Grey Doffin

I wouldn't even grace this piece of poop with the term reproduction. Chinese or Thai fake with a cosmetic temper line; nothing better. You really need to spend some money on books and serious time in study before you buy a sword. Otherwise you're as likely to waste your money as you are to get something worthwhile. Grey

John Tirado and Brian Tschurnega (surely misspelled) in the US. Grey

But why was the blade shortened in the first place? Certainly not to fit the army scabbard as that would have been made to fit the blade. I'm still troubled by the shortening; I see no logic to it. Grey

Would someone be so kind as to post a picture or scan of page 241 of Nihonto Jiten by Tokuno? I need to see the mei of nidai Bitchu no Kami Yasuhiro. Thanks, Grey

Koshirae is the mounts/furniture. Grey

Show it to someone who can tell, and even then it might be only an educated guess without a proper polish (or at least a polished window). There's not much I could write here that would equal years of study and experience. Retemper can be a complicated subject. It's not always obvious if a sword is retempered or not. Still curious if anyone has a better answer for why this was shortened. Grey

Page 69 in Fujishiro Grey

Hi Fritz, It looks to me like the sword has been shortened about 2", and that it was originally a 22.5" wakizashi. I can't think of a good reason why anyone would do that to a good piece. If it were originally a short katana and someone wanted a wakizashi it could make sense. During the Edo period only Samurai were allowed to carry a katana (length of edge at 24" or greater). It could be that a merchant owned a katana and had it shortened to be street legal. But why make a long wakizashi into a slightly less long wakizashi, especially if you partially hide the horimono by doing so? This is a red flag for me; unexplainable shortening can be a sign of retempering (done to disguise evidence of the retemper). I don't think you want to try for polish and paper unless you have very good information that it makes sense. Can anyone else think why this sword would have been shortened, if not to hide mizukage? I'd be interested to hear what you think. Grey

Fritz, Can you tell us the length of the cutting edge, from the tip to the notch at the back in a straight line? The current length might tell us something about the condition. Grey

If you were thinking about buying that sword you need to think about buying some good books. Read and study first, read and study some more second, then maybe you can buy a sword. Otherwise, your mistakes may be costly. Grey

I agree: Chinese or Thai. Grey

I don't understand what that means. How could a habaki fit from the tip down, rather than the nakago up? Would you explain please. Thanks. Grey

Weren't the Ichimonji famous for their 18" wakizashi? Grey (tongue firmly in cheek)

Fritz, A proper Polish should cost about 2,000 US$; one done by an amateur will cost less and but end up being more expensive in the long run (bone brain polishers destroy swords). Polish will probably be required before submission to paper. Paper, if the sword gets a paper, will add another thousand, or about $500 if you don't get one. Shira-saya (you don't put the newly polished sword back in the old scabbard) and possibly a habaki will add a few hundred more. The process will take about a year. Polish aids in preservation only if you're prepared to learn how to properly care for the polish; otherwise the polish is counter productive (if the polish gets scratched and corroded, when you sell it the new owner will likely want a fresh polish and the blade can survive only so many polishes in its life). If it financially smart to spend the money on this sword? A lot depends on what we've been talking about above (retemper, for example) and a lot depends on what you want to do with the sword. If you plan to sell, unless you have trustworthy advise from someone very knowledgeable that the sword will get a good attribution on the paper, it makes sense to sell it as is. Hope this helps. Grey

I just emailed the buyer and told him to be careful. Grey

No idea why Masaaki would be signed on the other side. If it were the carver it would say something about carving. Too bad it has been shortened; pity to see the carving under the habaki instead of where it belongs. Sometimes shortening that doesn't make sense can be a sign of a retempered blade. The shortening would be done to erase/cover a mark (mizukage) made at the original machi by the retempering process. Retemper would also explain the flaking nakago (fire scale?) and hamon that's difficult to photograph. I'm not saying I think the sword is retempered but it is always a possibility. Any case, without having the blade in hand it won't be possible to say much about value. There's just too much we can't tell from photos. Hope this helps. Grey

I think it's pretty sure that the mei side of the nakago has been abrasively cleaned. If the nakago were repatinated properly, and if the mei is right, and if the cut test is legit, and if the fact that this Shinto blade has been shortened doesn't present too large a problem (a bunch of ifs), the NBTHK might give this blade a paper. Grey

The blue is a bluish cast to the black of the iron; that's the best way I can describe it. If it's there you should have no trouble seeing it under natural light. There's a Choshu Tomoyuki in the Peabody Museum softcover tsuba book, page 21, with a given date of 1750. Grey

I believe it is signed, "Choshu Ju Tomohisa". Tomohisa is a commonly found name among Choshu tsuba-shi. Look for a blue cast to the iron as a sign of good Choshu work. Grey

You could strip the military fittings and replace them, but it would probably cost less and accomplish the same end if you were to buy a nicer looking sword (one more to your tastes) and leave this one alone. You could sell this one and get back some of the cost. It won't be possible to return this sword to Japan. It's my understanding that unless the sword is a traditionally made Nihonto, as opposed to a machine made or made by an untrained smith during the war sword, Japanese customs will seize and destroy (treated as a weapon, not a work of art). I would suggest either keeping it as is or selling it on ebay. Grey

Ditto from me; made yesterday in China. Grey

If the nakago is smooth and waxy feeling then maybe the sword wasn't caught in a fire and maybe it hasn't lost its temper. Swords that have been burnt usually have a coarse, dry feeling nakago (unless they have been shortened after retempering to remove evidence of the retemper). They also can have fire scale, an uneven built up flake-like deposit. A good polisher, however, can make anything look right. I recently owned a very early tachi that had completely lost its hamon to fire. Because it hadn't been retempered the curvature hadn't changed much if at all. This might be a possibility for your tachi. I think it needs to be shown to someone who can tell what's up, a properly trained polisher for example. As long as there's a chance that it has its original temper, even with the ha-giri and possible gi-mei, it has some value. Grey

Tom, The 1st attached picture shows the nagasa to be 31", and the last attached picture shows the ha-gire. Grey

Jim, You should wipe off the WD-40 if you haven't already. Unscented, white facial tissue or even toilet paper works well and won't damage the blade. If you've put anything on the tang be sure to wipe that off as well as you can, and as you've discovered, don't try to clean the tang in any way. You can wipe on some light machine oil, although it probably isn't necessary in Arizona (dry climate). 2 or 3 drops on a folded facial tissue, wipe gently over the blade but not the tang, and then wipe it off with a dry tissue. The tiny bit of oil left on the blade is all that's necessary. Otherwise, there's nothing more you can do to help and a whole lot more you could try that would risk damage; best to leave it alone. Someday a trained polisher can make it right. Grey

Retempering is a possibility that would explain the atypical curvature, the inactive hamon, and the ha-giri. How does the nakago feel: smooth and waxy or coarse and dry? Grey