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I took a look at the original ebay listing, and it looks to me like the kissaki is indeed damaged. Okimitsu's works is outstanding, but with the damaged tip and somewhat short length and hefty price, I dunno. I do have an Okimitsu in mint gunto mounts with 26.5" nagasa, and I can attest to the nice quality of his work, though. Hoanh

Eye candy Link removed. Hoanh

Zach, Once you add a habaki+shirasaya+roundtrip shipping to you favorite artisan, you will be out another $1100-$1200 on top of the cost of the blade. ,For the same money (or even slightly less), you can own a nice gendaito in gunto mounts - both a work of art and an article of historical importance. I may be over-reaching, but if I were you, I would enjoy it as is without putting out additional money. When you are deeper into the hobby, i.e. mentally prepared to spend more hard-earned money, you can resell it on ebay to recoup some of your money and look for an upgrade path. Hoanh

Gentlemen, To my untrained eyes, the nakago looks to be ubu. I am also leaning toward shinto, probably Bizen from the nakago jiri (way out on the limb here). Hoanh

What happened to the nakago? Hoanh

Dotanuki Masakuni? Hoanh

Brent, It is a genuine Namban tsuba. Unfortunately, it looks like it has been stripped of its patina, making it essentially worthless. What a terrible loss! Hoanh

Mumei? Hoanh

Because you parry the strike, not block it. If you absolutely had no choice, you would block with the mune, not the ha. Of course, no one knows with 100% certainty what happened in your case, but if I were a bettin' man, I would bet Grey is correct. Hoanh

James, I don't see any tired spot, either. Hoanh

James, Being polished many times is not interchangeable with being tired. A sword is said to be tired when shintetsu begins to show through. Do you see spot/spots on your ji surface that seem featureless/bland? Below is a good link for terminologies. To be able to say your sword is tired or healthy, we need much better pictures than the ones you posted. As things stand, I would hesitate to say one way or the other. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/kizu.htm Hoanh

James, I think I see the kaeri. I concur with others that it's Shinto. It looks to me to be a very well-made sword, and it would look outstanding if polished. The big issue I see is that if you have it polished, you will never recover the expense. Mumei Shinto daito don't command any pricing power at all. May be just clean it up with uchiko and enjoy as is. Hoanh

James, Does the boshi have a kaeri? Can we get a better picture of the boshi? Hoanh

Bump! Hoanh

How much for the shovels or the nice sword? Hoanh

Nice find, Paul. Hoanh

Frank, All is well. It was not done in malice. No worries! Hoanh

Jean and Barry, Thank you for your inputs. They reinforce my belief that we are looking at a hagire. Hoanh

Greetings, I wonder if the flaw shown in the 4 pictures below is a hagire. I feel certain that the sword has a hagire, and someone (probably long ago) did a machi okuri to move it below the machi. I looked at the sword edge-on and slowly tilt the sword to see if the cracks match up. and they do indeed match up on the edge. Any input/opinion/advice is much appreciated. Warmest Regards, Hoanh

Frank, I believe the proper term is "Japanese," not Japs. Respectfully, Hoanh

Tim, I do have a nice, flawless, signed, in-good-polish, in-koshirae wakizashi with NBTHK Hozon priced at $1800. If you are interested, please PM me. Hoanh

Johnny, For what it's worth, Owari is also the first thing I think of. Hoanh

Tim, I am with Stephen on this one. By the time all said and done, you will have put at least $1500 more into this wakizashi. The total of $1500+$400 could get you a nice, signed, flawless, papered wakizashi in koshirae. Save your money! Hoanh

Michael, It is genuine. Hoanh

Hi Ken, I will get a picture of the suguta for you this weekend. Hoanh