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Hello all, I’m pleased to share something that I’ve gave a lot of effort to get. It’s a special order Naokatsu Wakizashi. Although the name is inscribed, I don’t want to give so much information about the person who ordered it as my research is still going on. All fittings are made and signed by 7th gen Goto Seijo, and whole set is original to the blade(possibly sageo as well), bearing the name of the same individual - been preserved in perfect condition for exactly 172 years. I’m not sharing detailed images of the blade yet, as it needs to be photographed in a better setup. And at present, it is not for sale. Hope you enjoy it.

With a heavy heart from a recent phone call from Minako Schiller, I wish to report that Guido has taken his leave from this plane of existence! Guido was an early and a long time member of NMB! From his posts, you will recall he was not shy and well... he called a Panzer ... a Panzer! As a career diplomat, he served the German Embassy as an Attache in several Asian countries. He greatly enjoyed his two postings at the embassy in Tokyo. This was certainly his sweet spot because he was very much at home in Japan. In all our years of associating in Japan, I cannot recall a time when we didn't imbibe when meeting. any occasion was an opportunity or an excuse for a Kampai! We had no illusions of grandeur... it was either beer or nihonshu... or beer then nihonshu. We traveled a lot together domestically but only once internationally when we ventured over to Macao! Suspicious minds out there... I know what you are thinking! No, it was not to gamble! We had been invited to attend the gala events for the opening of the History of Steel in Asia Exhibition at the newly opened Macao Art Museum (MAM). Guido, Roger Robertshaw, and I were honored guests for we contributed the entire display of Japanese swords, tsuba, and armor for the three month exhibition. All our items from Japan were shipped through the Embassy diplomatic channel. Edged weapons from seven Asian countries were on display as the Chinese government made their pitch to demonstrate the historical importance of their homeland in the development of edged weapons. Guido was an avid collector! When he was stationed in New York at the United Nations, he collected some fine Civil War firearms including a nice Sharps rifle, a Henry rifle, and several cap and ball revolvers. While in Jakarta, he put together a collection of Kris blades, and in Japan he was in Nihonto heaven and he developed a netsuke collection as well. In mid 2021, during Covid, Guido was recalled to Germany to take his final posting for his remaining two years prior to retirement. To this end, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Her Excellency Ina Lepel sent out a limited number of invitations for the farewell dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Schiller held on May 17 at 7 p.m. at her residence. During this solemn period of emergency pandemic privation, on the day in question, my wife and I made our way to the German Embassy to determine if there really was cause for celebration and if the rumors were true. In fact, Her Excellency Ambassador Ina Lepel, had indeed made great arrangements to send Guido and Minako Schiller back to Germany. It had not been determined if this action resulted from an infraction or if it were a benevolent gesture. It was entirely possible that Attache Schiller had been doing good work and this reassignment was, in fact, a reward. Yet, was it a reward to send a man home to sausage and sauerkraut after years of eating Tokyo’s finest sashimi and raw oysters? Is it even possible to willingly give up the range of heavenly sake found in Japan? What hypnotic spell could shots of Apfelkorn or Rumpel Minze Schnapps have over the infinite variety of locally brewed sake? To this day, these questions remain unanswered… unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions to compete with Guido's speculation on the missing Masamune sword. Like a Teutonic knight, loyal to the order, Herr Schiller was indeed packaged up and moved to his ancestral home. Unfortunately, the final stage of Guido's employment was not completed. He suffered a massive stroke and fell into a coma from which he never recovered. He remained in this state until October 10th, 2025. He is now only with us in our memories of his deeds, a man who served his country well as he rose to officer level in the army and then entered diplomatic service. Of greater importance was his service to his family, to his wife Minako and his daughter Hana. Sadly, Guido never got the opportunity to play with his new granddaughter. Guido is greatly missed... by me... his drinking buddy... I mourn this loss!

Our dear friend Krystian posted the tsuba on Facebook. It's exactly my taste. Teruaki/Hideaki with Kao. Just a side note. My resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental. I would never claim that the pig resembles anyone.

I am just on my phone so away from references but the signature would seem to be 備州住助家 / 永仁六年 Bishū jū Sukeie / Einin 6th year (1298) The rarer form of 州 used but I cant easily find that kanji on my phone.

I believe it is Nakajima Masayasu

Here's a nice one from Ikedaart,doesn't say how much it sold for but interestingly is signed katana mei,also shows the Emura elongated kissaki whicj I think makes them look sharper and more elegant. charles.

