oneshot onekill

Pictures. Sorry they're a bit blurry. The camera on my tablet is not great.

I must not have been clear. This is on my "Saya", not on a Shirasaya. I only used that as a reference.

My Saya has tape residue all the way around it in 2 places. It appears to be where registration papers may have been taped to the outside like I've seen on some Shirasaya. Can that be removed without taking the lacquer with it? I can add pictures if need be. Thanks in advance, John

I'm a Treasure hunter by nature and because I'm not a financially wealthy man. I'm also a bit of a romantic. I've been buying various things from auction sites since they came about. I'm pretty good at being able to tell when something is good or bad on those sites. That said, I have been combing auction sites for literally years looking for a decent Sword at a decent price. That "Diamond in the Rough" so to speak. First, let me say... DON'T DO THAT!!! You will be disappointed 99 times out of 100 and you don't want to spend that money finding the one Diamond in the rough. It's NOT worth it. That said, I pulled the trigger in recent Months on what looked like a "decent" sword for around $600.00. The sword was nowhere near what the seller described it as or what it looked like in the pictures. He said he bought it at an Estate sale. The Koshirae was obviously not made for this sword and the Tsuba was a modern reproduction. The sword was slightly bent. It looked very wavy on both sides and it had forging flaws that had carbon under them. This seller has multiple swords listed all the time and keeps getting more and more of them all the time. The only thing that makes sense is that he is getting these mostly "junk" swords shipped to him from Japan in bulk and peddling them off for much more than they are worth to us "Naive Americans". No need to mention names because you probably already know who I mean. Once in a while he seems to throw in a good one just to keep the interest levels high. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE realize that if it seems too good to be true, it's probably not true. Like almost everyone here will tell you... Do a TON of research first and Expect to be disappointed if you do go the "online auction" route.

Here are the best pictures I could take of the Hada.

I was going to mention that it appeared to have a "Hamon" look to the Mune and the Shinogi in areas along pretty much the entire length of the blade. In one area it runs down to the Shinoji and the Hamon also almost runs up to the Shinoji. But looking down the blade there is no indication of over-polishing there. The contours of the blade present very smooth and straight when you look down the blade from either end.

Thank you! I wondered about that and wondered if it was just a poor polish job. I never knew what it was called when the Hamon came through there although I have seen it in pictures online. Just couldn't find any this week.

Thank you for that! I get it. Initially, I did hope that the blade I fell in love with was also as old as the seller said it was so I was clinging to that. Bottom line is that I love this sword. Like I've said several times, it spoke to me.

The seller bought it years ago at a sword shop in Japan and told me he was told by an "expert" it was Muromachi. I've abandoned that period for several reasons. I do love it and it's not super important what others think of the age. I'm just trying to understand the reasoning and in many ways it's not making sense or not "holding water" to me. The Nakago is a very dark brown, almost black and has a fair amount of bumps and lumps. In person, it's as dark and similar to my friend's papered sword that is much older. I can even almost see parts of a Mei (lines and shapes) but not enough to mention. You cannot make out any file marks under the rust like I usually see on newer blades. I thought the 3 holes were just because different Koshirae was fitted to it. I would have never suspected that was an attempt to make it seem older. The Nakago is not straight on the bottom. I think the camera angle may be playing tricks. It looks almost exactly like the Nakago in the picture of the sword I posted with the Nakago pictures. The patina is the same everywhere and there are no indications that the bottom edge of the Nakago has been altered at all. I verified that by showing it to a friend who knows far more than I do. I also don't believe it has been shortened because there is nothing to indicate that based on what I've read. I did do a LOT of research. Both years ago and more recently. I've read every article and link that have been sent to me. Most of them before I got this sword.

No heartache here. I bought this sword because I loved it. That's really all that matters. It was also very inexpensive. (I didn't want to reveal that initially because I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to "value" it to sell it and make money). I don't care what it's worth or not worth. It spoke to me.

