Stefan

It is  an sunagashi and  it is nie. Sunagashi are lines  of nie.

I knew  the  sword. I do not  know  what  is more  exellent. The blade  or the  polish  Kentaro  Yoshikawa  Sensei. Who ever  will  purchase this,  he will b  the proud owner  of  one  of the  best pieces  of Doi.

Well, the blade  is not  in pristine polish. So  i would  say, oil it,  wipe and  than uchiko. Do this  for an  long, long time and  the rust  will mostly  disappear.  It needs  patience.Far  as  i can see the rust  ist superficial  and  new, should  work well. 

Ok.   The  hole  is  modern,  the  "yasurime" in this  case  an type  of  sensuki  is wrong and  sluggish, the  kanji  is more than poorly  written.  All  this  is  not typical for  an real  nihonto. If  one  takes  an look  on the blade : Oh no,looks  not  good. This  blade  does  not  have  anything one  would  expect  in an Kato school  sword. Could  it  be  an  later copy, well even  in showato such  sluggish  nakago  finish is rarely   seen. 

Nice China-To

Hon`ami Nisshu, one  of the  relay great  appraisers  of the  Honami  school  of  sword polishers . He has  been  an  living  national  treasure .Honami  judgement  is  in many  cases  more  reliable than  the  NBTHK.  I said in many  cases .  Hon ami like Choshiki,  oh no....`

Hi Sabiji old  friend !  Od course  i can see it. Who told  You the first time about the  secondary  hada...Ups  has been me.  You  remember the nice  evening  in the pub...An good  pint and an more than  interesting talk. Had been good times.

Well  one  of the most  prominent  smith  for this  is Sendai Kunikane. Far as i remember Mishina  Sensei  got his  Mukansa  for  bringing out  just this  effect  on an Kunikane, the super fine  secondary  hada in the masame  structure.

The  first  blade  which  nearly  took my  breath aways  a  ko mihara  masie, nearly  ubu  nanbo  tachi. Flawless, thick  and  healthy. An monster.

Some  times  later, an  o-suriage  waki, oh only  ichimonji but the  mounting,  complete  set by  hamano noriyuki.

Some  times  later  i can not believe my  eyes  i thought at this time.  The same  collector  who  owned  the  first  one  came along with another blade.  shodai murmasa  katana  with, which is more important !  Complete , ubu  tensho koshirae. At this  time  i  ve been  22  or so. In the following years  i have been honored to handle so much great blades. May  sound arrogant, but at some  point  i really  thought, not again ichimonji.... But !  one  of the  impressive  blades  i ve  been  honored to handle  during the last  five  years, an  ubu ichimonji tachi, so healthy, thick  an mighty  that  at  a first  short  glance  one   would say  "gendei copy" but no, real  old  solid  ichimonji. I  stumbeled  over super fine rai kunimitsu,  an  ubu  shodai nobukuni tachi and  so on. But  on my  learning  journey i learned  also that  some  schools like  the  bungo  are totally  underestimated. I  ve  seen  an  bungu tadayuki  which  has been in no way  inferrior to hizen to of the top rank. Super  fine jiagne  with  much  ji-nie powder ( konuka  like ), suguha in best  controlled nie, good shape.

Oh i am talking to much, sorry  for the random thoughts.

Wow. There  is  good  chance  that it  is Jitsua. But even  if  not, it is an very  fine blade.

O.K. Hadori.  First of all. If it is well done even the strongest  Hadori  will not  kill  an features in the  Yakiba  and Habuchi. In spite  of that, it will improve  their  appearance. The Nie will be more brilliant, the Ashi better visible etc. That is only  logical, because the stone  used in Hadori is the same  as to bring  them out  before Jitsuya and Nugui after the Jibiki. But, to do this it takes  patience, and much  time. Doing perfect  Hadori  on an Katana, well two days, three days. This  time  must be paid. This  is  the one reason  for the  effect of  Ashi  who  disappears  during  Habori Shiage. in order to shorten  the  process, an slightly  other  stone is used. it  whitens the  area much  faster and  saves time  and  money. This is done  in cheap polishes. Therefore  if  one orders  an cheap polish, well...