Quite the rig all the way around. Right down to the sageo AND the shirasaya. I was going to praise the shirasaya before I even before I saw the stamp. Maybe the horn has been restored, but the same is exceptional quality. That is all around a 'flex' piece, quietly very strong all around. Beautiful looking blade too. It was made for quiet lion "umph" musculature when original, and looks so well maintained that it now has an old old lion beauty to it. I don't even know what material was used for under the saya lacquer. Interesting. @Okan Please take careful care of that one. Exceptional condition from head to toe. Wow. Definitely deserves to be on display with the right curator.

MITSU KE? Just an assembly mark, as mentioned before.

Hi Trevor, I see little to be excited about here. At $120 you did fine, unless you get the tsuka wrapped and all that, in which case you're likely too deep into it to ever get your money back. I wouldn't spend another cent unless someone knowledgeable and honest sees it in hand and advises otherwise, but I wouldn't expect that to happen. My advise is to turn a quick buck and look for better to collect. Grrey

My condolences to family and friends. I remember 20+ years ago as a young kid when I sent him a first private message at Sword Forum International, bit nervous but I was so happy that he replied. He was kind to help people with various topics and could scale his explanations so that discussion was possible with everyone.

I much appreciate the enthusiastic response. I am still sifting through my PMs apologies if I can't respond in a timely fashion. Most of these swords are just not bad enough to qualify! It's for education with beginners. The best way to learn is side-by-side comparison.

Yes, that is Ted in the second photo. So sad the the three great people in the right in your first photo are now gone.

That is false. While Inazō Nitobe’s Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1899) popularized the term in the West and reframed it as a moral philosophy, the word bushidō itself long predates him. It appears, for instance, in the Kōyō Gunkan (c. 1616) and in writings by Yamaga Sokō and Daidōji Yūzan, where it already referred to the “proper way or path of the warrior”. So, it can be said that Edo-period samurai were familiar with both the term and the ethical ideals it denoted…though I can concede that its meaning evolved over time. However, Nitobe certainly did not invent the concept bushidō; he reinterpreted an existing Japanese concept for a Western audience within a Meiji-era, Christian-humanist framework. Meanwhile, the groundwork for the formation of the concept of bushidō was done in Kamakura and Muromachi periods, its ethical substance was codified under terms like kyūba no michi and shidō, and is well-attested to in period texts and chronicles eg. Heike Monogatari (平家物語, early 13th c.), Taiheiki (太平記, 14th c.), Chikubashō (竹馬抄, 1383) etc.

My fondest memories of him are also on the yakatabune after the DTI. That is when his real character came out. He really enjoyed a party. I also have clips of him singing and entertaining us all. Here he is with 2.5 South Africans (because Ford lived in Cape Town for a while, we claim him just a little) And on the yakatabune...I think that's Ted Tenold with him.

Thanks for letting us know Bob and sorry for your loss, and the nihonto community’s loss. These last few years I had often thought about Guido, hoping through some miracle he might wake from his coma… not to be. Guido was someone I respected very much, he was highly intelligent, full of knowledge and insight, and willing to share it, he also had a very sharp wit and more often than not our conversations would end in belly-laughing. Many years ago, when I first set out to become a nihonto craftsman, there were very few people willing to help me, most would just dismiss me as a foolish foreigner, but not Guido. He offered to meet up with me in Tokyo, a complete stranger from the other side of the world, to discuss all things nihonto and nihon. Over the years, we corresponded quite a bit, and we would sometimes meet up at nihonto related events, where we could continue our running in-jokes with each other. He was a gentleman and a scholar... with a strong sugata!! May he rest in peace.

Something new..

I have moved this to Community News, because Guido was such an important part of the community. I'm really sorry to hear this Bob. No doubt all of us were expecting it for years now. He has been in a comatose state for so long, and I was told there was no chance of recovery, so for him I think it is probably best. But it's terrible news for all who knew him. Met him in Japan, and he was a real character. What a sense of humour! Guido was known to be blunt and to the point, which was an asset when teaching the finer aspects of collecting. But underneath that, he was a real knowledgeable guy who had a ton of info to share. And he knew how to party! A giant of a man, I'll miss him terribly. Condolences to all who knew him and his family. What a sad loss to us all. RIP Guido.

