denkav

Well I guess I don't know how to post pictures on this board yet. Please be patient, I'm going back to the " how to's " now. Thanks. Dennis K.

Greetings all, I acquired a Chines repro for a polish and mounting practice project. After a closer look at it, a small doubt as to wether it IS a Chinese blade has entered my mind. The Hamon and what little Hada that can be seen does NOT appear to be Etched onto the blade. Can anyone recognize the Kokuin hot stamp, or offer a translation of the inscription ? I think the second character is Kawa or Gawa, the third is Masa or Sho, and the last is San or the number 3. Any help or opinions will be appreciated. Thank you, Dennis K.

I'm back again. Well the link doesn't seem to work as intended, sorry. I was trying to direct you to the Kashima sister's site "Usagiya". Follow the Info links, it is very informative. dk.

Hello Mike. I've heard this too. I think during the Shin Shinto times the smiths were inclined to experiment in a effort to regain the lost secrets of Koto Blade forging techniques. Here is a link with some interesting info http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/information.html dkl Edit (Brian) - fixed the link. Just needed html instead of htm

Thank you all for your help. I've had this Katana for many years. It has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Is it possible the Mei is Chinese ? When I showed this blade at my Dojo years ago, Sensei would only say it was " old style Kanji ". Niether he or any other of the Japanese students could offer a interpertation. This appears to be a most certainly very well made Nihonto. It is mounted in very nicely made ( I think ) old Edo period Koshirae. The Tsuka too, is " non-standard " as it has no Same panels or wrap, but high quality silk Ito over what appears to be a silk covering. I have seen many of the Chinese fakes as shown on Ebay, and can only say this is definitely not one of those. Still I am puzzled by the Mei, the apparent lack of Yasurime, and the lack of Same on the Tsuka.

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