Geraint

Looking nice! Good choice of colours to go with the copper fittings. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear Jim. As I am sure you already know from the answers to your previous post this is a genuine Japanese sword, there is no question of it being a replica. There is the question of whether the signature is genuine or not and for that you really need to get it to shinsa, either in the States or by sending it to Japan. There are one or two people who offer a service to import your sword for you and see it through shinsa. No western opinion is going to carry marketable weight, though showing it to someone expert might get you an idea about whether to send it to shinsa or not. To start with have a good look here, http://www.nihonto.com/11-7-17/ Bear in mind this is a sword already papered and in polish, neither of which applies to yours. It is also in rather fabulous koshirae. It might be worth it to you to have the sword imported by an agent in Japan, polished and put into shirasaya and then sent to shinsa but the money will start adding up. You might prefer to keep it, safe in the knowledge that it is genuine but without authenticating the signature. Your sword, your call but I have to admit I would be very tempted to go for the polish. Just make very sure that you only use a trained polisher, some of the people offering this in the West will ruin your sword and charge you for doing it. Ask here for recommendations, this is not the time to think about saving a few dollars. Nice sword, enjoy. All the best.

So to summarise. We have a fairly random set of fittings of which the menuki are the only thing resembling a daisho and they seem to be modern at best. We have not seen the backs of these. We have some tsuba, not sure how many because one which is built upside down , seems to be cast and has some chisel marks added does not appear in the fittings set. We have seen no images of the sayas but the fittings are all lose so it hardly matters. If the image that Brian shows in his last post is of the wakizashi then the peculiar machi make it junk whatever it is. The katana may or may not be Japanese, we are doing kantei of unpolished blades form photographs after all. The very best conclusion is that someone has thrown together an odd assortment of low end fittings which don't go together, added a couple of junk blades and called it a daisho. Which it isn't and never was. If the buyer can get his money back then he should consider himself fortunate. I wonder what images were provided by the seller? All the best.

Does he also raise a nice shine on the bronze sculptures? As he has conscientiously stripped the original patina off the fittings I suggest you take away his polishing materials. All the best.

So given that the blade is Chinese fake and the furniture is Chinese fake and it all fits together then the story about the furniture being replaced in the 70's is.......? All the best.

Dear Stephen. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is a fake. At least all of the furniture is modern Chinese made. Modern of course is a relative term but nothing about this is Japanese. Stories about where and when swords were acquired are always hard to prove and subject to confusion but they don't change the facts of the sword. All the best.

Smith name Kanemoto?

Jean. Thank you! Looking forward to seeing this one when John gets a chance to show us. All the best.

Dear ?. How have you got to 26 posts without someone telling you to add your name to each post? That aside pictures will do a power of good with this question. Look forward to seeing them. All the best.

Hi Grev, Nice! In answer to your question look closely at the way the monkey masks are rendered, same guy do you think? All the best.

"Don't buy OSuriage Shinshinto or Shinto swords unless you absolutely must have it. " But of course it's not o suriage, ugly yes, but not osuriage. All the best.

Dear Mark. This is papered so no doubts about who it is by, the condition of the nakago would bother some collectors so this shouldn't fetch top price but it's a nice looking package and should be affordable because of the reshaped nakago. If it doesn't bother you then go for it but be aware that when time comes to pass it along some may be put off. All the best.

Dear John. (By the way, please add your name to your posts). Ed asks a pertinent question. Usually one of the give aways for a fake is that the machi, or notch, on the back and at the edge do not line up perfectly. However it is possible that the ha machi, notch at the edge, has suffered some damage, ie been chipped. You are right that the mounts are not standard military ones but as Brian said sometimes a mixture of mounts occurs and sometimes a civil sword is simply given a leather cover and a hanger to use as a military one. However the tsuba is suspect and the fact that there is only one seppa, washer, which is slotted for a spring catch makes me wonder. Are the tsuka and tsuba a good fit on the sword? If not then it might be an assembly of parts to complete a sword. Have a look inside the core of the tsuka where the blade slides into it. Can you see any separate shims of wood added or any signs of it being modified? If so then there is no way of knowing when this was done. Ideally you should get this to a sword group or show where someone can give it a hands on look but the workmanship of the nakago and the shape are all a bit suspect. I do not think this is a modern Chinese fake but it does look like it was made somewhere other than Japan. There are some swords made in theatre in countries where WWII was fought and it might be one of those but I don't know too much about them. For the display you mention it will be fine but if you want to be sure that you have a genuine shingunto then you need to look elsewhere I feel. Hope this helps. All the best.

