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My apologies! I was looking at the top pic that says 19. The second pic does indeed say 18. Hoanh

I believe the year is 1944. Hoanh

Certainly not hitatsura! Hoanh

I second that. The only “problem” with the book is that it will help dampen the impulsive buying of cheap junk blades. Hoanh

It would cost in the $100-$200 range, plus round trip shipping - not too much in the grand scheme of things. Hoanh

The mei says “Hizen no Kuni Tadayoshi.” Here is one for comparison. https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A021118.html Hoanh

I'll stick my neck out to be shot down. The nakago looks fairly new and it lacks details expected of a Japanese sword, and it's unsigned. I would guess Chinese made. I would steer clear of this one. Hoanh

Mark, I like your sword a lot - nice shape, nice nie. On the one hand, the mei and the placement of the nakago ana seem right. On the other hand, as Geraint pointed out, the age seems off. The nakago jiri seems off as well. The workmanship doesn’t match yasuhiro’s Ishido style, either. So, I am leaning on gimei. Again, regardless of the mei, it is a nice sword. Hoanh

Aaron, Does the sword have an independent appraisal, e.g., NBTHK or NTHK? Is it signed? When I hear descriptions such as Nambokucho, ubu nakago, 71 cm, available for $3.5k CAD, negotiable, all kinds of red flags go up. I would approach this sword cautiously and with a hefty dose of skepticism. Hoanh

Julius, I have been happy with John Tirado’s work. I can PM you his contact info if you wish. He is based out of Pennsylvania. Hoanh

https://www.nihonto.com/11-3-17/ Hoanh

Julius, “Restoration” is not a one-stop shop. Each craftsman specializes in one area. Also, it’s not a cheap proposition. For example, if you want to polish the sword, I would recommend sending it off to have new shirasaya made (~$400 for a wakizashi, ~6 months lead time). Then, send it off to have it polished by a properly trained polisher (~$100/inch, ~18 months lead time). By the time all said and done, you are looking at 2 years and $2k-$3k. You might want to hold off on any restoration and do a bit of reading to figure out what you really want to do. Hoanh

Dave, IMHO, it's a nice package. Of what little I can see on this out-of-polish blade, there are some nice hataraki. Hoanh

From what I see, it has zero chance of being a Inoue Shinkai tanto. Age-wise, I would guess no earlier than Edo. Value-wise, it's hard to say. Rough guess, under $1000. More close up pictures, especially without the habaki, will help to narrow things down a little. Hoanh

Very nice and rare sword. Hoanh