Geraint

Dear Bruce. That sword appears to be a civilian sword in Tachi koshirae, not so? All the best.

Dear Yura. Well it's a katana in very ordinary koshirae, the yasurime in the area of the mei look suspect, the condition of the nakago also raises concerns. All of that is before we start examining the mei and I don't think that is going to change my opinion. This would not be a sword I would buy, certainly not as a Muramasa. Others may have different opinions. All the best. And just to add Google translate has turned the shopping basket icon into one that says, "In Garbage".

Dear David, You realise that both are rustless steel I'm sure. (Either that or Number 1 has had some serious recent work done to it.) As already suggested I would go with number 2 if you want to jump on these but the price seems a little high to me, any room for negotiation? All the best.

Dear Pat. The advice is good, do not buy this at any price, owning it will upset you as you grow to know more about these wondrous things. There are many links on the tool bar at the top of the page that will allow you to see what is possible and why we are giving you this advice but for a start try here, https://www.aoijapan.com/ I would also recommend that you join the Token Society of Great Britain, one of the meetings will teach you a great deal and hopefully really get you interested. You are a fair way from Cornwall but if you ever get down this far get in touch, you'd be welcome to look at some stuff if you are interested. All the best.

Dear Dwayne. Pietro is quite right and be aware that they are pressings so as part of a collection they are overpriced, removing the blades will not make them suitable even as replacement kozuka in koshirae so the question is do you want some cutlery? If so then I guess the value is up to you. All the best.

Dear Carlos. If your reply indicates that you have given up the idea of making your own koshirae then this comment will be of little value. However in general terms the exercise is one which will teach you more about what makes a good koshirae than you can learn elsewhere and underscores the subtleties and complexities of what a lot of people assume is quite a straightforward process. Given that traditionally several craftsmen would be involve, each of whom will have served a lengthy apprenticeship then the task becomes a little daunting. Doing it at all is a challenge, doing it well is another matter entirely. Both books mentioned are recommended, though I found The Craft of the Japanese Sword a revelation when I first encountered it. The later work that Grey mentions has much better photographs for the most part but nether work deals with anything other than shirasaya. One book you should have is Thomas Buck's book, The Art of Tsukamaki and his website is work some study. While Brian is absolutely correct to say that specialist tools are used in Japan for this process it is quite possible to do with Western tools if you are skilled though you will need some patience. As your wakizashi has shirasaya in which you will continue to store it for it's preservation then I don't think any harm should come to your blade. You will want a tsunagi to hold the koshirae together. Two absolute rules are NEVER use any kind of abrasive paper on the inside of the saya, detached particles will wreak havoc on your sword, and DO NOT be tempted to use modern adhesives, a little too much squeezed into the inside of the saya when clamping can cause damage. Whatever happens you will end up with a European koshirae which will not add to the value of the sword, if anything it will make it harder to sell. You will certainly never recover the money you will have to spend on fittings and materials let alone your time and skill. In short you will be paying quite a bit to learn a lot. All the best.

Dear Mike. I'm not sure what you hope to get in the way of opinions from this rough oshigata. Is it signed Kunitomo? Well you already know that from your own research. Not sure if this thread is any use to you. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6553-kunitomo-shoshin-mei/ All the best.

Dear All.l. While whatKirill suggests about getting rid of all but a few high quality blades makes a great deal of sense from a collecting point of view there are some problems from a museum perspective, at least in the UK. Our passion is for a rather narrow subject, albeit one where there is a significant and I think unique national infrastructure in it's home nation. I am unaware of any other country that has several internationally regarded organisations issuing certificates of authenticity, local and national groups meeting for disciplined study and a significant body of literature about its national weapons. Most curators have an area of expertise about one small area of the collection put in their charge and often display a degree of disenchantment with other things that do not fit their own interest. I think that most members of the general public would imagine that museums are places where the ultimate care and attention is paid to each precious object, with exceptions this is not the case. From time to time we hear of curators publishing papers on the conservation of specific groups of objects that read more like a DIY guide to destruction to those of us who understand care and preservation from a collectors perspective. I believe Dave Thatcher recently posted something on these lines with regard to armour. So given the theme of this thread let me posit a situation. Suppose that I have a collection of which I am quite proud and wish to see secured for future generations and I contact a well known local museum to offer them this collection. In my mind I can see this collection being tastefully and securely displayed with a small (ish) label acknowledging my generosity, good taste and expertise. In the negotiations I make sure that the museum has the expertise that I am relying on to take care of my babies and they assure me that they do. Time passes and so do I. So does the one person in the museum who knows anything about Japanese swords. A new curator is appointed with a great background in arms and armour only he has achieved his fame by publishing on the history of the bayonet in 19th century Europe and has developed a curatorial method that insists on burnishing blades with fine steel wool on a regular basis, never, ever removing fittings and applying a liberal coat of a potion based on linseed oil to all organic hilt materials and fittings. An extreme example and to be honest my babies would be at much greater risk of damage through neglect. I would strongly advocate Kirill's later suggestion. If my collection goes to our local auction house and is featured in one of it's Asian Art sales then an international audience will be able to show what they think and while the collection is likely to be dispersed then at least it will go to those who made the time and effort to acquire them. All the best