I'm sorry. But someone else told me it was too straight to be what the PO said it was so based on that and some other factors he determined it was likely Kanbun. I saw what he meant so I agreed. Now you're telling me it's not straight enough to be Kanbun so it has to be something "newer". Couldn't be something "older". I have looked at hundreds of different era swords (granted it was online) so I'm just frustrated. No personal offense meant.

So we're getting newer and newer with the age assessments. I'm going stop listening to opinions now. It's like A$$holes, everyone has one. I'm starting to feel like I did when I got screwed over years ago buy a Sword "expert" who was doing me a favor.

So I showed the Nakago to a friend of mine who frankly, is the one who has re-kindled my love of Japanese swords. Unbeknownst to me, he has a collection of some very impressive swords ranging in value from $6500 to well over $10,000 (all papered) and he has been bringing them to the shop here to show them to me. We looked at the Nakago of one of his papered Edo swords and loosely compared how it looked on the top and bottom edges to my sword and we've both come to the conclusion that nothing appears to have been done to the top or bottom edges of the Nakago of my sword. At least not that we can tell. I've also been looking at a lot of Kanbun period swords online and several of them have a Nakago that looks a lot like mine. Here are pics of the bottom edge of my sword as well as an online picture of another sword from the same time period. I'd like to know what aspects say it has been altered? Thank you again for the knowledge!

I definitely think this is a better assessment of the age than what I was told by the PO. I've looked at a Ton of Kanbun timeframe blades in the last two days and The main thing that sticks out to me is the large sweeping Hamon and the look of the Hada on the swords I've seen. Also the overall curvature of the blade. I think I was clinging to the "Muromachi" timeframe because to me older was better. I'm still very happy with the sword and thankful for the information I've been able to gather here. Just to be clear, I'm not interested in the monetary value of my sword. The moment I saw this sword it "spoke to me". I'm happy it wasn't too expensive for me to afford (although my wife may disagree... LOL!).

... and a few more

More parts...

But are they upside down? The way they are mounted is with the cutting edge up. Just like the sword would have been worn. Or does the fact that the Tsuka is at the bottom mean they are upside down? Could there be other significance to the orientation? I'm just asking. If there's one thing I'm discovering it's that pretty much everything has some significance when it comes to Japanese swords. Also... Just so no one thinks I'm trying to add monetary value to my sword, I'm not interested in monetary value. This sword "spoke to me" the moment I saw it. I know it's far from perfect and not something of great significance. But I love it. I only wish it could talk.

Well, that's good to know about. I'll get a couple of close-ups of mine but I believe they are of the same quality as the ones in this auction so that would maybe help me date my Koshirae? I was planning to post close-ups of the parts of the Koshirae anyway. Thank you for finding that!

It is definitely an enlarged copy that is laminated.

I agree that I have seen this style of Hamon more on Edo Blades. I guess I'm just trying to cling to the older Muromachi Era that I was told it was by the PO.

See... that's why I come here. I would have never even thought about the Nakago being messed with. I'll get a closer look at it and see if any of the edges look cleaner than the rest or like one is flatter than it should be. I assume if you remove material the finish will reflect not looking as old.

So what does that mean? I'm under the assumption that the PO bought it during Military Service in 1965 since he said he bought it "years ago" and I know he was a Marine. Does that follow? Could he have bought with this paperwork and brought it home with him?

I just looked at a bunch of Kanbun Era swords online and it seems reasonable it could be that as well. I still think my sword curves more in the first 1/3 of the blade. Splitting hairs.

He said he bought it at a Sword Shop in Japan. That led me to believe he was the first one. I could be wrong.

I'd have to respectfully disagree about it being "Fairly Straight". Perhaps the new pictures show the shape better? Sorry the pictures don't blow up well but larger files require more posts. I was just looking at a website about the "Changes in the shape of the Japanese Sword" https://Japan-forward.com/the-changes-in-the-shape-of-the-Japanese-sword/ and it most closely matched the 6th blade in the illustration which is a Muromachi blade like the PO told me this one was. Of course I could be wrong because who is to say that every sword made in a certain time period follows the exact same dimensions. I realize I'm here asking for opinions so I'll be listening to all of them. No offense meant.