Last October I posted a thread about a Kamakura era tantō I found in Japan, signed Kunimitsu and dated 1308. The deal fell through at that time but in the interim months I kept thinking about it. Spurred on by the dealer stating he planned to have the Mei removed and blade polished before resubmitting to the NBTHK, I decided to redouble my efforts to acquire it. I just couldn’t let that fate befall it, especially as the NBTHK issued Horyu papers in 2018, so I found a way to complete the transaction and it's now in the possession of an intermediate. Fortunately the dealer hadn’t started the work. It was thanks to an investment in Markus’ Kotozen-HC that really spurred on my attention on this blade. I have no idea how this project will pan out but I think I’ve done enough groundwork to at least give it a chance. Here’s my story and a request for assistance. The Hunt Years ago while I was scouring the websites of Japanese retailers I came across a fairly obscure dealer. He has quite a large inventory but mostly lower to mid quality pieces often in poor state of preservation. Buried deep in tantō section was a blade that caught my attention. I made a mental note to revisit the listing later but forgot about it after a redundancy in 2021 and relocation to a different Continent. Then back in October last year I stumbled on the retailers webpage again and to my surprise the tantō was still listed. I should add this was also a consignment piece which the owner had inherited from his deceased father. The son was not a collector nor familiar with the swordsmith. In 2018 the dealer submitted the blade to the NBTHK but they couldn't come to a consensus and returned it with Horyu papers, and a request that further work was needed to authenticate the Mei. 2018/2019 Juyo Shinsa were a couple of those strange years at the NBTHK and I wonder if this contributed to the result for this blade. The dealer was unable to find the evidence that would advance its progress through Shinsa, so the blade remained in the shops inventory almost forgotten, and pushed further down the page. Horyu papers are quite unusual as the NBTHK gets no monetary return when these are issued. The good news though is that getting Horyu is not terminal, in that the Shinsa committee is not saying its gimei, just that there are differences to the usual Kunimitsu nijimei, to warrant additional research. Kunimitsu’s style of Mei is very unique and from what I can tell, consistent throughout his career. The Inconsistency The main 'problem' is the Kuni kanji. Instead of a vertical central line it's curved left to right although the reversal of the mirrored S and 3 parallel lines is consistent. How can this be explained? Fortunately this blade is dated 1308. At this stage the historical texts say Kunimitsu was at the end of his career and is believed to have died around 1312/13. His successor was his 2nd son Kunihiro. It was common practice for smiths of the period, at this stage of their careers, to focus on forging and give the honour of carving of horimono and signing the nakago (daimei) to the best apprentice, or in this case, the defacto successor, Kunihiro. As an aside Yukimitsu was likely the best candidate to take over the forge but he was not blood related and therefore ineligible. Markus states in his Swordsmiths list that all Kunimitsu's sons signed Kunimitsu after his death and that examples of daisaku exist. I have scoured the web looking for examples of Kunihiro's style when signing Kunimitsu and indeed have found several that slant in the normal way. There is no chronology for these signatures so his signing style around 1308 is unconfirmed. Kunihiro as well as Kunishige signed Kunimitsu in a couple of different ways, from 1317 on. Daimei-daisaku was not uncommon during this time and Darcy wrote an excellent essay comparing the 6 styles of signature for the early Rai school smiths. https://onihonto.com/archived-nihonto-ca-yuhindo-com-rai-kunitoshi/ There is a suggestion that the Midare-Kunimitsu, his only extant blade in the Soshu style, was in fact forged by Yukimitsu One of the main points I get from the article is that when an apprentice signed daimei the aim was not to precisely emulate the masters signature style, but to introduce slight variances to differentiate the author of the Mei. In this case Kunihiro added a normal slanted centre line in contrast to the master’s atypical vertical line, but maintained the unusual style of the mirrored S to the left and used a more standard style on the mitsu kanji, without the turn back stroke. The dealmaker If this was all I had to gone on I might have passed on the blade, but I fortuitously invested in Markus' kotozen publication and on pages 456-458 is what is best described as a dead ringer for my blade. The nagasa is almost identical, as is the motohaba, the style and positioning of the boshi is likewise similar. Shape of the nakago is the biggest difference but is consistent with other blades like the Aizu Kunimitsu. Another interesting feature is the characteristic Kunimitsu single sided Koshi-bi. Both blades have an almost identical Koshi-bi on the omote. I have measured the carvings using the munemachi as a reference point and they are almost identical in length. Fortunately the tantō in the book is also signed and dated by the Master himself, but 2 years earlier in 1306. Dated Kunimitsu blades are extremely rare and I only know of 4 including the one I found. It's conceivable that Kunihiro was designated heir-apparent within those 2 intervening years. A couple of blades are dated to the early 1320’s so likely Kunihiro signed Kunimitsu Mei as head of the workshop. One in particular has similar Shintogo jiba, is a shorter length so more characteristic of the father and shows yakikomi (perhaps a carryover blade from before Shintogo died?) What little of the hada that can be seen through the layers of oxidation look promising and that by itself makes it worth going through the various steps. It also has another kantei feature for Kunimitsu namely Yakikomi (absent in the 1306 blade and sometime only on one side) and is considered a sign of superior heat treatment executed by a Mastersmith, with the hardening extending into the nakago. This is something that Shintōgo Kunimitsu excelled at. It also has mitsumune another feature of early Soshuden and seemingly omnipresent on Shintōgo Kunimitsu tantō. Some style of Kuni kanji carved by Kunimitsu's apprentices/heirs A little more digging and I found a short video of the tantō from 1306, taken during an exhibition at the NBTHK last year: https://www.facebook.com/reel/416844547828291 Whats next and a request First thing I want to do is have Tanobe take a look at get his impressions, probably after a window has been opened. Then with a fresh, sympathetic polish I will have the blade resubmitted to the NBTHK. I have exhausted my references and online searches of styles of Kunimitsu Mei, but would be better to find more examples of daimei, daisaku Kunimitsu as mentioned by Markus. If anyone has examples shown in other references that would add support for a daimei attribution I would love to see them. All this information will be passed along for the Shinsa Committee to review to help them come to an informed conclusion. Is there any other supporting evidence I may have overlooked that would bolster the resubmission? Ultimately I think the quality of the jiba has to meet Shintogo Kunimitsu standard for it to be accepted. Did the 1306 blade appear after 2018? Any idea when it passed Shinsa and what papers it got? Goal I’m realistic that the tantō is not in the best shape having been subjected to many polishes over the years. But I will choose the most appropriate togishi to preserve what is left. My main goal is to have the blade attributed to Kunimitsu with daimei signature. If confirmed then this blade has important historical significance. It needs a tsuka, shirasaya and Tanobe sayagaki. There is also a page from an old book stuck to the saya which I would like to have translated. It mentions Masamune, Norishige and Kunimitsu but I’m unsure if there is a specific reference to this particular blade. The sun/moon habaki seems quite unusual too I'm looking forward to seeing where this leads and hope my gut feeling about this blade is justified. If anyone can provide any additional references I would be very grateful.

