Geraint

Dear Eric. The blade is genuine, the fittings are genuine, all Edo or earlier, it's just the assembly which is questionable. Hope this helps. All the best.

Dear Eric. Of course your suggestions are all possible, though we have no way of knowing if any of them are correct. What remains is what we see, an unsigned wakizashi with no papers in questionable koshirae. Given the market value of the blade it is possible that someone has elected to turn it into something more interesting in the hopes of a good return. Let me confess to buying several unsigned and unpapered wakizashi over the years but in each case they have blades of some interest and what I consider to be good koshirae. By good I mean largely original and of some quality, at least to my eye.. If you are considering buying this then it is absolutely your choice, of course. All I am suggesting is, from the photographs, what would put me off it. All the best.

Dear Eric. I am certainly not an expert so probably shouldn't reply. So for what it is worth here are some thoughts. Mumei possibly sue koto ko wakizashi or sunobi tanto whichever you prefer. (My own view would be that it's a ko wakizashi.) No shot of the nakago so without that information. The images are not good enough to see what is going on in the hamon which would worry me if I were buying it. So yes, genuine but nothing special. The koshirae. Well it seems to want to be a metazashi. Clearly a recent rebind and not a very good one, see the way the kashira sits. So what is to say that the bizarre shape is not brand new? The fittings are of little interest from my perspective and the saya, well, have a look at the mon in the fourth image, Sakai family but poorly done. My feeling is that this is a recent confection and not Edo. I can see why it caught your eye but I would be keeping my wallet in my pocket on this one. All the best.

Hi Ben. For comparison with Omori try here, https://tosogu-antiques.com/waves-2/ The distinctive undercutting and activity of Omori stand out. You might also have a look here, http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/irogane3http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/irogane3 I particularly like the first one. All the best.

Dear Robert, Really like this tsuba but if it were mine I would resist the urge to clean it at all. Interested to see what others say. All the best.

Dear Ken. Nice find! I don't think Heianjo as the inlay is wrong for them. You do see this sort of gold work on some Bushu tsuba, though usually rather more of it, http://onlinecollection.asianart.org/view/objects/asitem/origin@Bushu%20province/0;jsessionid=EB63565CAB9A90D0D1D97C9D3FC7DC06?t:state:flow=ddb1a0fb-bc3e-49a4-af54-e173c233df60 and on radiating line iron tsuba. Enjoy! All the best.

Hi Jean. Yes, that's what it says in the description. Not too uncommon to find these but the quality of the kozuka on this one is nice. All the best.

Dear Sreven. Pipe dream, surely? (Couldn't resist, sorry!) All the best.

Hi Gary. All looking forward to seeing it. Go to , "More reply options" and bottom left wil come up the image handling stuff. You may need to resize the images as there is a limit. Keep trying! All the best.

Dear Dion. The trick will be to tell if it's cast or not before you buy it, no? All the best.

Have to agree with Ian on this one, it's always about quality and this type of mon is available on Ebay. All too easy to add to a sword. All the best.

Dear Dion. I agree with Brian on this one, the seppa dai is the give away, porous look, striations and blurred stokes to the kanji. That, of course, would explain the difference in patina as what you are seeing is the skin of the casting. If you haven't bought it then don't. All the best.

Dear Carol. For best results push out the pin that holds the blade into the hilt and carefully remove the blade. If it is signed then that will be where we need to start. Even if there is no signature a clear photo of the whole of the blade will help. Looking forward to seeing it. All the best.

Dear Sylvain Have a read here. https://www.hochmajer.uk/introduction-to-the-Japanese-swords-meito-and-nihonto Perhaps a better understanding is famous blades rather than just named blades. All the best.

Dear John. You have probably already come across this but just in case.... http://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm From the examples I have seen they do follow standard designs, though sometimes you come across one and think it is unique, only to have another one turn up. I have seen the base metal described as nigurome, I can't speak for it's casting properties though I think these are made in a rather more traditional way in that they are not cast as detailed pieces in the way that one sees for modern castings. I have yet to come across one with a missing piece of inlay that would confirm that the major decorative elements are inlaid into the plate. I have come across examples which clearly do have hon zogan decoration. I have also noticed a range of quality from downright embarrassing, really lumpy carving and weak nanako, to really quite good. There have been a couple of nice examples on Nihonto.us, Andy Quirt's site. I have also seen them optimistically described as Mino Goto or just Goto by sellers who one must regard as optimistic. I suspect that if were to start looking at the stylistic traits, such as they are, then we would soon be assigning quite a number of kodzuka and fuchi kashira to the same category though I have never seen either of these so ascribed. If Hayne's suggestion is correct then at least they were made for and used by samurai rather than being made solely for export to the West. All the best.

