Brian

Not terrible condition, both genuine, and a nice wari kogai. I think you did well.

I'll ask everyone to calm down please, and have a little respect for each other. Many of us here are unaware of other members backgrounds or experience. Both Colin and Ron have significant experience in their fields, and I have learned a ton from both of you. I respect both opinions and experiences. Ron has some amazing tales of his early years, and some incredible stories of what it was like in the arms field way back. Colin has significant experience in the UK art scene and Japanese art there. You both have a lot to offer. Sometimes it's good to go back on someone's profile and read what they posted years back, it allows you some insight into the person and how they respond and why. Please guys, allow for different personalities. Sometimes what we perceive as rude or arrogant or argumentative is just part of someone's persona, and doesn't need to be taken personally. Ron...Colin has some amazing experience and stories from the UK scene. He has a lot to teach. Likewise Colin...Ron has a very different outlook on things from his days as a major weapons dealer in Canada, and has some incredibly interesting stories. Let's allow for different opinions and more importantly personalities, and maybe not take things too personally.

If the blade is only very slightly magnetic, that tells you everything you need to know. I am not aware of any genuine sword that isn't made from steel and is properly magnetic. A display/wallhanger is the only option. Even "Island" swords would have been made from steel. Unless it's stainless, and clearly this one isn't, based on the rust and patina imho.

We here on the NMB are ALL proud of Andrew. He's one of us, and we are lucky to have him occasionally pop in. One of the guys I consistently hear nothing but good things about. On behalf of the forum, we all wish him a huge congrats and well deserved.

@Peter Bleed is your guy for the Kunikane lineage if he's around.

I honestly believe they are always assembly numbers. Someone would be working on the fittings, the blade goes off to polishing, somehow someone needs to be able to put all the right parts back together. They aren't interchangeable. So you mark the blade with a number. Maybe the parts are in a bin with the same number or stamped too. Either way, this is to put the blade together with the saya or other parts imho.

Question....under the title, there are 5 blocks and then another 5 blocks. Should those be kanji?

And aside from wiping off any loose or active rust, lightly...do NOT clean off any patina or stable rust off the tang. That is vital to the value of the sword.

That is a fantastic paper! Huge thanks for sharing. Is it ok if I upload to the downloads section?

Piece of paper and the sword in question are unrelated. The sword you have is in mounts that are usually associated with better quality wartime blades. Sometimes star stamped traditionally made Gendaito. In this case, I actually hope it has the original Gendaito blade, as they can be nicer than an average out of polish antique blade. But you'll only know when you take it out of the mounts. CHAT GPT is not a great source of info, and in fact can be irritating with its hyperbole. "...to preserve its massive historic value" is just plain silly. Take off the handle and let's see what you have there. Not a treasure, but appears to be a nice sword. One of over a million wartime swords that ChatGPT deems to have massive historic value Hopefully you have a nice Gendaito worth $2000+ Btw...someone needs to inform the clueless AI that hundreds of thousands of nondescript antique blades were repurposed and purchased for low value during the war to outfit military swords. Not every antique blade was some family blade lovingly taken to war.

If they are able to be posted, they are within the limits and fine with me :-)

Calm down. YOU started a topic called fools in auction houses. This is an auction item, claiming to be both Edo period and WW2 at the same time. Seems to me like it fits the topic perfectly. Lighten up.

Can I ask ppl to keep me updated if and when you are having issues accessing the forum? It works fine from this side, so need to know if there is still a lot of an issue, in order to take it up with the hosts. Thanks.

That eagle is very much a traditional Japanese depiction. Don't read too much into it.

The Japanese won't issue (legally) a torokusho for a sword that isn't genuine and traditionally made. By the fact that it has one, that already gives you the indemnity you need for customs.