Information in samouraï sword

[Pat5353]

Good morning,
          I am new to this site which I discovered by chance because I bought a Japanese sword in a clearance sale and I know very little in this area but I have always wanted to own one of these swords that I found fascinating in terms of history and its great samurai who possessed these swords with honor and dignity. I am sending you some photos a strange thing there are several incrustations of gold powder on several of the scabbard and on the tsunami and note that the self is signed and the tsunami too and I have the impression that on the scabbard a story is written there. Thank you for your help if you have any information.

[nulldevice]

Welcome to the site! 
 

Your sword appears to be in tachi mountings worn with the cutting edge facing down. I don’t know much about mountings but they look older and I’m sure some people here can tell you more about them.

 

As for the blade, a few things look off to me. The lines are all rounded over and not as crisp as they should be. The ridge (shinogi), tip (yokote) and some other parts of the geometry look rounded and incorrect. Almost like someone rounded and softened all of the edges that should be very crisp and clean on a traditionally made Japanese sword.

 

The other things that concern me are the condition of the tang (nakago) which has very rough file marks inconsistent with the work of traditional Japanese swords and the grain of the blade steel (hada) which looks more like a modern Damascus type pattern than a traditional grain pattern seen in Japanese swords. I’ll defer to other peoples opinions on this for confirmation but maybe it’s the poor polish, but it looks unlike the blades in and out of polish that I’ve personally seen. 

 

More pictures of the entire blade bare blade to show the geometry and a picture of just the tang zoomed out a bit more to show the entire signature, mounting holes, and butt of the sword are welcome in making a better declaration but this blade looks off to me with the pictures provided. I’m still new so I’m open to being corrected if I’m wrong. 

[GeorgeLuucas]

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,  but this sword is not a genuine Japanese sword. 

Unfortunately, It is likely a Chinese fake. 
http://www.jssus.org...japanese_swords.html

Sincerely, 

-Sam 
 

[PNSSHOGUN]

+1 to poor chinese fake.

[ChrisW]

Agreed. A poorly rendered fake.

 

Hopefully not too much was spent on it. This site has a lot of available resources for you to study. And when you're ready, reputable sellers who can hook you up with a genuine article.

Stick around and move past this initial stumble!

[Matsunoki]

Agree 100% fake.

[Brian]

Very obvious and clear Chinese fake.

[Lewis B]

OP how was the sword advertised? If it was described as a Japanese Nihonto and you paid with a credit card, initiate a charge dispute and return it. If paid for with cash please use it as a learning experience and spend a few months understanding the finer details of nihonto before considering another blade. 

[ROKUJURO]

The signature on the tang would read as YAMAGAWA ICHIRO, but there is no swordsmith with that name.

[Bugyotsuji]

You have to start somewhere, and your heart is in the right place. The first rung of the ladder! 

[Pat5353]

Thank you very much for your response. Unfortunately we cannot win every time, next time I plan to buy a real sword with certificate of authenticity and invest from $7000 to $8000 and I will show you before or after the purchase. If you have any suggestions on where to buy this type of sword to be sure that it is authentic 

[Pat5353]

[Pat5353]

[Bugyotsuji]

'Authentic' to what? Koto, Shinto, Shinshinto? Showa? Gendai?

The first is in modern mounts, so are you interested in 20th century, possibly military swords?

 

The second is a katana blade with no koshirae saying Sukesada. There were many Sukesada over several hundred years. The paperwork is the old blue-green type which holds like value today, and the photo is too blurred to see any detail anyway.