I notice alot of horimono on Osaka Shinto and Osaka Shinshinto swords (especially dragons around ken). Is there any reason for this?

Perhaps it is part of the Osaka preference for things "hade"....

"hade" :- showiness; flashiness; gaudiness

Brian

Justin, my wife & I just returned from visiting the Bizen-Osafune Sword Museum, not far from Osaka, & all of their exhibits showed a dragon theme. So it's obviously not just Shinto & Shinshinto blades, as all the modern tosho in the exhibit had the same theme.

Ken

Thanks for this information.

I don't know much about horimono. Are most of them done by swordsmiths or by dedicated craftsman who specialize in such carving? Is there any way to tell the difference?

Dragon represents wisdom. Ken represents, wisdom that cuts through ignorance. together they probably mean enlightenment.

I have heard that swordsmith's horimono are deeper and not as refined/delicate as professional horimono engravers. Is this correct?

The dragon wrapped around a Ken is called Kurikara 倶利伽羅 or Kenmakiryū 剣巻龍, and is a manifestation of Fudō Myōō 不動明王, the Buddhist Wisdom King. It has its origins in a contest between Fudō and a non-Buddhist heretic in the course of which he transformed himself into a dragon, and threatened to devour the sword into which the heretic had changed himself.

Horimono can be either cut by the smith or done by a specialist. There are some smiths that are well known for their masterful carving but by and large, most smiths do not have the technical ability to do more than simple bo-hi and the like. There are specialists working today that can do elaborate horimono but they can cost as much or more that the blade itself. There are also cheap, poorly done horimono that are usually done to hide flaws in the blade or tart up an otherwise low class sword to sell to those without an eye for quality. These are often seen on WWII era factory blades.