Another  problem, impatient clients. If one  does not  have the right  tone  at  hand at the moment, well  the  client must  be willed  to wait some time. As  I said, it  depends all on the correct  stone and  technique. Without, no way  to do an  good  job. Logical, isn it ? So if  You  force  Your  Togishi  to be faster,  "lost" Ashi can be the result.

Than the  decision  Sashikomi or Hadori.

I would not say  that this  is  only  the customers  decision. There are  technical requirements in the blade  which must be filled  up by  the blade, otherwise  Sashikomi simply  does not work well. By example,  Sashikomi   on an partial  tiered  blade, please not. The  technique uses the different hardness  of the  steel  in the  Ji and ha, What  do You think would it do with  soft Jigane.  Exact, super dark ugly patches. These are  only technical thoughts about the whole thing, if  talk  about asthetics, many times  Hadori is the best way. there must be a balance  between the Toshin and  the  Ji-Ba.  Imagine an small, fine  Tanto with  an completely  hectic  Hitatsura.  The  whole  thing  should  be  calmed  down slightly in  order  to give the Toshin and the Jiba an balance. 

Just my  random thougths about Hadori.

Should  fill Your need .https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b682-Japanese-master-swordsmiths-gassan-tradition

Otherwise try 

Nihonto Koza or the Yamanaka Newsletter.

I do not think that this is umegane. The hada runs  through the  lines. The  pattern is not broken.

Partly total  overpriced  estimates in the sword and kodogu section. By the way, some of the descriptions are realy fancy... " Sengo Muramasa" ( Lot 121 ). The "Norishige" do not think that this is an Norishige....etc.

B.Hennik : Hadatach means  the same  as  hadatachi. As  Jean  explained well, it means a strong, releif like  hada.

It is hada. Chikei must consist of nie. this is not the case. Beside this hada  ji-nie is visible on the blade. The  very smal black points. I do not  mean the pinholes. I do think that marius is right, that the other thing is simple hada tach. this can be the result of polishing or the combination of two  or more sorts of steel. If one polishes a sword with mixed steel to hard, than it will be to strong hada tach.

This  hada tach can raise problems in meaning of seeing  other fine hataraki like ji.nie in the light reflex. Therefore honami said once that  a blade  like  sadamune should  never been polished hada tach. 

Just some  random thoughts about hada tach.

An  carving is done before the polishing. One  should  always keep in mind that one  slips  easly out with an engraving tool and  the slightest scratch will ruin the togis work.

Nice  little  late shinshinto tanto. Such hada  is not  uncommon  during this  time.

It is a pitty that the polish is in such terrible conditon. It seems that there is  intensive ji.nie.

Here is another example of such colour games, a little  bit  bigger pattern. ( Matsukawa style, but the blade is shinshinto )

By the way, there are no waves in the shinogiji, it is an light effect, still learning to photograph.

I am sorry, on  one  hand  an acid accident on the  other hand sluggish  yakiire. Part  of the  claycoating has fallen of.

Is this a fatal flaw, no it is not.

Is there a way to repair the acid desaster without  a new polish, sorry again the answer is no.

Is the  seal on the  picture of the paper. I can not see it. if not, fake paper. Paper for these run out  of the mill kodogu, i do not believe in it.

Of coarse the kissaki can polished to the point that all features are visible during an madoake. That does not mean that the whole  narume  procedure is done. After uchigumori the hamon should be clearly visible, the narume is only for whitening.

Here is an example why it is an good idea to  open a window. Part  of the  blade is healthy, the rest is nearly dead. Will be the madoake damaged during the  polishing process of the wohle blade. Well, the foundation is there, only the finish will be done again in order to blend with the rest of the balde.

Early Mino, Soshu with Yamto mixed in,  I go for  Naoe Shizu

A blade  with serious flaws and it is not kamakura I do think.

Late green paper, worthless. Kanzan Sayagaki, looks strange. Mei, to many differences. Red Flag. By the way  the  shape is wrong and the nakago looks to young.

To strong sori, mizu-kage, shinae, all points  for sai ha.

Ähm, It  has  not the  shape  of the  period  of Dewa Daijo, the  hori is wrong. yasurime  does not  match. Gimei. Hada  and  hamon can  not be juged with  these  pictures.