Dear follow collectors, I am trying to translate a mei from a hira zukuri tanto with a hitatsura hamon. If you can help on this one, I will appreciate a lot. For the swordsmith name, it seems to start by "BI" but is it Bizen ???? For the date, It starts with" EI" but I can't figure out the following kanji......

A scholarly article that some may find interesting. https://newvoices.org.au/volume-2/understanding-samurai-disloyalty/ John C. @Scogg Sam: should this be in some other category?

Superb. Thanks so much for sharing this. A real treat to see.

I agree that seeing the TH papers for this blade would go a long way into helping us determine the legitimacy of the appraisal, alongside determining whether the "Shintogo" element is official from the NBTHK or added by the dealer. Going into another direction, I don't believe the blade is feasible for Rai. Looking at a color photo I found of the DTI Shintogo tanto, We see a very tight ko-itame hada with what appears to be minimal burls of mokume and primarily what appears to be masame. The appearance is also generally "wet" like Kunimitsu's peers in the Awataguchi School. The koshi-hi on the tanto-ura also screams Awataguchi to me, since we see that style in some tanto by Kuniyoshi and Norikuni (daito too, but in this case, we are discussing tanto). Additionally, the mei is extremely atypical for Rai-mei, as has been discussed above. I agree with you, Michael, that blades of greater rarity are of more value to me, so this work generally piques my interest, especially as an item that requires more research. Whoever ends up with this work has their work cut out for them. All the best, Nicholas

Yes, one of the better pieces shown here recently. My guess is its coral

Hi guys, I’m having a bit of a hard time figuring this out — can anyone help me identify it?

Ahh I see, well thank you for the response. I suppose id like to know how old it is at the least. When I thought it was koto, thats what made me grab it for the price so if it ends up being somewhat modern I can sell for 240. I was offered that where I bought it.

Thank you, Axel. The koshirae doesn’t have papers, and to be honest, I haven’t decided yet whether it needs one. (It'll get tokubetsu %100) And yes, the stamp is on the bottom of the shirasaya — part of the ongoing research.

