Geraint

Hi Mark. I have a kaigunto which has had the plating or paint removed and on close inspection it is made from two halves brazed together, obviously lined with wood. Another shingunto with some chipped lacquer shows the same construction. In most shingunto the inner scabbard is made from two slips of wood shaped to fit the blade so there would be some possibility of making a limited number of pressed scabbards fit a number of blades through adjustment of the timber liner. I have no sources for this but I am looking forward to others opinions. All the best.

Dear Mark. It probably goes without saying but we would all like to see shots of the whole blade if it does become yours. Looks like a really interesting find, congratulations. All the best.

It's 1st May not 1st April

Dear Nick. My apologies if this is obvious but the length we are interested in is from the tip to the notch on the back of the blade where the habaki rests. If this dimension is less than 24" then the blade is a wakizashi, if greater then it is a katana. From the proportions, as Ray says, this appears to be a wakizashi. If you look at the mei that Ray has provided the link to you will note that Yoshitake usually signs with a narrow stroke and the downward slope to the first character is a trade mark which yours does not have. The same inconsistencies follow throughout the signature so I am afraid that at his stage I would suggest that it is gimei. Doesn't mean that it's not a nice sword though. All the best.

Hi John. Welcome, please add your name to your posts as we do here. The short answer to your question is, "No". It does very much look as though there should be another mekugi ana somewhat nearer the machi. Shots of the blade overall and dimensions may help, for example a very slender sword might make this look more orthodox. Two other things spring to mind, the first is that I have seen mekugi ana filled with steel, hard to spot if done well. The second is that some swords are slipped into mounts without a mekugi, usually not for use of course. Give us a few more shots to go from and perhaps we can help more. All the best.

Hi Nick. We'd all like to see more photos, meanwhile here's a link to get you going, http://www.sho-shin.com (Link doesn't want to work for me, copy and paste it into a browser). Go to the Shinto arrow and the Horikawa school. Most people agree that there were three generations though not all sources have this. I'll dig out some more info when I have time. All the best.

Dear Loz. Probably not 20th century but Edo period, i.e. mid 19th or earlier. The view from the back will help us here. All the best.

Dear MArk. (Please add your name to your posts as we all do). You may be able to track down who the smith is from this much of the mei, or at least narrow it down a bit. The rest of the sword is a bit of an assembly job. Note the old mekugi ana in the tsuka, the odd and unassociated mixture of seppa, the leather seppa which might have been for a snap retainer, the leather scabbard cover which was for a sword with a kurikata and the odd construction of the habaki. Not sure about the tsuba but you have it in hand so have a look at the inner edges to see what there is. Time for some research. All the best.

Bye the bye Phunixx, please add your name to your posts as per the rules. Let us know what you find out. All the best.

So let's assume that you bid $1400 and you win. (They might go for a lot more of course.) Then add the auction buyer's premium, often 25% or more. You don't have full pictures of the blades so you have no idea if they have any hamon or boshi, you can't see if they have serious flaws, you have no idea whether they are signed or not and they do look a bit rough, as Ray suggests. But let's say you win them, what have you got? An NCO sword that might be genuine but there are a lot of very good fakes out there, a wakizashi out of polish and in poor koshirae and two out of polish katana, one of which is a shingunto and could be anything. Let's say that when you get them and take them apart one of them is signed and by a good maker, so it's off to polish, shirasaya, habaki and shinsa. $$$$$$$$$$$$$! Unless you can see these in hand and know enough to tell good from bad and are prepared to put some serious money into them......getting the picture? Take your hand off your wallet! Of course it's your wallet and your choice, whatever you decide to do enjoy it! All the best.

I think we may have misunderstood Daniel. I think he is saying that he wished he could spend 3k on a sword but he can't because of his other commitments. If that is the case then patience, my friend. They do grow up, (The family that is,) and there will be a time when you might be able to find a little more to spend on Japanese swords. My first sword was given to me when I was 16, the second didn't come along until I was 27 and the third not until I was 34. I still have them all. Enjoy looking and learning, at least with the internet you can get to look at some great stuff. When I started there was nothing except Sword and Same and a small book from the Victoria and Albert museum. All the best.

Hi Ken. Can't help much I'm afraid but the top left piece looks like one of the tabs that sometimes fit into the slot in a fuchi to secure it to an unwrapped tsuka. I'm sure there is a Japanese term for these but I don't know it. All the best.

Dear Arnold. I have passed mine on but from memory the English translation was a companion volume to the Japanese text and not a direct replacement, you needed both to make full use of it. At the time it was valuable pair of books but the single volume Connoisseur's is much handier to work with. All the best.

Dear Philip. That the case is magnetic points to it being original rather than the other way around, Komai is known for nunome zogan on an iron base. I am under the impression that the K24 mark suggest late production. Your mark appears here, http://www.smokingsamurai.com/index.html Look for the unknown marks section and it's the first one.

Dear Daniel. This can be any period you chose and any province you wish. In this condition nobody will be able to contradict you! Seriously, if you want any sort of a guess at least give us the sizes to work with which might help get to a period. All the best.

Dear Brian. I think this is a great idea, I often use archives on commercial site when researching a particular smith or tsuba maker. It's especially frustrating when you find something you need and external hosting has expired. I know most people post directly to NMB which should get round that issues. Go for it!

Dear Chris. Is it just me or are the machi uneven? If so another sign of low quality and late production. All the best.

Too short for a sabre, probably best start searching around stirrup hilted hanger. All the best.

Dear Dave. In this case I would strongly recommend that you don't take it apart, unlike Japanese swords it was never meant to be dismounted. Any attempt will reduce it's value to almost zero. Apart from a general feeling are there any markings here that would suggest that it is Japanese, because I can't see anything I recognize? All the best.

Which, in this case stands for, "Rust in peace". As I have an interest in blades from this area I would certainly hang onto it as an example of the mei but given the remote possibility that there is enough hamon and boshi to allow for a polish what you have left would be a slender little shadow of it's former self. Not a good thing fro a shinshinto blade from this province. I once came across a sword in an antique shop who clearly had there own "polisher". A rather nice shinto katana was reduced to toothpick proportions. Upset me for days. All the best.

Dear Alexsandr. It's either: 1 A mumei shinshinto wakizashi. 2 A shinto mumei wakizashi 3 A wakizashi formed by o suriage from a katana. 4 A wakizashi formed by o suriage from a tachi 5 None of the above. I only left out a koto wakizashi because of the patina on the nakago, and that's about the only thing we can see. Asking for a kantei opinion from, with respect, fairly poor photographs of an out of polish mumei wakizashi is a stretch too far. I know there is some shape to the hamon but not being able to discern the boshi, hataraki, hada or yakidashi if it's there.......Nice fuchi though. All the best.

Sorry Peter, didn't check the link. Second row down, Bizen Norimitsu wakizashi in Hizen koshirae. All the best.

Dear Lance. What Ray said plus !. First off, slow down and go carefully. Fingerprints on swords quickly turn to rust and ruin things. These are already in need of some restoration but you might have some interesting things there. You certainly have three Shingunto that were carried in WWII, a naval dirk and two civilian wakizashi. The wakizashi with the black lacquer looks as though it was a good thing, nmow in need of some restoration, the one at the top also looks interesting so go slow and take advice. That's a fascinating gun case to have opened and you have found some interesting things. Enjoy. All the best.

Hi Sala. I assume you have seen this? http://www.shibuiswords.com/bushu-choshuSchools.htm All the best.

Looks like a nice package Paul. Enjoy! All the best.