Please help identify nihonto

[Hex0811]

Dad passed last September and we found this sword while cleaning out parts of his closet. My mom knows he had it when they first met, mid-1970'd but no idea where he got it. I do not have the tsuka. Blade is magnetic and very sharp, with quite a few nicks in the blade. There are engravings on the tang, the small dagger and the kojiri. Someone on reddit says the tang inscription is from Etchu No Kami Kanekuni, but it looks much sloppier than other Kanekuni mei I have see online. 

 

Wondering if someone here can let me know if this is worth seeking professional authentication or is this a gift shop trinket. 

 

[Ray Singer]

Comment removed, I overlooked that you had the translation. 

[Yumso]

Just my guess but from the way 守 is written, I think http://houjouji.web....shinkan_kanekuni.htm is bit similiar.
 

[George KN]

1 hour ago, Hex0811 said:

or is this a gift shop trinket

To me this looks like a genuine nihonto in genuine fittings. It also looks like under that surface rust you'd have a really nice hamon. Sadly I can't comment on the authenticity of the signature since I'm still learning about that side of things myself, but I can't see anything here that worries me about the age and manufacturing of the sword.

 

Of course better and more pictures are always welcome (such as what the blade looks like without its habaki, and at the very tip and very end), but if I saw this in an online auction with the current pictures, I'd definitely be bidding  

 

Since this is your first post (welcome to the forum), I don't know how much you know about nihonto, but please don't try cleaning the rust off the blade yourself, and never clean the tang - you would destroy any value the sword has. 

[Franco D]

1 hour ago, Hex0811 said:

Blade is magnetic and very sharp, with quite a few nicks in the blade.

 

Please take the time to search this forum for threads on proper sword care. Nicks in the ha are not uncommon as many of these swords fall into hands of those that believe that a chopping motion is equivalent to a cutting motion.

 

1 hour ago, Hex0811 said:

Someone on reddit says the tang inscription is from Etchu No Kami Kanekuni, but it looks much sloppier than other Kanekuni mei I have see online. 

 

When it comes to nihonto, the sword confirms the mei and not the other way around. Outside of book homework and seeking opinions,  submitting a sword to shinsa is the way to verify and confirm/certify the signature. There are shinsa held in the U.S. and almost certainly you'll see information and announcements posted on the NMB. 

 

2 hours ago, Hex0811 said:

the small dagger 

 

The dagger itself is called a ko-gatana. Its handle is called a kozuka. With better images you may get a translation of the other engravings. 

 

[Hex0811]

28 minutes ago, Ghoul said:

To me this looks like a genuine nihonto in genuine fittings. It also looks like under that surface rust you'd have a really nice hamon. Sadly I can't comment on the authenticity of the signature since I'm still learning about that side of things myself, but I can't see anything here that worries me about the age and manufacturing of the sword.

 

Of course better and more pictures are always welcome (such as what the blade looks like without its habaki, and at the very tip and very end), but if I saw this in an online auction with the current pictures, I'd definitely be bidding  

 

Since this is your first post (welcome to the forum), I don't know how much you know about nihonto, but please don't try cleaning the rust off the blade yourself, and never clean the tang - you would destroy any value the sword has. 

Thank you!

 

I get nervous about doing any cleaning to something that may have age or value. What is the best way to clean the blade? 

 

Here are some pictures of the tip and the blade under the habiki

 

[Hex0811]

[Hex0811]

other side of the tip

 

[Hex0811]

10 minutes ago, Franco D said:

 

Please take the time to search this forum for threads on proper sword care. Nicks in the ha are not uncommon as many of these swords fall into hands of those that believe that a chopping motion is equivalent to a cutting motion.

 

 

When it comes to nihonto, the sword confirms the mei and not the other way around. Outside of book homework and seeking opinions,  submitting a sword to shinsa is the way to verify and confirm/certify the signature. There are shinsa held in the U.S. and almost certainly you'll see information and announcements posted on the NMB. 

 

 

The dagger itself is called a ko-gatana. Its handle is called a kozuka. With better images you may get a translation of the other engravings. 

 

Thank you very much for the info. I will do some searching through the threads on here for proper sword care and try to get this cleaned up. Once done, i will get some better pics of the Ko-gatana for a translation 

[Franco D]

https://www.jssus.org/ ... see articles > sword care

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/search/?q=oiling&quick=1

[Hex0811]

1 hour ago, Ghoul said:

please don't try cleaning the rust off the blade yourself

I just re-read your post and caught this important note. I think leaving this to someone who knows what they're doing would make me feel a lot better. Thank you

[George KN]

Thanks for the extra pics! I'm even happier now that it is genuine - but someone has given this sword quite a beating.

 

2 hours ago, Hex0811 said:

I think leaving this to someone who knows what they're doing would make me feel a lot better

110% - I've tried cleaning some things myself (never a sword though!) and paid the price for it later. With the chips and quantity of rust this would need to go to a professional that specializes in nihonto for a full polish. This is expensive, but may be worth it depending on the quality of the blade (others may be able to comment on this more than I can).

Also just to add another link to the pile, I've always found the Japanese Sword Index site very useful: https://japaneseswordindex.com/care.htm