Brian

https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/emura.htm

Grev, Not sure who got it, but I run FB groups too, and unfortunately an "I'm interested" will always take a back seat to a firm "I'll take it" As a seller, the first person to commit will get it. Unless if course the seller allows you to say "I'm interested pending further info on xxx, please hold it for me" Just the way it goes, but someone got it, congrats.

And the members who so generously have submitted amazing articles to our downloads section. Too many of you to mention individually.

I honestly think there is little doubt the mei is fake. It just isn't done in the way that mei are done. Can't decide on the rest of the blade though. But the mei seems added for sure.

Impressive work (actually incredible!) as we would expect from Jussi. And so extremely generous...also as we would expect from this member. You're a star Jussi, thanks so much. Do you mind if I add it to the downloads section with the appropriate credit?

I'm with Malcolm that this saya was once covered by a leather combat cover and taken to war.

Karen, Short reply as I am a bit hectic. But the story is that towards the end of the Samurai era, when swords were banned, lots of makers were out of work. So they turned their sword fitting crafts to Western products. Using traditional kozuka like this, they sold to the export market who fitted cutlery to them, as Japanese goods were in fashion. Some dealers also bought up vast quantities of fittings, and remounted them with cutlery blades, for sale to the wide markets overseas. Yu find all sorts of quality in these products, but they are legitimate antiques and sometimes sold in sets of 12. This is a typical and nice example, and there is a market for them. Late Meiji period Japanese kozuka-handled French knife. Not top quality, but a nice one. Search Google images for "kozuka handled cutlery" for lots of examples.

I think the ladies and most of us men may have an issue with you there. Celluloid

Thank you Rayhan, I appreciate your input. I think that concludes this entire distasteful meander conclusively.

I suggest you research Heian swords. You will see there is not a single remote resemblance to this thing. You don't even have to ask us, just look at how they were made, what they looked like. What the fittings looked like...consistently. We don't need to tell you any of this. You can see it for yourself. You won't find a single sword in the evolution of Nihonto even close to this. Not one thing. You have some of the world's experts here on the forum. Which you seem to be ignoring. You have people here involved in the society you are talking about. You have authors here, museum curators, very high end collections. People who visit Japan multiple times a year to study Japanese swords. Not a single one will give even one tiny vouch for this. Or even contact you privately to find out anything. The NBTHK won't respond. This will be a joke to them.

You realize that Japanese swords have NEVER been made by layering? Never in the history of Japanese swords were there ever layers....never mind the fact that you can never, ever, work out how many times a sword was folded. That ONE single comment proves this is fake. Layering is a fake idea that people who know nothing about Nihonto use as a term because they do not know how these swords are made. The folding is used to remove impurities, and the steel is worked to remove these and incorporate the metal. You don't get layers, especially ones that can be measured. Hada is very, very different to layering. Oxford certainly does age tests, for their own research. They do not, and never have...done it for external items and then issue certificates. Call them yourself. Your certificates are fake, your item is fake. And there never was...ever....any "golden eel" Does not exist, never did. It's a term used for one of the life stages of a current (very much thriving) eel life stage. At this point someone needs to tell you to wake up!

I seem to remember waaaaay back...maybe 10+ years when something like this came up here...possibly the same item. Was being valued in the East Bloc for millions and was a clear fake. There was a group/syndicate behind it....some elaborate company using auction house to legitimize it. It was a total fake item. Wonder if it was the same. You can say what you like and argue as much as you want, and insult as much as you want, there is not ONE person on this entire forum or in Japan who will even give this 1 minute of their time. It is so far from reality that it is just absurd. Have to go find that other thread from way back, almost the exact same story and fake "certificates" on something that doesn't resemble any Japanese sword that ever existed. It's not even like there is plausible doubt here. It is so obvious as to be absurd.

I suspect both certificates are completely fake, and had nothing to do with either organization. In fact, neither template exists for either of these organizations, and the wording is just bizarre. Plus all the Japanese fonts mixed in with English. High level fakery here.

Afraid there is not one single thing here that bears any relation to a Japanese sword even remotely. It is so far out of real as to be comical. Nothing intended as criticism, but they are insane if they came to that conclusion and I would question their testing methods or even their basic knowledge. It does not have even the slightest chance of being anything real. I don't even see anything Chinese archaic there.

Why are we generalizing about dealers in a question about one? Just disrespectful. Please start a new topic if you want to generalize.