My first nihonto

[Jacques]

Based on what is really visible. Yakidashi suggests Shinto and nakago jiri looks like Bitchu Mizuta.  

[NewB]

1 hour ago, Rookie said:

Hello

I came upon this thread and was wondering...

 

Is this the same sword? Description and pics are identical...

Look at this on eBay
SUPERB KAGA KATANA ca. 1600'S + HORIMONO + FULL POLISH - Japanese Sword Tsuba

 

 

 

Thank you for your patience,

rookie

 

 

Looks identical to me

 

John

[ChrisW]

Looks to be the very same, I imagine the OP got a refund after having second thoughts on the flaws. Still a good blade to be honest.

[Yasaka Azuma]

On 2021/4/16 at 午前5時3分, JD808 said:

 

 

Well, if that is the case, the following posts may already be useless for original poster. These scratches have already been repaired by "Togishi" (polishers). They cannot be completely erased, but for a 17th century samurai, they were not a practical problem.

 

[AntiquarianCat]

I mean no disrespect but I feel the sword was somewhat underrated. I mean sure the hamon and hada aren’t as elegant as a Juyo art sword’s, but it’s a small fraction of the cost, in polish, full of a ton of activities and seems to be a well made example of a working sword from the period so if you’re a newer collector what’s not to like?

 

I think it’s a good piece for newer people. Think it would make a nice, rugged looking study piece and really wonder what exactly it would paper as?

[JD808]

On 4/24/2021 at 10:53 AM, Rookie said:

Hello

I came upon this thread and was wondering...

 

Is this the same sword? Description and pics are identical...

Look at this on eBay
SUPERB KAGA KATANA ca. 1600'S + HORIMONO + FULL POLISH - Japanese Sword Tsuba

 

 

 

Thank you for your patience,

rookie

Yes it is the same I returned it shortly after i got it in hand 

[AntiquarianCat]

Seeing as how it’s the exact same sword, I hope it’s okay if I use this thread and all the photos and info already on. To be honest, I was the person who purchased the blade when it relisted, couldn’t resist, I love swords with lots of nie and activity, and it was even a couple hundred dollars cheaper than last time around.

 

I still have some questions, Eric told me it’s probably Kaga, 1600s, early edo period. I guess that would narrow it down to Keicho, Kan’ei, or Kanbun.

 

I’m tempted to guess it’s Kan’ei since it’s not robust enough to fit the Keicho stereotype, and while it’s moderately tapered, it’s markedly curved, far more than my kanbun study piece (2.1cm sori vs 0.5 sori).  
 

Also, I did some looking around and it seems like some Kan’ei Shinto Kaga have similar elongated nakago along with significant sori and moderate taper. I wonder if this is similar to those. 
No way I’ll ever take better photos than Eric, and my digital camera broke, but maybe a couple of overhead photos, one with a generic katateuchi (1.5cm Sori, 60cm) as a frame of reference might help.

 

I guess my questions are: would I be right in assuming this is a likely Kan’ei era blade, and would anyone have advice in my trying to pin it down to a line of smiths? Apart from Nagayama, I also have Markus Sesko’ A to Z smiths books and a few others but so far haven’t had a lot of luck with searching. Thanks everyone,

[AntiquarianCat]

In case if it’s still relevant, I’m very happy with its condition. The kitaware was tiny and shallow, maybe the polisher who worked on this closed it or it hasn’t opened up but it’s one of the best conditions I’ve seen for a sub2000$ sword.

 

Especially when you compare it with sellers like S**wa22 who will tell you if you ask that it wasn’t buffed, but fib and sell you a buffed, wrecked sword, concealed by low res photos, for more than this.

[SteveM]

Nice sword. I agree with Kirill that the hamon isn't much of a toranba. Other than that, its a decent sword and there is no need to spend too much time worrying about the minor imperfections on this. A sword of this size without any imperfections would surely be twice the price.