Ganko

Seems we are at the mercy of and blighted by the midwits.

Frankie was a true connoisseur of Nihonto and a true gentleman. He will be missed by all who knew him. RIP Frankie

It is signed Choshu Hagi Ju Tomomitsu. The flowerlike indentations are from a punch which is used to displace the copper kuchibeni, which will then tighten the tsuba on the sword. It is a more decorative version of a round or square punch typically used for the purpose.

I know of a full length gendai katana that was taken from a submarine captains bunk.

I was finally able to log in today with new password. Didn't realize how much I missed it until I couldn't log in.

I suspect those stains are iron oxide transferred from the blade to the wood rather than the other way around. As Dave says Honoki can not do that.

Other members can probably read the first two characters and perhaps supply more info.

It is not cut too well, somewhat abbreviated. I don't know the first two characters but the maker is Ujifusa

Bruce, It's like a neighbor used to tell me "There's no rest for the wicked" :-)

Signature is "Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisada". Pretty well thought of swordsmith, high probability of false signature.

The good thing about these removable liners is you can clean them out so that you may reinsert a polished blade back in it's own koshirae.

Chinese copies are noted for large offsets in the machis on their swords. This is because they don't make a habaki in the proper way. This sword is most likely a Chinese imitation.

Fabulous piece.

Goes to show you that trying to judge a sword solely by it's hamon is akin to judging a book by it's cover. A very good exercise.

Ken the kurikata is there, it just blends in with the other metal.