Shugyosha

Prices suggested seem low to me...results will be interesting.

Article here on koto Mihara school: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mihara_Nihonto.html Looks a nice blade by the way.

It’s blurry on my phone but I think the paper has it down to Tosa Myochin. I don’t see how that attribution falsely inflates it’s value if it’s not a modern repro and I don’t see anything about the steel that suggests that thats the case. Can anyone else spot anything? I think I would have kantei’d it to Kyo sukashi as it seems more elegant than Tosa Myochin work which can be a bit clunky, but I’m sure I know less than the shinsa panel.

Musashi kami Fujiwara Kanenaka. Echizen ju.

I can now. Ouch.

Submit to shinsa before anything further is done to it. It can pass Hozon shinsa in its current state of polish. If it fails, submit again, maybe to the NTHK instead and after that think about removing the mei but if you do it get it done in Japan by a professional. You might want to submit to the NTHK in first instance anyway as you will receive more information as to whether it is worth pursuing higher papers via the NBTHK. Paul Martin can handle this for you - he has done the same for me and he can probably get someone to evaluate the blade in-hand before shinsa. If you remove the mei yourself it will look like the blade has been messed with as the state of the tang under the folded metal won't be the same as the rest of it. If you take it off and put it back on, the chances are that it won't look right and a shinsa panel will draw the inference that a mei has been added to a mumei blade and that it is gimei and fail it on that basis. Edit: Sorry, didn't see Michael's reply.

Wow - everyday is a school day on NMB. 👍👍

Mauro was too sharp. 😆

Are they depictions of cloves and foliage?

Darcy's swords often have sayagaki by Tanobe sensei, there ought to be a few there to get you started.

Hi Z, welcome to NMB. This has come up already - if you check the translation section for 28th August, poster was VFC. You’ll find the answer there. Sorry, on my phone and can’t sort copying the link.

It's a bit of a distant memory but I seem to recall reading that one way of creating the more exotic shapes of Japanese helmets was by moulded cuir boulli set on a metal bowl. No doubt Ian Bottomley will have a view on this.

Hi Adam, Nanazu zu fuchigashira. Mumei, ko kinko. Shakudo, ishime ji. Taka hori, kin iroe. Catfish design unsigned ko kinko fuchigashira done with a shakudo ishime ground, high relief and gold iroe work.

There's more on sumigane here - it's a term used to describe the shingane seen seen in Rai and other swords so please disregard the comments above. https://markussesko.com/2015/05/05/kantei-2-jigane-jihada-1/

Could be a small rust pit or spot. Is it only on the surface or is there some depth to it? Might be a small fukure that has burst - again there might be some depth to it if so. It should be the same colour as the rest of the steel if intact. Might be a small delamination, don’t think it’s shingane as the area is too small - would normally show over a wider area. It could be a carbon inclusion in the steel, but they are normally smaller and near the hamon so probably not. A last option would be something called sumigane seen in Hizen and Rai blades but that is broader and more like ink as the title suggests so I don’t think it’s that.

It's still pretty hard to make out any detail. For me, the blade looks like it might have something of a Kanbun sugata (straightish, smallish point, some taper) so that would put it mid 17th century. Beyond that, hard to tell as someone has used an abrasive to "clean" the blade and obscured the detail in the hamon and hada and removed the patina from the tang. That there is no obvious loose grain visible in the pictures might point to a later rather than earllier attribution.

I'll be honest and say (lacking Steve's scholarship) I looked at this a tad less deeply: I put my first guess in (Kogawa Genchin) and it came up with the Nihonto US example so, having realised I made an error with Kogawa, I simply went with Andy Quirt's take on it presuming that he would have got his reading from a reliable source.

Bizen Kuni Osafune (maybe) can’t make it out At all beyond that.

Steiner, you’ll need to post a full length picture of the naked blade plus some detail pics of hada, hamon and boshi. The better the input you can give the better your chance of an accurate answer. Also, I’d be wary of resting the blade on its tip or putting it on hard surfaces in case it causes damage. Welcome to NMB!

Joly does list “Uwabami” the tale of a huge snake, bigger than any tree capable of swallowing a man on horseback. Killed by Egara no Heida in the reign of Hojo Yoshitoki. Pages 46 and 550.

Furugawa Genchin.

Not concerned, it’s a normal method of manufacture and the foil separating from the main metal happens unfortunately. I’d be slightly disappointed they aren’t solid gold.😀

Hi Grev, Any chance you can add the details from the PM to the kabuto thread? I'd be interested to read the comments.

The long keri kubi suggests koto (if that hasn't been messed with) otherwise what Chris said.

I think I sold the tsuba to Bruno. A classic case of how one's taste evolves over time - when I sold it, it didn't do anything for me as it seemed a bit twee, but now it would be a keeper. At the time I sold it I felt it was genuine based on the quality of the work and the kakihan matched one recorded in Haynes (if I remember correctly).