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  2. Thanks alot Brian, I’ll definitely do that. I’ve just found this one of Masahide’s from 1806. Same year as mine and the design and horimono style looks extremely similar to mine( thick carvings) https://www.bonhams....masahide-dated-1806/
  3. Because you are in Oz, the easy answer would be to send it to Andrew Ickeringill for an opinion. He'll tell you whether it's a genuine work of Masahide or not. Great guy too. https://touken-togishi.com/
  4. Today
  5. I completely agree with Brian @Brian on this. Well, done Tom @Toryu2020 and congratulations to the NBTHK/AB and the Northern California Japanese Sword Club (NCJSC) for joining forces as Japanese sword educational organizations.
  6. At this point, I can't really see any good reason to ascribe their inception in Eastern Japan. The name "mogami" is a much later attribution, with even an armor order from the Takeda in the early 1570's referring to them as Okegaha-dou. And when we see Eastern styles of dou show up, they immediately go their own direction with it, rivetting the plates together ala Kanto Go-mai, or combining into one large plate as in the Yukinoshita-dou. We also don't see much evidence of Eastern armor production before these show up outside of a few extant kabuto. Yet there is a wealth of Mogami-dou from Western Japan and the Kansai in particular. One of the things I've tried to illustrate with these forum posts is the dangers of using modern terminology that has developed over the last few centuries when trying to study Pre-Edo armor; I think the conundrum here is associating the name Mogami with Mogami Yoshiaki, but like I said, I don't think we actually see this name associated with this type of dou in this era. Further, mogami might also just mean "best", as in the literal meaning of the word. Just food for thought.
  7. This sword was made by Masahide in 1785. It was made 21 years before your Masahide was made. Ref. 刀 銘 水心子正秀 天明五年二月日彫同作/ホームメイト (touken-world.jp)
  8. ............................................... and 吉日 (Kitchi-jitsu, an auspicious day)
  9. Alex, thank you for the ideas. I was not planning to post a pic, but seeing your post above just now, here is sneak preview on how it's going! Photo will appear magically Here... No? Well then, here:
  10. Piers, no expert Though you can buy coloured dyes/pigment that you add to a finish. I bought some and they mixed really well with linseed oil. Used them on my cannon, tested on some old pine first. You could match to your existing cannon I think your doing a great job.
  11. The marks on the habaki are, as mentioned by John, certainly vise marks, made by the unprotected jaws of a vise. Possibly, someone has had it in a vise and perhaps hammered the tsuba to free the tsuka at some point.
  12. Brief addition… 濃刕 (Nōshū) 初夏 (early summer)
  13. That would be incorrect. You don't see horimono from good smiths really changing over time. Just didn't happen that way. Also, the ones in the pics shown are by no means cruder, just poorly represented. They are top class work, with fine detail and overlapping scales. Light years above the ones we see on your sword. I can't comment on the mei, but I'd be surprised if that horimono was done by him. Takes viewing lots of good works be to be able to spot the differences. The marks on the habaki are damage, not intentional. Not a big deal.
  14. I think it's Kanemichi, dated Heisei 20 (2008). But wait for one of the translators to be sure. John C
  15. I could be wrong here, however if those same dots are on the other side I would be thinking a vise. I've seen that before on habaki when the blade was stuck. But as I said, I could be wrong and maybe it's just a design that wasn't completed. Another possibility are punches like on a tsuba nakago-ana to tighten it up on the blade. John C.
  16. Haha yeah sorry my name is Matt. Awesome. Thanks so much for these. They look less refined like the ones on my sword. Most swords I have seen online from the early 1800’s look less detailed and refined than more recently made ones. I’m not taking anything away from the earlier swordsmiths, but would I be right in assuming the technology and process of the engraving may have evolved over time?
  17. Hello Footslime Here is another one. Bunka 3 (1806) https://www.touken-s...6/K-masahide-02.html
  18. Footslime - is there something better we should call you? Here is a genuine signature and carving - 1806 and 1807 respectively. Hope this helps…
  19. Silence is Golden! Day by day the cheese matures. No rushing this process.
  20. Thanks so much for all your info Brian. Really appreciate it. I’ve uploaded some more photos of parts of the sword until I can get back to clean the blade and take better photos. Would you know what those small engraved dots on the habaki mean? They were some engraved on the other side as well but I didn’t get photos of that. Thanks again
  21. If truly found with a downed Japanese pilot, it may have been the proverbial "kamikaze tanto" and mounted something like this, rosewood with bone fittings. The theory was that Kamikaze pilots were supposed to perform ritual seppuku as they crashed their planes into US ships. It would be amazing if any of them actually managed this feat, as there was a lot going on at the time.
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