@gandindorf @robinalexander Relocated to translation assistance Best of luck, -Sam

Both are desirable attributions. Given that I personally prefer rarity, I would value the Awataguchi one more. But Shintogo is extremely highly rated and commercially a source of great profits for dealers. So if the TH certificate does not specify anything besides the signature, a dealer could insert their own interpretation that this is “Shintogo”. So, you either have a daimei work here or indeed you are veering towards Awataguchi / Rai. But one needs to explore “Mitsu” too as you have focused entirely on the “Kuni” above. Look at the direction of the horizontal strokes and the overall crown in “Mitsu”.

刕

My guess is Shinto, Mino.

Is this worth keeping? I paid $120 for it, was going to get the tsuka wrapped and all that.

While looking further into the question I posted above, I came across an Izumi City historical leaflet that describes the training of Uehara Masayoshi (shodai "Satsuma Masayoshi") as follows: “At first he studied swordsmithing in the Takada tradition (Ōita City). Next, he learned the Naminohira tradition (Kagoshima City) under either Yamato no Kami Yasuyuki or Yasuchika. Furthermore, in the first year of Kyōhō (1716), he 'entered the gate' of the famous Sōshū tradition swordsmith of Satsuma, Maruta Masafusa. He made all three traditions entirely his own.” 「はじめ高田伝（大分市）について刀鍛冶を習い、ついで波平伝（鹿児島市）を大和守安行または安周から学び、さらに享保元年（1716）には、薩摩の相州伝名刀匠丸田正房の門に入り、三伝ことごとく自分のものとした。」 This passage describes a three-stage apprenticeship beginning in the Takada-den of Bungo (Mino-influenced Kyūshū style), progressing to the Naminohira-den (Yamato-derived Satsuma style), and culminating with Satsuma Sōshū training under Maruta Masafusa (so, here's the synthesis of Mino, Yamato, and Sōshū influences!). The reference to early Takada-den training—which I haven’t seen anywhere else—suggests that the Bungo Takada school provided the shodai Masayoshi’s technical foundation prior to the Naminohira and Sōshū training that directly shaped his line’s late-Edo Satsuma work. On the Naminohira side, the sequence Maruta Izu no Kami Masafusa, 2nd gen ->Yamato no Kami Yasuyuki -> Yasukuni -> Yasuchika is standard; given Yasuchika’s period of activity (1704–1741), he looks to be the likelier Naminohira teacher for the shodai (the leaflet’s “Yasuyuki or Yasuchika” probably reflects chronology confusion). As for “entering the gate” of Maruta Masafusa, that can only refer to the 3rd-gen Maruta Sōzaemon Masafusa (1681–1716), not the Izu no Kami Masafusa (presumably 2nd-gen, 1658–1681) suggested in Sesko’s genealogy. I suspect common claim that ”Masayoshi” trained with Masachika applies to the nidai or perhaps sandai generations. The pathway appears to be from Maruta Sōzaemon Masafusa (1681–1716) -> Mondo no Shō Masakiyo (1664–1730) -> Masachika (dated blades 1735, 1743). I wonder if there’s any primary documentation supporting this link, which represents a second Masayoshi line connection to Maruta Sōzaemon Masafusa via Mondo no Shō Masakiyo and his son… This does seem to reconcile the confusing data I presented in my original post. I feel like I’ve either figured something out or fabricated a complete fiction. Problem is, I can’t tell which… Any insights, thoughts, or comments are welcome...

Not koto.

Now that's a find! Is the final picture with the stamp of the shirasaya? Very cool habaki too. Does it have papers? I'd think this would be a fine candidate for Hozon if not Tokubetsu Hozon.

Thank you so much for the incredibly kind offer. We sadly won’t be in the area we are on a direct flight from California.

Going by the condition of the Nakago and the Yasurime, my guess is 20c Seki.

Just a guess but it looks a bit like number 9 then hiragana KE or possibly Hiragana TA KE. John C.

Out of 114 souvenirs on file, I have found that 21 of them have sarute. I didn’t do an exact measure of the styles, but they seem to be evenly distributed between high-quality style, plain metal like a type 95, and cloth. No way to know if these were part of the original manufacturer or added later by collectors. Three of them had the all brown tassel.

Thank you, Rohan. That makes a lot more sense in the context of what Kanehide was trying to accomplish. John C.

It's referring to the claying techniques that result in steel that is うるおい (uruoi, also written 潤い) - it looks wet, or moist, due to the distribution of the ji-nie and hada catching the light and mimicking beads of water on a wet surface. It was, and is, a highly sought-after feature and kantei point for many high-class makers in Koto blades, and naturally something that more modern smiths worked hard to recreate.

