Grey Doffin

Marcello, Kantei is judging the maker/school of the sword by study of the sword's attributes: hamon, grain, shape, steel, etc. Grey

Hi Jim, About gimei, re your Ikkanshi Tadatsuna. Tadatsuna was well respected in his life time (late 17th century) and has continued to be so since. Gimei (forged signatures) of his work have been created since the day he first became famous, over 300 years ago, and are probably still being made today. As long as there are customers with more money than knowledge, there will be forgers to supply them with merchandise. Grey

Hi Mariusz, This sale just showed up on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-SWORD-WWII-WW2-Japanese-DIGNITARY-TROPHY-/290525819022?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a4b0308e The badge on the tsuka is definitely a mon; looks quite similar to your tsuba's sukashi. Grey

Hi Dan, Allow me to translate. The 2nd half of your sword's smith's name (the 2nd character) has been mostly obliterated by the lower hole in the tang. The 1st character is read, "Kane". In the 16th century in an area of Japan called Mino there were a great many swordsmiths making an even greater many swords (this was a time of constant warfare in Japan). It was the norm for these smiths in this province at this time to sign with art names that began with Kane. It is quite likely, though not 100% certain, that your sword fits here. Maybe someone will be able to read the 2nd character and then we'll know more. If you live in the States and you'd like to ask someone who knows more than you some questions feel free to give me a call. Cheers, Grey 218-726-0395 central time

Kane something. Grey

Hi Dan, Go here: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm to learn about care and etiquette with a Japanese sword. Grey

Hi John, Have you tried a different browser? Download Mozilla Firefox (it's free) and give it a try. Even if it can't get you to Lulu you'll probably like it better than IE. Grey

Hi Chuck, To my knowledge, there is no translation of this book. Grey

Stephen, I think the owner would be willing to sell if someone were willing to pay about 10 times what it's worth. Grey

Shrinking and expanding of the wood of the tsuka shouldn't have anything to do with the looseness. Wood doesn't shrink noticeably along its length, only in the 2 other dimensions. Grey

I think it's ubu; the bottom hole is original and the upper one was drilled when the ken was mounted in Meiji or later. I'm told the nagasa is 8.5". Are the katagana now readable, anyone? Grey

Thanks for the tip, Justin; let's see if that worked. Grey

Kanetada Saku, I believe. Grey

Ishihara Naotane Grey

I get, "Ju Roku Nen" and 2 other Kanji. If the nengo is Showa this would be 1941. Showa 1 was 1926 so Showa 16 would be 1941. If you know who it was cleaned the nakago, tell him never to do that again. Grey

Hi guys, I do have other pictures but they are huge, and I've had no luck figuring out how to make digital pictures smaller. The other side of the nakago is a poorly cut gimei. Above the katakana, carved on the ken, is a stylized dragon wrapped around a ken, of so-so quality. The carving of the sutra is low quality. I told the owner I think it's a ken from Muromachi with mei and sutra added much later to appeal to Western collectors in Japan in Meiji and later. The koshirae are nice but made to Western taste. Interesting Philip, how is it you know the katagana are post Meiji (not invented/in use till then)? Thanks for all the help, guys. Grey

Hi Peter, Just which edition of which Hawley's book are you asking after? Grey

If a sword had a ha-giri close to the machi the blade could be shortened, making the ha-giri disappear into the nakago, and therefore the crack wouldn't be fatal. A ha-giri of any length elsewhere on the blade, and especially in the monouchi, is fatal. Grey

Hi Jock, Deleting pictures from old posts is easy. At the bottom right corner of every post is an edit button. Once open, every picture has a delete button. Grey

Didn't we discussed this sword a few months ago? I remember the darkish utsuri above the yakiba and the double horizontal stroke in the Sa Kanji. Grey

Hi Kevin, I would say bad but not fatal. Ware' in the yakiba are worse than the same above the tempered area. Grey

Thanks Ed, I have a picture of one side of the nakago (not very good picture; sorry); looks like Hiragana maybe? Can anyone make sense of this please? Thanks, Grey

Maybe not cowboys but, I am a bit puzzled by, Grey

If it needs to be fixed, and if it can be fixed, it has to be done by someone with skill & experience. Not just a professional polisher, a classically trained polisher and probably in Japan. Grey

Hi, ?, This is the Japanese Gov't sword registration card. It will tell you length, signature or mumei, and that the sword has been registered. I says nothing about quality, validity of signature or attribution if mumei, or anything else you might like to learn about the sword. Grey