Grey Doffin

Dan, Your pictures are way too large. If you want help from us you should learn to take smaller pictures and also to crop them. Grey

Not 100% sure but I'm leaning heavily towards replica/fake. Grey

Thanks Chris. No promises, Brian (picture of whole blade). Maybe. Grey

Hi guys, Someone has sent me pictures of a ken with the inscription below on the blade. Beyond my feeble translation skills, I'm afraid. Any & all help will be greatly appreciated Thanks, Grey

Hi Bernard, The mei doesn't match with any oshigata in the books I own that are listed for a Kanehisa in my index. Hawley's shows between 30 and 40 Kanehisa; your blade is likely made by one of them who didn't make it into the references. I would guess either late Koto or possibly Shinshinto. I think the horimono with red lacquer was placed to disguise a flaw; seems an unlikely placement otherwise. Grey

Yes. Grey

I believe that Nihonto will be the bulk of the show. Grey

Thomas, Here is a link to a care and etiquette brochure: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm You can apply a very thin coat of machine oil to red rusty spots but don't attempt any other repairs; anything you try may cause damage and loss of value. You won't be able to purchase a handle to fit your sword; they are custom fit to each blade. One reason why the last few inches of the blade is dull may have to do with pushing it all the way into a scabbard that doesn't fit; I'd leave it less than fully in rather than risk further damaging the edge. The blade needs some care to be taken; as is it is vulnerable to breakage. At the very least it needs a shira-saya (plain wooden mounts). You have to decide if you want to keep it and be the one to spend the necessary money, or if you'd like to sell it to someone who will have the work done. In the mean time, be very careful; these swords break easily if mishandled. Grey

Brian, Do the fingernail test on the Kin Zogan. If the inlay is old it should be slightly below the surface of the nakago around it. When done, the inlay was flush but with time the iron corrodes and expands above the gold which doesn't corrode. If the inlay is flush it may be a modern addition. Grey

Daido Grey

Hi Bob, Not sure I understand what you're about here. I was having fun at my own expense, given the ham-fisted job I did of mistranslating the Nengo. Grey

A lot of good it did Grey Doffin. Grey

Oliver, The other side is the date. The 1st 2 Kanji are the Nengo (time period) and are hard to read. The year count is 17 and going through the list of Nengo looking for those with enough years I come up with Kan-ei. If this is right the dates reads, "Kan-ei Ju Shichi Nen Ni Gatsu Hi". A day in the 2nd month of 1640. In your pictures the nakago and mei don't look that old, so gimei is a possibility, but also, I may be reading this incorrectly. Grey

Hi Chris, One side has 3 Kanji: Shigefusa Saku (made by Shigefusa). The other has 5: 2 I don't recognize followed by Ju Ichi Gatsu (11 month, November). I would expect Nen (year) before the Ju so maybe the 2nd Kanji is an abbreviated Nen Kanji. I'm sure someone will be able to read it completely. Handle wrap cost is above; you'll also need menuki if they're missing ($30 to 50). David McDonald would be a good choice for the work. No idea how difficult it will be to find the kojiri (piece at bottom of saya) or what that will cost. $1,200 is probably OK for the price, but you can try to talk him down; 1K would be better considering the cost to rewrap. You mentioned the blade isn't razor sharp. This might be a red flag, something to question. I'm not much up on Gendai so maybe someone else can chime in here, but I'd expect real Nihonto to be sharp. Grey

Hi Bob, Hard to tell much from the pictures and description: could be naginata naoshi or could be a wakizashi made without a yokote. Nice fuchi/kashira and I like the habaki; the rest of it, unless the buyer gets very lucky, seems way overpriced to me. Grey

I can second that. Chris and Larry put on the most interesting Nihonto show in the States. Others might be bigger but none come close for displays and seminars. The last one they did included, if I remember correctly, tamahagane production in Minnesota, kimonos, tea ceremony, ikebana, and more. The show before the last had a swordsmith, habaki maker, and saya maker. Do yourself a favor and attend their show. Grey

Hi Mark, Most of the swords made during the war were made by men with no classical training in sword making; they were just available, unable for whatever reason to go to war, and put to work making swords. The swords they made are just sharp pieces of steel, not true Nihonto. The only effort I'm aware of to record their work is 2 volumes by Fuller & Gregory: A Guide to Showa Swordsmiths & Swordsmiths of Japan: 1926 - 1945. These books contain oshigata of signatures but there is no rhyme or reason governing who was included; if the authors had an oshigata it made it in the books. My experience is that maybe one fourth of the Gunto signatures I come across are found in these books; the rest are unrecorded. Grey

These are called tobiyaki, which are isolated areas of hardened steel above the yakiba. There was a thread on this subject not too long ago; maybe someone who remembers it can post a link. Grey

No matter who he was, he didn't make it into any of the references in my index. Grey

The cost of restoration would far exceed the sword's value once fully restored. Grey

Breathtaking, maybe even stupid. Grey

I would think, given the condition issues, $500 to 600 would be close. Grey

Hi Sean, The sword has a Seki Arsenal stamp, is signed Yoshi something (don't recognize the 2nd character; help please) and dated Showa Ju Ju Nen (1945). This is standard Army Shin Gunto. Grey

bobj, Like a gun show in that there will be a hundred or so tables for dealers, and you can bring a sword to walk around and sell, and there will be a few seminars/displays. Grey

Looks like the sides have been cut off. Grey