Any Idea why the tsuka mentioned the school and not the smith

[Jean]

[Markus]

I am assuming the name of the smith is written on the other side of the hilt in the sense of quoting the mei just like the smith distributes it over both sides of the tang. Or in other words, I think the ura side of the tang is signed "Bizen no Kuni Osafune-jū."

[Jean]

Thanks a lot Markus for your answer. You were right at 100%. There were other pctures that my friend forgot to send me and his question was far from the one I initialy planted..

 

you are going to see all pictures. He has been asked to make a shirasaya for this blade. He has two options, the first one is to amend the existing one (with the sayagaki) , the second is to make a new one. The existing one has been made by someone who seemed not to have been in the craft. The nakago/habaki is definitely not in the tsuka alignment. (See second picture)

As the sayagaki has no value in itself, I told him to make a new one and to send back the old one to the owner so he can store it away. I very doubt that this shirasaya was original to the blade.