And just to be clear it's a menuki.................. All the best.

Dear Eric. This is your sword so your dream. Yes, sometimes fabric is used under ito, notably on some tachi. No, a proper wrap over new same and including menuki is not a cheap option, this fabric is. It is much easier to wrap an off-cut of fabric around a tsuka and put together some sort of koshirae in order to sell the sword than it is to properly restore it. Enjoy your sword, we are all relieved that it is free from hagire. All the best.

Dear Walter. I don't think we can tell very much from these photographs. The papers are copies from a sword textbook which illustrate a variety of shinto period sword signatures, they may or may not have anything to do with your sword. If possible remove the bamboo peg that holds the hilt to the sword, slide off the handle and guard and see if there is a signature on your sword. Good photographs of the tang will help us tell you more, as will some dimensions. The more you can give us the more we can give you. All the best.

Congratulations, Peter!

Well I'm having trouble with this one. It's a bit like one of those images that your brain can see in one of two different ways. I think I am seeing some sort of lump on the surface rather than a chunk taken out. Wouldn't that make more sense of the spider rust as well? Like Franco I am interested in the two vertical lines at the hamon but they look rather more like formations to do with the yakiire than hagiri from this shot. Well, I'll just wander quietly off into the undergrowth and book an appointment with my optician then, shall I?

Dear Matthias. As regards what is depicted the vertical element is an oar, the rope trailing to what might be a willow beside the water. The rendering of the tree seems a little stiff. I would suggest some research around Akasaka school. Enjoy it. All the best.

Dear Adam. Thank you for the follow up photos, that's an unusual feature and adds to the interest. As regards the sword's future, when you say it came into your family at least thirty years ago does that mean that someone at that time bought it? If it has a family history dating back to WWII then do some digging and see if you can find out more of the story, you never know you might be in for a surprise. I am sure that many others here will tell you not to pass it to a museum. A vanishingly small number of museums have anyone who knows anything about Japanese swords and it will probably end up gradually decaying in storage. Should you discover that it has no family history and you do not wish to keep it then offer it here in the For Sale section and it will find a home with a collector who will cherish it. If you do discover some family history I am sure we would all like to hear it. All the best.

Hi Adam and welcome! Your sword is a civilian katana, probably Shinto, ie made after 1603. It has been mounted for use in WWII. It has been shortened at the tang, (nakago), which is why the signature is incomplete. What is there says Bizen no Kuni no ju and then what might be part of the kanji for Naga or something else. It appears to have a pierced tsuba, which is nice, and as far as I can see all the parts are numbered 4. I have not seen the little button with the star on it at the throat of the scabbard, (saya). Could you manage a better phot of that? Check the faq for care and don't be tempted to clean anything. Enjoy! All the best

Dear Michael. Congratulations, this is looking good though out of polish. Don't do anything more than follow the guidelines that you find for care here. This is a civilian katana that has had a leather combat cover added before being taken to war. as Robert has said. There is an extra character cut above the signature, Ichi.. Add that tp your search. I have to agree with Peter about the tsuba, well above the average for Hirado Kunishige and quite special. Enjoy! All the best.

Hi Jason. Many moons ago there was an article in JSS/US about the 'how to' aspects. I have done them using very thin paper, something like layout paper, and a variety of ordinary pencils. The outline tracing is relatively easy, the details of mei are harder and the business of drawing the details of the hamon are where it really gets interesting. Pencils of different hardness work for different aspects, for example a fairly soft one for drawing in the nioi guchi and a very light touch, but a rather harder one for nie. It's very instructive and speaking personally I saw things in the hamon that I would otherwise not have noted. Another nice thing is that they can be mounted and framed so that you always have a record of that sword even when it's no longer your own. Be great to see how you get on. All the best.