Chinese Fake?

[stephan_hiller]

All,

 

Last week I was contaced by a newbie "collector" here in Germany who just acquired his first Japanese sword. He said that the sword has a signature and I offered him to see if I am able to identify the mei and get more details about the smith. However, when he sent me thepictures I really doubt that we are talking about a real nihonto. For me it rather looks like one of these Chinese fakes. Unfortunately the guy has no internet access and also no digital camera, but from what I see it is probably not "real". The kissaki looks crudely shaped. The mei also looks odd (although I was not able to identify). The hamon/hada on the picture also looks more "fancy" like in the Chinese fakes. The mekugi-ana is also crudely punched/drilled.

However, before I want to go back to the guy telling him that he bought some crap, I would like to know also your opinion just to make sure I am not judging it in the wrong way.

 

Many thanks,

 

Stephan

 

 

[takakage]

i agree, a chinese fake........, nakago, ana, yasuri mei and kanji are very ugly

[Guido]

Since you're from Germany, you may have heard of the so-called "Harzburger Modell", a management and leadership training program. I'm sure that there are better methods nowadays, but when I participated in the eighties, I was told that a manager's initial response should always be positive and optimistic.

 

*Yes,it's a sword that seems to be Japanese.

*You could have done a lot worse.

*I'm sure you made a good choice given the circumstances and price.

*This sword will probably appeal to a lot of people.

*You like it, and that's the most important factor.

*It clearly represents a certain niche market.

*Unfortunately it's a Chinese fake.

 

How about this approach?

[stephan_hiller]

Guido,

 

Thanks for your suggestion, but you may also know that we Germans are more direct (which is taken sometimes as a bit rude) and state it as is: "No, it's not a Japanese sword - it's junk where you spent your bucks on" :-)

 

Stephan

[Ichi]

Straight forward answer... it's a Japanese sword look-alike made in China.

[Guido]

It doesn't happen too often, but it does, at least occasionally: I'm trying to be nice. Obviously it doesn't work. I should have known better. No problem, I'll go back to my pompous and condescending self; and don't dare to complain, capiche?

[remzy]

Thats probably a high end imitation, the mei carving and sugata isnt all that bad compared to most chinese imitations out there.

[slavia631]

But the kissaki is terrible! It is shaped very poorly. I couldn't even imagine a true Nihonto looking like that after the worst reshaping polish job in the world!

 

sorry, but even my untrained eye can tell that it is a fake.

[Brian]

No problem, I'll go back to my pompous and condescending self; and don't dare to complain

 

Guido..but we like your pompous and condescending self! :D

And we wouldn't dare to complain, as we are all secretly a little afraid of you and your evil dead/undead twin. :D

 

Brian