I have now clue what this is can anyone help? Is it old? Does it have value?

[Be joe]

I bought this sword at an auction and was wondering if it may be real. I cost about 40$. Thanks

[Geraint]

Dear Joe.

 

Yes, this is a real Japanese tanto. It is in shirasaya, the usual way of keeping a blade when it is out of it's mounts.  It is  signed Soshu ju Masahiro which is a well known name.  However many forgeries exist in that a blade by someone else might well have a famous name added.  Soshu swords are highly prized and yours has seen the passing of some years judging by the very much reduced shape just above the nakago or tang.  It might easily be several hundred years old.  You can compare it to another example here and note the differences. http://sanmei.com/contents/media/A24639_W3214C_PUP_E.html

 

Do nothing to this at the moment except a little light oil and don't clean anything.

 

For what you paid this was an absolute bargain and it might be your introduction to the wonderful world of Japanese swords.  Congratulations!

 

All the best.

 

 

 

 

[Fuuten]

Well said Geraint.

 

Welcome Joe!

[Be joe]

Thank you Geraint and Fuuten. I really am not familiar with swords. Geraint I read the link you sent me but it seems a bit past my pay grade of understanding. I would like to say I understand the terminology but I just do not. I also purchased a wooden figurine, mystical, on a string with a wooden stick figure maybe looks like a monkey. Can I post it here?

[Rivkin]

Hi Joe,

 

I will be the voice of .... (bad things) by stating that the signature might be false. The nakago is atypical for the school, so is almost everything about the writing.

However, it looks like a genuine late Muromachi period blade which might as well have Soshu like hamon. Not much is seen on such photographs, but there are a few reasonable possibilities regarding the school.

Is habaki a wood integral to the tsuka?

Some people believe this tends to correspond to higher end, often Muromachi though blades.

 

Kirill

[Geraint]

Dear Joe.

 

Don't worry, it's all a bit confusing to start with and we often forget what that feels like.  Your blade is a tanto, a blade of less than 30cms from the tip,(kissaki), to the notch on the back where the habaki, (blade collar), sits.  It is in a form called hira zukuri which means that the sides are almost flat, usually Japanese swords have a shinogi, a ridge line running along the blade on both sides.  The tang, (nakago), has a signature, (mei,) which reads, Soshu no ju Mashiro, that means Masahiro, (the smith's name) living in Soshu, (the name of an area in Japan).

 

The blade is in shirasaya, (plain wooden mounts), and has an integral habaki, (we know that one now).  Most swords have a separate metal habaki.  Kirill mentions a Soshu like hamon, that's the pattern of the hardened edge which you can see clearly on the one in the link.  Swords are a bit like wine, they have regional variations and each maker adds their own flavour to the work

 

He also points out that the mei, is quite possibly a forgery.  This is known as gimei and is much more common than we would all like.  Many people only collect swords in traditional Japanese polish with certificates of authentication.  You have a way to go before we start getting into that but as Kirill also suggests the shape and size of your sword indicates that it might have been made sometime around 1550 to 1600.

 

Go slow, enjoy the journey and keep looking!

 

All the best.

 

 

[PietroParis]

19 hours ago, Be joe said:

I also purchased a wooden figurine, mystical, on a string with a wooden stick figure maybe looks like a monkey. Can I post it here?

 

You can post your figurine (maybe a netsuke?) in the section "Other Japanese Arts"

[Be joe]

I am just not seeing where I can post in “other Japanese arts” on this site. I think it is a smokers box?  Everyone on this forum is so kink. Thank you!

[Bruce Pennington]

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/83-other-Japanese-arts/