Changes in mei.

[Matt D]

How common is it for a swordsmith’s mei to change over the course of his career? I ask because I came across nakago photos of two different swords, done by the same modern swordsmith, with mei that look quite different. One of the swords is an earlier work.

[Ray Singer]

It is very common for signatures to change over the course of a swordsmith's career. However the immediate flag there is that the inscriptions of many famous modern swordsmiths are being faked. You see this all the time from certain sellers on eBay who put inexpensive fake shinsakuto up for sale which often have the mei of mukansa and other well known gendai artists. This is really the case of a picture being worth a thousand words. I would suggest that you post photos of the sword that you're evaluating for feedback from the group.

[Matt D]

Here’s a shot of the nakago of both swords which were made by Kunihira Kawachi. Both of these swords were on reputable sales sites. I don’t have any reason to believe anything fishy is going on. Nevertheless, the mei seem different.

[Matt D]

As I understand it, Kawachi Kunihira studied under a second master in the mid-eighties. Perhaps his mei changed after that. Any thoughts?