Dear Jon. Please add your name to your posts, you can set this up in your profile. Oh, and while your'e about it some pictures would be a help on this one. All the best.

Dear John. Done. All the best.

Dear Miike and Carlos. Please add your names to your posts so that we know who we are speaking with. You can do it automatically from your profile. Katanacentre has been around for some time, offering on Ebay though a lot of pieces looked to have been messed with. He had some genuine stuff though all the interesting things were marked as sold. These latest pieces are horrible and the descriptions can only be described as deliberately deceptive. As always knowledge is the best protection. Carlos, the sword you show is now of no interest to you I take it? For what it is worth it looks like a Chinese made sword with the spurious certificates that are now becoming common. All the best.

So. Given the shape of the nakago, the nakago jiri, the style of the mei and the nature of the hamon we can conclude that the example posted is gimei. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. All the best.

Dear Jean. The treatment of the mimi on the back of your tsuba is much like that on some Hirado tsuba, the flat plate ones by Kunishige rather than the more common moko shaped ones. All the best.

Dear Carlos. Just for comparison see this one, its is in polish has papers is a long sword and is about the same amount of money. I know which one I would go for. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29070-uda-kunimune-for-sale-long-nagasa/ All the best.

Just to add, Bitchu no kuni Mizuta ju Oyogo Kunishige. Lots to find here, of course you need to compare closely to papered examples. Can we see the rest of it please? All the best.

Welcome, Emmanuel! All the best.

Dear Marzio. Well I like the tanto. Mino den with higaki yasurime, signature might be Kaneaki. As with al these it is very difficult to be precise with these photographs. All the best.

Dear Marzio. I would be very happy to find these. The first is, as you say suriage but still nice, signed Hoshu Takada jo Fujiwara Muneyuki I think. Not such a well regarded school but still a nice find. The second looks like Masayoshi, also shortened of course but the mei looks very fresh, not sure what to make of that. The third looks like Echigo no kami Fujiwara Kunitomo. All so far are genuine Japanese swords and all are interesting, koshirae is not great and I do hope, as Stephen said that they all have saya. Forgive me if I state the obvious but no cleaning, just a light oiling until you know what their future is, full restoration will be costly. All the best.

Dear Marzio. We look forward to seeing them. All the best.

Dear Ken. As usual trying to nail down terms is problematic. We tend to think that a sword stops being a tanto at 30cms and anything over that becomes a wakizashi. Or ko wakizashi. Or sunonbi tabto. As for when in terms of length a sword stops being a ko wakizashi and becomes a wakizashi well.... This from Markus' blog. In the eighth year of Kanbun (寛文, 1668), the Tokugawa-bakufu issued the so-called mutô-rei (無刀令) with which it prohibited all persons not belonging to the samurai class to wear swords with a blade length over that of a ko-wakizashi (小脇指). Therefore a ko-wakizashi blade was determined to measure maximally 1 shaku 5 sun (~ 45.5 cm). Though the whole thing is well worth a read. https://markussesko.com/2015/08/11/the-wakizashi/ All the best.

We are not talking shakudo here are we? All the best.

Dear Chris. Please ad your name to your posts as we all do. A nice find, a pair of gunto menuki and a decent re wrap for the hilt and this will look fine. If you decide to do that then please do ask for recommendations here. All the best.

Dear Conny. Perhaps it is worth remembering that the terms we use to describe activity in the sword are all derived from what can be seen with the naked eye. Without something to scale the images against it is very hard to say what you have. Like Jeanne-Pierre I would say that your first image shows nie but they might well be called ko nie. I also can tell you nothing from the second image. All the best.

Dear Barry. They seem to be adept at turning sow's ears into silk purses. All the best.

Dear Andreas, Just to add to what has been said, the koshirae is certainly not as described; "Fine quality Edo koshirae with matching fittings." It's a low quality assembly to sell the sword. All the best.