Ganko

Bruce, unfortunately I just recorded makers names and dates from any and all sources I could find that had star stamps. I am attaching some images and description of the mounts of some of mine that I used in my article for the NCJSC newsletter.

Image 1 Typical mountings1Type 98 typical mounts.docx

Sorry about the late replay, I haven't been active on the board for a while.  To answer Thomas's question as to the makers of the earliest star stamped pieces I saw which were dated Feb 42 and Mar 42. They were a 98 by Hizen Masatsugu and a type 3 by Kanetsugu respectively. I saw a type 3 by Kanenobu dated Spring (Haru) 1942 also, it could Mar. ?

I have attached a  graph showing the dates, type of mounts and quantity of each that  I observed. I stopped recording these swords about five years ago.Starstampgraph.docx

It appears to be a Chinese copy to me.

Signed "Sano Naoyoshi with Kao". The no character is not the one that is shown in the Meikan and the kao is a bit off. Only three examples in the Meikan. The work is very good though. He is rated joko in the Meikan. As Tanto54 has said the kashira appears to have had some damage repaired. Shoki's face may have been banged in at sometime?

As Brian has said, there is no question about the star stamped blades. They are 100% gendaito made from tamahagane that was provided to the RJT smiths.  Most of them signed with their normal signature and many were top rated smiths such as Sadakatsu, and Akihira(Shohei). Some signed with a pseudo name like Shibata Ka who used Mitsuoki as his RJT signature.

Paul will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. Having known him for about four decades, I must say he was always a real gentleman. RIP Paul.

These types of atrocities are best suited to stirring the excrement in the bottom of a chamber pot.

Looks like "Norimitsu"

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.

Wow, thank you so much. I really appreciate the info. The cut does look sloppy in my absolutely amateur opinion, far less neat then other signatures I've seen on this forum. Would you have any recommendations on how to find out more about this Ujifusa?

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

That's right. I already feel better about the unpolished 95s going back into cleaned liners. It's going to bug me now, until I can get the other one's checked and cleaned.

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.

Yura, I'm not sure of the hacho on your blade, but I can't recall seeing formal koshirae without a kurigata.

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

There does seem to be some metal displaced at the lower edge of the upper ana. It may have been done to tighten the tsuka on the nakago due to slight wear? For more adjustment a copper shim is typically fitted in the ana.

I think this is in that category. 80mm x 78mm x 3mm. It also has some bones in the rim.

From the limited details it looks like a decent Shinshinto sword. Could be a good maker. Kogarasu maru shape with naginata hi.