Ganko

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.