Dear Miguel. The tsuka and tsuba are indeed tachi style mounts of a type quite commonly seen and assumed to be late 19th or early 20th century. I can't see enough of the saya to suggest that it is civilian under a leather wrap but from the images I would think not. Assuming that the tsuka and fittings fit the blade well then it is reasonable to assume that they were mounted with the blade when it was made and carried in WWII. Have a close look at the end of the tsuka where the blade fits, if you see signs of slivers of added wood or some other form of adjustment then it might be that the tsuka was added to the sword to replace a damaged or absent hilt after the war. First impressions are that they all belong together. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear John. I am afraid that I am the bearer of bad news. Your sword is a recently made Chinese reproduction of a Japanese shingunto. Sorry. All the best.

Wow, Jean! That's real homework! All the best.

Dear Al. The sayagaki seems to say Bishu Osafune Morimitsu but I have a hard time making all that out on the nakago, the mei does start with Bish Osafune but the last kanji are pretty obscure to my eye. Compare this one. https://www.aoijapan.net/wakizashi-bishu-osafune-morimitsu/ All the best.

Dear Sabatier. To add some specifics: Photo 1, poor shape of the blade and tanto in this shape are always questionable, poor shape to the saya and tuska, clumsy fittings. Photo 2, clumsy shaping and highly visible grain structure. Photo 3, badly shaped nakago, poor file marks, rubbish end to the nakago, clumsy tsuba with signs of artifical ageing, the way the mei is cut. Photo 4, just bad workmanship. Photo 5, shape even worse, deep grind marks near the blade and uneven machi. Photo 6, same as Photo 5. Photo 7, poor lines to the habaki. Photo 8, same as photos 1 and 7. If you use these pointers with the link that Jean gave you then you will soon start to see the differences. Don't give up, this is a fascinating field of study. All the best.

Well there's nothing Persian about it but I agree with Ray on this one. Any minute now Brian will point out that nothing in tanto length that is shinogi zukuri is any good to anyone. Whatever it is, you don't want it in your collection Ken. All the best.

Well, here is one to compare it with, https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-bizen-koku-osafune-kiyomitsueiroku-jyuni-nen-hachigatsuhi Bear in mind that there may be more than one Kiyomitsu working at this time. If the sword is the same one that you posted in the other thread then don't get too excited about the price, that flaw does hurt the value. Please add your name to your posts as per the rules. All the best.

Yoshinao? Yoshimichi? (And of course both Bruce and I failed to note the thread heading, sorry.)

Lot's to like about this one and I agree with Stephen, be great to see this in polish. Nah, that's what we call hitatsura rust! Joking aside it would be instructive to look inside the tsuka to see if what the disturbed same on the outside is telling us is true, there is a possibility that this tsuka has been remounted. Of course it might just be someone's inept repair of some damaged same. The hamon is very regular and very wide, reaching up to the shinogi in the monouchi. Does not this suggest a later sword? Whatever you turn up we all want to see it in polish. Enjoy. All the best.

Dear Durrell. As far as the mei is concerned then I would agree with Giles. It looks like it was done with a blunt screwdriver! The nakago doesn't look at all bad and I can't see anything wrong with the sword apart from a bad mei. However, the fakes are getting better and the photos are not the best...... The only thing that I can see that concerns me is the machi, is it just the way the photo has been taken? Do they line up well or are they offset? Is this one yours yet? All the best.

At the auction starting price one would need to be a pretty committed practitioner to invest in this sword, not to mention the cost of koshirae to suit it. I think Antti may have hot on the intent behind the wording. All the best.

Dear Kris. This would be a no brainer fr me, get it polished properly. Given the quality of the koshirae then it doesn't even matter if it turns out to be gimei, (false signature). I would certainly want to take the gamble; on one hand there is a chance this might turn out to be genuine and Steve's analysis of the mei makes that an interesting possibility. On the other hand a blade in proper polish is always going to be more interesting to both you and whoever is the custodian of the sword next time. Of course Ken is right the soe- bi, (small groove) is looking thin and would get thinner or even disappear in some places but the bo hi will survive just fine Well it's your sword so of course your call but if you do decide to get it polished then we look forward to hearing about it and seeing it. Whatever you do, do not go cheap on this one, do your research and pay for the proper polish. It's a small investment for this sword. All the best..