Geraint

Dear All. A confession of sorts. Many years ago, (pre internet if you can believe such a time existed), I decided to make my own mekugi nuki. All I had to go on was an illustration in Stone's Glossary so off I went. Found some nice brass and built my own, threaded punch and all. It turned out well and I was quite pleased with myself. It was some years before I came across another Japanese one and realised that mine was a bit of a beast. It is beside a conventional one in the photo and you can probably see it's more appropriate for cracking coconuts than getting the mekugi out. However I have to say I have yet to come across a mekugi that can resist it! One or two visiting collectors have blanched a little when I get it out to dismantle their sword. All the best.

Pretty sure Stephen means non magnetic. All the best.

Dear Tom. Go very carefully! I should be very surprised if this tsuba is iron, from what I can see when I enlarge the image it is likely to be soft metal, in this case shakudo, an alloy of coper with a small amount of gold. Do the magnet test as Jean suggests and then stop. If it is iron then the cleaning advice stands, if not then do nothing, the patina is everything on soft metal tsuba. I am sure others will advise on how to proceed if it is shakudo. Welcome to the wonderful world of tsuba! All the best.

Dear Robert. Forgive me, I am not clear on your question. Do you mean a hamon that rises to and goes above the shinogi or do you mean a hamon that is accompanied by muneyaki? Or are we talking hitatsura? Stand by for some fairly detailed metallurgy! Looking forward to the discussion. All the best.

Dear Chris. No picture I'm afraid but a friend had a sword mounted with such a tsuba. If memory serves the sword was signed Kanefusa. Of course there was no way of knowing if the sword had originally had that tsuba or if it had been swapped at some stage. All the best.

Looking forward to the koshirae Gwyn. All the best.

Dear John. A papered example here for comparison. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Tsunahiro_Wakizashi.html All the best.

Dear Geoff. At 32cms it's way too big for a kwaiken and so we must assume that it's been mounted for curio value in the late19th early 20th century. Of course it is quite possible that it was all that was to hand when the lady was married and so served the purpose but enjoy it for what it is. All the best.

Dear Tom. Would you like to expand your thinking on that idea a bit? What sort of naginata did you have in mind? I would expect naginata naoshi to have evidence of a shinogi in the nakago and the blade, perhaps naginat hi also. As this sword is hira zukuri based none of these features are evident. If the shortening was so severe that all these signs were lost then I am surprised that the thinning of the mune is so short and does not continue into the rest of the blade. I am fairly sure that the marks on the nakago mune are not measurements for shortening, I think the consensus is that these are assembly marks. All the best.

Dear Jeff. Just to summarise what we have so far......... You have a nice sword, the length makes it a ko wakizashi or short wakiszashi. Swords between 12" and 24" are wakizashi. The sword is unsigned, (mu mei), but the yasurime, (file marks used by the smith to finish the tang), are clear. Generally, (and you will soon realise that nothing is absolute in this game), clear file marks suggest that the sword is slightly younger, in this case Shinto, (1600 - 1800) or Shinshinto, (1800 - 1860). Those dates are approximate. Given all your photogr[hs which make some things clearere than at the start, my suggestion would be that this is a Shinshinto sword. The koshirae, (mounting), is quite plain but attractive and generally complete, go very easy on the cleaning of the tsuba until you have taken up Ken's suggestion and met up with Gray who will be able to offer you good advice. Whatever the verdict you have a nice example of a genuine Japanese sword in full mounts, it is a nice thing and the family association with your Grandfather makes it special. Enjoy the journey as you learn more. All the best.

Dear Matt. From what we can see so far this appears to be a handachi mounted sword that has been kitted out to serve during WWII. In other words it is a Japanese sword, originally mounted as a civilian sword but later it has had a combat cover and a hanger added to make it serviceable in the war. Do you know how to remove the hilt? If not then pleaser ask and we can tell you. We need to see the blade without its mounts to be able to tell you much more. All the best.

Dear David. In terms of what you re looking for this is a good piece. A nice Kaigunto with the fish skin saya, all the fittings in good condition and the knot, combined with a good looking civil sword. You don't give the length but in this context I don't think it matters very much. Of course it is possible that it is gimei but that isn't going to bother you unless you plan on having it polished and going to shinsa. It clearly didn't bother the man who carried it. Without discussing price I think this ticks all your boxes Enjoy! All the best.

Dear Jeff. When you say that the blade is 14" long is that overall including the tang? If so then what is the length from the tip to the notch at the back where the habaki sits? All the best.

Dear Dick. Well from the top, and most of this you know already, the menuki are average but not great, the tsuba is a classic Nagoya mono, for which much information is available but a neat summary is here, http://www.shibuiswords.com/nagoyamono.htm Yours is in good condition apart from the small spots of corrosion which I will leave for others to comment on. The fuchi kashira are the nicest element and I believe the suggestion was that they might be Hamano school. Whatever they are they have some real charm. All the best.

Dear Jewells. Wow! All those photographs and no response. Well if nothing else maybe this will stimulate some discussion for you. This is a nice find. Tamba no kami Yoshimichi is a well known name and the signature looks good at first glance. You mentioned it had been authenticated but you don't say by whom and for all intents and purposes unless the authentication is done by either the NBTHK or the NTHK it would be considered an informed guess. I am sure that you know that, as with any art form, false signatures are rife and only a proper Japanese shinsa will be believed. Hence I imagine, your desire to get such a certificate. From time to time there are shinsa organised in the US but given the current situation I don't suppose anyone has information about one in the near future. There are options to ship the sword to Japan to have it papered which others in the US will advise you about. The length from the notches on the tang to the tip is important, from your photographs the overall length appears to be around 27" and the tang around 6" so the crucial length would be 21". Is that about right? If so then your sword is classed as a wakizashi rather than a katana. This has a considerable impact on value. The habaki or blade collar is missing a piece, it should have another part that fits around the part you have at the base. The sword seems to be in fairly good condition but it is not in what would be called polish. Vital that you don't attempt anything yourself as it is easy to completely ruin a sword that way. It is probably not an economic proposition to get all this work done from your point of view unless you want to keep the sword and treasure it. If you want to sell it then probably best to do so now and let someone else invest in it because they love it. Hope some of this helps and of course it is only one opinion. Others will give you a better idea of the value in the US market as it is. All the best.