Geraint

Dear Marcin. While I can understand the sense of connection with the mon I would ne very cautious about pairing this zutsu with a shingunto. The metal saya and fitings of the shingunto are almost bound to do damage to the zutsu which is quite a rare thing and should be preserved. Indeed you may find that the shingunto koshirae does not fit as most zutsu taper down after the tsuba space and do not allow for hangers on the saya. A lovely thing to own and perhaps to display alongside the shingunto? All the best.

Dear All. Surely not! https://www.bonhams.com/auction/32016/lot/304/a-pair-of-mixed-metal-tsuba-edo-period-19th-century-2/ Apologies for hurting the eyes. All the best.

Dear Jonathan. Just a couple of things to consider. The last photograph in your first post shows what looks like a hamon with no discernable activity and spots in the top of the gunome. Both these features might be seen on an oil temepred blade, specifically Showato. However your sword has yakidashi, a feature that I have not noted on Showa blades. You mention that the sword does not have masame hada which puzzles me, certain specific schools do have this hada but from Shinto it is usually evident in the shinogi ji whereas other forms of hada are evident below the shinogi. If you can discern ko itame hada on your blade does this run over into the shinogi ji? It might be useful to know what you can see in the boshi, is it midare komi? With the sword in hand what activities can you see in the hamon? For an oil quenched sword one would expect none, but that could also be a feature of a Shinshinto sword so this may not help. All this assumes that the sword did not come with papers but if it did please tell us what that says.I am looking forward to other opinions on this one. All the best.

Dear Dean. Just in case you don't know it is in Naval or Kaigunto mounts. I am sure we would all like tosee some more images, perhaps posted in the Military Swords section. All the best.

And one to compare here, https://www.sho-shin.com/shinto-mino.html (Scroll down to the third sword.) Can we have a name to address you by please and more photographs of your sword? All the best.

The figure on the kashira would generally be classfied as a South Sea Islander and they are often depicted on Kozuka towing or dragging a branch of coral, which would tie in the coral insert at the lower end of the saya. Love it! All the best.

Dear Khalid. I believe that Brian, in describing such a sword as one of his Grails was referencing the Arthurian story of the search for the Holy Grail, something much desired and sought after but virtualy unobtainable. In other words I don't think he has one yet. I stand to be corrected and I am sure that Brian would love to be able to do so. All the best.

Dear Maxime. The tsuba is a Nagoya mono, one of the designs that occur frequently. A useful thread here, All the best.

Dear Kent. Welcome to NMB! My first reaction to your tsuba was that it waas a modern reproduction and, sad to say I then found this, https://auctionet.com/en/4546742-a-metal-tsuba-mokko-street-unsigned-second-half-of-the-20th-century Auction houses are oftennot the most accurate with their descriptions of tsuba but I fear that in this case they are broadly correct. Please do wait for others to chime in on this one and don't rely on my assessment but if this is a reproduction then it raises questions about the expertise of your source. Please don't let this put you off persuing this fascinating field of art. To help you get your eye in do have a browse through the third thread in this section, 'A series of fittings'. All the best.

Dear Kahlid. Look carefully at the curvature of this blade, what do you see? Then have a look at the habaki. All the best.

Dear John. I am sure that it could have been however I suspect that it is a late Meiji creation for the export market. Whatever it is it is certainly quite a whopper! All the best.

Dear All. I think I have posted this before but just out of interest here is another variation. All the best.

Khalid, the bigger question is why you would think this is a Heian blade? All the best.

Dear Teodor. It is not uncommon to find a shorter wakizashi blade in a rather longer saya. I am unable to tell from your photogrh whether the saya is an original, in which case I would strongly suggest leaving it as it is, or whether it is a modern replacement. Japanese sworeds are always more subtle than you think and thouigh the fact that the saya is larger were you feel the kojiri might fit is an advantage I think rather the reverse. To make a good job of this that difference would mean correcting the shape of the saya over its entire length, destroying the lacquer in the process. As you can probably tell my feelings are strongly against attempting this. Even if the saya is a mismatched antique then best to leave it alone in my opinion. It is very easy to think that one can improve a sword by doing various small things to it, in practice this almost aways works to the detriment of the sword unless you are prepared to find Japanese trained craftsmen and pay the going rate. All the best.

