more mesmerized by this blade and so curious! After doing some extensive research (as extensive as I could being a Newbie) it appears my sword has Tobiyaki?, not Muneyaki? that extends down from the Mune into the Shinogi and Shinogi-ji. (You can see it best in some of the first pictures I posted). It's a larger area on one side than the other and really only shows on the front half of the blade. I think having it properly polished will bring it out more because the blade has a lot of tiny scratches that make it hard to read what it's trying to tell me. I originally thought it was just "rub marks" but when I look down the blade with it pointed away from my eye the current polish job appears very straight and you cannot see those areas reflecting differently. Might this feature explain why it's Mumei because that's a flaw?

Goo Gone worked perfectly! Took about 30 minutes and I was nervous the whole time. Thank you!