Lee Bray

Appears to have no seppa so the fitting and originality of the tsuka has to be questioned. Aside from that, nowt much else to see but can't really go wrong for 100 euros.

Roger's response is at the top of this page.

I have a papered Sue-Mihara wakizashi and it is, frankly put, very boring. Hada is bland and the hamon is lifeless. Absolutely no activity in it whatsoever. Far, far removed from the Ko-Mihara pieces one sees. You could do much better for that money.

From what I can see, probably home restoration again, although reasonably well done. I'd imagine katate-maki is slightly easier to do and look good just because there are less diamonds.

The shape is a strong clue, it's more than likely Kanbun period. That correlates with the translation of the attribution on the tang. In that condition, it's probably all you have to go on. Kissaki looks shortened and poorly formed, shinogi is wavy and rounded off, saya looks somewhat crude - kurikata is not straight, koiguchi does not flow with the saya body and looks like lacquer soaked hessian. Would seem to be a homemade restoration, unfortunately.

Many thanks to Moriyama-san, Steve, et al. I've passed on the info to the owner. I've also asked him if he wishes to pay for a Sesko translation but for that I assume I'll have to visit him and get some decent shots of the nakago, which I'll post here if it happens. Thanks again.

Etched or stamped, difficult to say for certain with the pic but I'm curious as to why you think it is Chinese? Kissaki is properly shaped and defined and the kuri-jiri is properly shaped. It also appears to be machi-okuri, which I've never seen with fakes. FB has also dropped it in the fake box based on the arabic numerals and stamped characters, but a look through the arsenal stamps topic in militaria shows all are possible. Ignoring the unusual nakago markings, the sword itself, shapewise, is legit. Since it was found in '66, that would make it one of the very first fakes to be made, if they had even started back then, so it seems the fakers are going backwards with their sugata.

Meaning this sword or the stamped mei? I'm confused...

A friend in Hong Kong owns this unusual Showa-to. It was found in the basement of the Salisbury building by the owner in 1966. I mention that just because the building is around the corner from the Peninsula hotel, which was the Japanese military HQ during their occupation of HK in WW2. It has an unusual mei, possibly stamped Soshu script? It also has three, seemingly defaced arsenal stamps and the numbers 258. I have no clue as to what it says so looking for translation help, please.

The seam is central on the ura because of the emperor node placement being central on the omote. As that node is central on the skin, I assume it's easier to measure and a more economical way of using the skin. It also means there is a solid piece of same over the seam in the wooden core which would make for a more solid handle. I've also read(where, I can't recall) that the seam is put on the side so the user/owner can tell it is a full wrap of same, though obviously a panel can be cut in two and the seam faked. I've got an old tsuka(wakizashi) that has 3 pieces of same, omote is one piece with nice emperor nodes and ura is two pieces, joined in the centre but also joined mune and ha, negating the added strength of the full wrap but simulating it. But I suppose it's purely speculative to assume a full wrap makes a tsuka stronger; likely it does but is it over engineered? I don't know.

Probably just economics throughout the ages. My 1940's Sadaroku Gendaito had a full same wrap prior to it being restored with period menuki and new ito.

Technique is called Uchidashi. As Geraint says, the piece is originally punched from the back to give height to the elements on the front, then the front is worked to give detail. No moulds are used. Here's a video of the technique by the man himself, Ford Hallam.

Seems Hans Koga has used this apparent book as a scam. Paul Martin's page - https://www.facebook.com/The.Japanese.Sword/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARAIWFEVRNzY8BPXcdiCVf8ogJr__M6oo8Blr_Ktd1LcYiZLuZiUiOrPyEWHtotdzaZmwow8tIp9lTVt&hc_ref=ARSGqcU46uACoBszNulDiNr2da2uIQNz2dIYcGCzJm_7_lhxPc1_EQHe8JWss09nrlc&fref=nf A translated post from Izumi Koushiro - From now on, we would like to particularly warn international sword enthusiasts to please be careful of the Swedish person who goes by the name of Hansuke (Hans) Koga (Real Name Hans Igelstrom) who currently works as a Tsukamaki (handle wrapper) in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. He appears to have studied a little, but is not a fully fledged craftsman. However, because he can speak English, he seems to get some requests for work (from overseas). When he appeared on (Japanese) TV last year, he claimed that he was the only person who could do Higo Koshirae (mountings). As you would expect, the local craftsmen complained to the TV station, and the program was stopped from being rebroadcast. First of all, Mr. Koga was looking after about ten swords of an acquaintance of mine, but he sold two of the best ones out of them without permission and has not returned the money. That is a crime. Since last year, the victims (my acquaintance) appointed me as an agent to pursue Mr. Koga. I consulted with a lawyer, but even if we filed a lawsuit in a civil trial and Mr. Koga did not have the ability to pay the money, it just costs more money such as lawyer fees. As there has been no attempts by Mr. Koga to pay money back, my acquaintance is trying to make his case. Furthermore, Koga Hansuke recently wrote and published a book. He has received payments from customers but has not sent the books. This is a complete scam. Mr. Koga was renting a workplace in a private village run by Tamana City in Kumamoto, but he stopped renting there at the end of March (2020). It turns out that he was only renting the space at the Folk Village, the problem was that they allowed it without properly vetting Mr. Koga. I realize that the person in charge understands that non-Japanese who live in places like the private folk villages will also become a kind of advertisement/attraction. However, I would like to ask those who lend without checking carefully to reflect a little on their actions . In any case, we will pursue Koga Hansuke to stop using Japanese traditional crafts as a cover. This is a notice for Japanese and International swords enthusiasts to be careful. Koushiro Izumi Trustee: Nihonto Bunka Shinko Kyokai (NBSK)

First one suggests Hirata Hikozo in style but work suggests school work or later utsushi. Second, I agree with Peter that it looks like Umetada Myoju but again, while this work appears well done, it's not as bold or well executed as Myoju, so would have to plumb for school work or later ustsushi. Both very nice though and I'm also a fan of copper or brass tsuba.

With Daruma being there, it's likely they are omamori which are small amulets dedicated to Buddhism and Shinto kami.