Dear Joseph. It is perfectly understandable that you are looking for the type of boshi but there is a problem. When you read the texts they seem to suggest that there are discreet types of boshi and even that they can lead you to a specific smith. This is sometimes true, the example that Chris gave of a Mishina boshi being a case in point. Mishina being the name of the school. In some swords you would certainly expect a specific boshi as confirmation of the smith however in many others this classification by type does not work. To quote from Markus in Shinto and Shinshinto Kantei, "....on the omote side a shallow notare komi with a pointed and rather long kaeri, on the ura side a more sugu based notare with some ko gunome which turns into a jizo like and short ko maru kaeri. there is hakikake on both sides." It is useful to think of the types displayed in text books as just that, text book examples. What they are giving you is a vocabulary with which to describe the features of the hamon in the kissaki. (The same thing can be said for almost any other feature of a sword.) With some swords the description might be short and sweet, something like suguha with komaru and short kaeri, sometimes not. From what I can see in your photographs your sword does not have a nice tight nioi guchi running into the kissaki and so the description might be more convoluted. Feel free to wax lyrical in your description of the boshi on your sword. I hope that helps rather than hinders. All the best.

Dear Jay. We could do with some more photographs but this part is a genuine Japanese sword. It is signed Suishinshi Masahide who is a very big name but. (Piers has just beaten me to it). The problem of false signatures occurs a lot in Japanese swords and you will need to approach this one with caution. As I said, more photos please. All the best.

Late to this one but in regard to the Goto daisho cticised earlier I noticed this one, for sale on your well known online platform. There is either a happily deluded buyer out there or someone is going to get agitated! All the best.

Dear Jeb. The particular shape of the nakago is designed to accomodate a specific type of tachi mount as per this thread. As to the blade you posted it is not nor does it claim to be an early blade so several possibilities exist apart from gimei. A customer might have comissioned it to mount in a similar tachi mount or as a copy of a well known blade, an utsushi mono. Or perhaps the smith was doing it to further his own skill. In summary neither the shape of the nakago nor the placement of the mei are exclusive features with regard to the period of manufacture. Hope that helps. All the best.

Gentlemen. While Marcin declares in his originalpost that this is legit until proven otherwise I would start the other way around. So far we have crude cast fittings with odd menuki, I would add that the leather cover is not showing signs of age but has strange markings. The habaki while closer than some is not right in its proportions and although the blade looks quite good overall there are features that cast doubt, not the least the odd mei. None of the blade photographs are in focus so that we can't see details. I would call this a fake/reproduction. I certainly would not be risking this at auction without in hand checks. As always I stand to be corrected, All the best.

Fully accepting your closing phrase John but I think it is kerakubi. All the best.

The tsuba mei is Kunihiro I think. Alll the best.

Dear Gerry. Looks like someone got a nice sword. Sugata is kissaki moroha zukuri or more applicably kogarasu maru zukuri for this one. All the best.

Dear SR. (Can we have a name to address you by please?) The seller may be uninformed or something worse. This was never near the hand of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke. It seems to be the result of a crude attempt to forge the signature. Genuine signatures are neat and precise for this smith. If the blade were ever a Japanese sword it is now ruined beyond redemption. The shinogi line is gone, the kissaki might have been broken and reshaped but there is nothing here to study or learn from. Don't buiy it, save your money and your sanity. More detail available if you would like. All the best.

Dear Jonathan. Pay attention to the yasurime, kesho finish and nakago jiri. Look at papered examples on line amd be alert to the overall impression of the nakago as well as the mei. Let us know what you find. All the best.

Yes indeed! Some stunning examples both in your paper and your collection. Thank youfor sharing Luca. All the best.