Ganko

Yuck, Chinese turd stirrer. TomC

You might try immersing it in boiling water. If it is CA submerge it in acetone. TomC

I bid on that piece and was stunned by the final price. The maker is Toshu Ju Myochin Ki Munehide who has a yoko (good) rating in the meikan. The signature did look good. The sekigane are in fact copper as they should be, and are much more apparent in the other original photos on Ebay. I thought it would look good on a wak I have and bid $150 and the bid didn't even show up. Seems over priced for a late Edo yoko rated maker IMHO. TomC

Nature abhors a vacuum. After seeing your archival filing system, it seems I have a ways to go yet. Thanks for sharing. TomC

The SF Sword Show is in the worst possible location if you would like the general public to attend. The Burlingame/Millbrae area is primarily filled with retired airline people. Their will never be many attendees who just walked in to see what Japanese Swords are about. A much better location would be at the San Jose Convention Center or the Santa Clara Convention Center, both of which are in close proximity to the SJ Airport. That area is filled with a much younger crowd with significant disposable income which no doubt would have an interest in Japanese swords if they didn't have to drive through the horrendous traffic to get to Burlingame. Having lived in the area and attended the show for about 40 years, I believe this is the only viable solution. The city of SF Moscone Center or whatever would be a poor choice in my opinion. My thoughts anyway TomC

Ichimonji Minamoto Amahide Kitau Kore TomC

I would opt for the katana. The blade is a nice length and the koshirae would like nice on the kake. Sukesada pieces typically have very flamboyant temper lines and since this one does not, I would expect it to have very good work in it. As Michael said you should buy the one you like best and you will have no regrets. You should also look at some others and see how these compare with them. TomC

A couple more pieces. I believe the menuki are late Edo. I wouldn't consider the tsuba high quality but I included it anyway, it has a bat with what appear to be ants. TomC

After reading the comments on the menuki and more closely examining the pictures I agree that they appear to have been refinished. I have a pair which seem to be from the same school (which ever it may be)that have been in my possession for about 40 years. Well before there were internet sales and doctored pieces.They have no perceptible wear and the dots of gold in the center of the floral patterns do not completely cover them (unlike the set under discussion). I believe the gold spots on mine were done using a gold/mercury amalgam. I don't know the Japanese name for the technique but have seen it many times. I have attached a couple pics of mine for comparison. Please excuse the image quality. TomC

Congratulations. What a beauty, if only it could talk.

Very nice menuki. Too bad you missed them. I have words of wisdom from a departed good friend for you, "You snooze you lose". Tomc

Looks like it may have been a shrapnel hit which seems to have created a couple of hagire in the edge opposite to it. The seller states that it has some cracks. The old rust in the deep pit wasn't completely neutralized or removed when it was polished and started growing again.

I don't know who is supplying him with these blades, they look better than most of the Chinese items. I am pretty sure they are all recently manufactured. They typically have signatures of good gendai swordsmiths on them. I believe they are all bogus signatures. Good for wacking weeds of perhaps Iaito. Tom

I don't know where these bare blades are coming from but there is one seller on Ebay that frequently puts them up for sale. They appear to be fairly good looking gendaito. They typically have signatures of good gendai sword smiths which are cut pretty well also. They all seem to be cut by the same hand but do not hold up when compared with real signatures in references. I am quite sure they are all gimei. As Dwain mentioned, the rust on the nakago's is identical on them all and no doubt recently applied. If you want to cut mats they are fine. Don't consider them collection worthy.

I have to agree with you Gary. The quality of the finest Japanese sword when residing in a shirasaya is not apparent to the uninitiated. You could have a Masamune displayed on your kake and to most individuals it would appear to be a sword in a stick(cane sword?). The quality of it would not be apparent to most people. If any sword is displayed in a good koshirae, it attracts much more admiration from the neophyte as well as the seasoned connoisseur. To appreciate the quality of the sword it must be held in the hand and viewed in reflected light from various angles and even then one must have some insight into what one is observing. A high quality koshirae does not require much special knowledge to be appreciated, it is self evident to most people. I personally feel that a sword without a koshirae is like a symphony of sheet music with no musicians to perform it. A fully mounted sword is a wonderful thing to behold and is the concerted effort of numerous master artisans. I believe the whole composition is what makes Japanese Swords the finest swords in the world. Without the koshirae something is missing.

The type of impression that Christian is calling a mon is the mark that is left when a punch is used to displace the metal around the ana to tighten the tsuba which has become loose on the sword. It could have occurred anytime in the life of the tsuba. Possibly to fit it on a different sword and as recent as a few decades or a century ago. It is certainly more aesthetically pleasing than a crude flat nosed punch. The metal is typically displaced more than necessary and then filled to give a snug fit. I have seen these punch marks numerous times on iron and kinko pieces. They were not put in by the original maker.

You can find him listed in Hawleys as DAI 3. The fourth character is another form of ju. Hawley just calls it Shinto.