From the DTI catalogue

Many knew Guido for his acerbic wit, potent intellectual bon mot and direct, trenchant delivery. He was a man of many talents as we can see from the photos above. I would like to share a different, lyrical side to the man, larger than life. He did say he would chase any of us using his special service contacts if any of this ever surfaced but I think this is an important tribute to the great Guido. Well, I have cut the two songs he performed to a short illustrative snippet as Brian will probably not like 300MB of the entire performance on his server. IMG_3212.mov

That is true, which why I want to see it after the mukansa sashikomi polish in hand, in Japan before making any decision. It is a sick piece without a doubt. It is done in soshu style and filled to the brim with hataraki - kinsuji and inazuma in the hamon, chikei with a whitish ji-nie covering the entire blade plus a pretty vivid nioguchi. Also nice that Kondô Hôji took the time to create a nicely detailed oshigata for it. Personally I love the sugata and boshi/kissaki on this one. In any case, even if it doesn't get submitted to Juyo, you guys will see some finished pics in Feb!

Catalogue

Thanks. Considering the first time I even held a Japanese sword was only a year ago I feel blessed and whatever the outcome, I'll have enjoyed the journey.

Hi Lewis, good luck with the process. I am looking forward to hearing the result of your submission either way. Transparently, I was in touch with the dealer regarding this sword as well. My gut feeling was that it was a legitimate Shintogo atelier piece, made as a daisaku daimei by one of his students. I have acquired two Shintogo in the rough in similar condition, both of which went on to pass shinsa and Tanobe-sensei evaluation (with sayagaki). The sugata on this one felt very right to me, but I could not come to an agreement with the seller and decided to let it go. I wish you the best in the process moving forward. Please keep us updated. Addendum: if you feel confident in the authenticity, the polisher Saito-san is the one I would recommend.

I recently acquired this tsuba by Ishiguro Teruaki, one of the last successors of the Ishiguro school and student of Ishiguro Masaaki. Mei says "Ichijuken Katō Teruaki (Hideaki) in the first month of Ansei three (1856), year of the dragon, on a shrine in Kanda." I have some high-end tsubas in my collection, but seeing this one in-person left me stunned. It's now my favorite tsuba and I've never owned any fitting of this level of craftsmanship so thought I would share: (First 2 photos under natural lighting, next 2 photos under a studio lamp). Some personal observations on the tsuba: -Every detail of the crane is crafted in meticulous detail. I get that whole Ishiguro school craft. I love how the feather end-tips flip up to give a sense of airiness and flow. -The waves have this incredible dimension and flow to them that carries to the ura side. -Crane and wave motif is very popular but I think this rendition is intended to focus on flow, perhaps wind. Happy holidays!

People probably want to hear some news ... I have the blade in Tokyo now and I am 100% sure that this is a late Heian / early Kamakura blade. The curve is great the nakago is perfect. I showed the blade at a dealer today and a Japanese collector was in there as well, when the nakago came out of the tsuka it got a couple of gasps because of the kijimomo shape. Japanese collector in particular smiled at me and remarked on it. The hamon is hard to make out in the current state but it's there. The shape is everything it should be and there is only one ubu blade by this smith and that blade is Juyo Bunkazai. The problem is that it is a bit thin now and polish will have to deal with the defects caused by rusting. I think the mei is legitimate and I don't see any reason to doubt it offhand. What's more the saya and tsuka are Tensho koshirae (Muromachi period) and worth fixing up and preserving. The menuki were lost and the fuchigashira were replaced in the Edo period and appear to be Yoshioka school and high quality. The tsuba is not high quality and my theory is that this blade was rushed into service, it had a nicer tsuba which was set aside when the owner went to war and a serviceable one put in place. Not enough time to redo the tsuka lead to the good one being used. Probably when it was taken back the menuki were removed and used as ornaments or cufflinks at some point, as they were probably something like goto shishi. I will show the blade to Tanobe sensei tomorrow. Since there is only one ubu blade by Ko-Ichimonji Munetada if this is confirmed it is a major discovery. It is just hope if it will polish out OK, about 40% of the hamon is visible and because of the rust defects it's a bit hard to know where there is choji and where it is wishful thinking. As Ko-Ichimonji it should be a ko-choji based hamon so will see more soon. It's nice to be involved and the board should be too, especially hats off to the owner for submitting it and Michael pounding the table, as the blade appears to be an important treasure. Even if it polishes out weak, you cannot take away an ubu early Kamakura nakago.