ROKUJURO

Roy, you have got all possible explanations. It is a simple manufacturer's or shop mark, not meant to be identified.

MASASHIGE perhaps?

I have tried to remove the bakabi but it’s not moving. After searching this forum I have also tried the hot water method but still no results. Anyone other ideas how to remove the habaki? BTW the hakabi is made of copper. Hi Ed, there seem to be more problems with this item! Maybe the hot water will help as a first step. There are special wooden tools to remove a stuck HABAKI, and you can make them yourself quite easily (http://toyamaryu.org/katana_disassembly.htm). Some years ago, Barry Thomas advised here on the NMB: Posted 02 June 2012 - 02:58 PM .....A method I have used very successfully without damage is to slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over the habaki (tang down) whilst rotating the blade. When the water is all gone take a piece of thick cloth (have it ready to hand), wrap it around the habaki, grip it tightly on the habaki, and gently (more or less...) bang the tang down on a largish block of soft wood (eg., pine in a 4 inch x 4 inch x 12 inch length). The habaki usually comes off fairly easily. If this doesn't move the habaki then one is reduced to hammering directly on it. Again, here one can still use the hot water, but use a piece of soft wood as a drift (i.e., intermediary block between the hammer and habaki). I am confident that helps!

Darcy, this is indeed a very beautiful HEIANJO TSUBA. The brass work is very detailed and mostly still in place, although the iron surface has been attacked in many places by heavy corrosion. The KOGAI HITSU has probably been altered. The overall impression leads me to believe that this is an earlier work..

Roy, whatever the signs may read, they have nothing to do with the blade. It is probably just the MEI of the HABAKI maker. HABAKI are replaced when necessary, e.g. after a polish that removes some material.

Silvio, the value of a blade has very little to do with age! Quality and condition are much more relevant.

Robert, strictly spoken, the MURAMASA TANTO is a WAKIZASHI. In the past it was sometimes called SUN-NOBI TANTO and of course used like a TANTO, probably as DAISHO together with a TACHI.

Silvio, you can compare yourself: https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-mumei-nanki-shigekuni The patina-stripped NAKAGO is really a bad damage!

Arnold, you cannot heat-treat a part of the blade because other parts would completely loose their HAMON. The hardness goes down as soon as the steel is exposed to temperatures above 220°C (roughly).

I think the new handle is not at all appropriate. It may help to secure the blade for the moment being, but in the end, another TSUKA (this time not with polished brass FUCHI and KASHIRA) will look much better. Just my personal thought.

Erick, you have already got some information from the seller, maybe he can tell you more about the blade itself and how it is made. The value is what you paid for it; the blade does not seem to hide something above the normal value of a SHINKEN. 'NOSHUDO' does not tell much; it is probably related to the old province name NOSHÛ for what is nowadays SEKI. The photos cannot show details we would need to tell you more about the sword. HADA is not discernible (if it is indeed traditionally made), and HAMON is barely visible. The TSUBA is machine made as you would expect. I wonder how you practice combat with a sharp blade, by the way. In Japan, this is done with BOKKEN - dangerous enough! Have fun with you sword!

Wayne, early blades date from 1.000 years or more before that smith. Your blade - if the MEI is authentic - is a SHIN-SHINTO ('new-new') one, made very probably before the 16th day of the fourth month Bunka eleven (1814). Be happy if it is a good one - quality ranks much higher than age.

It does not look very Japanese to me, and not like a YOROI-DOSHI, at least on these few photos.

Joe, apart from the fact that the seller had a problem to calculate the age (....This armor is armor of 250 years ago..... ) I think this is a nice purchase if you have the space to display it. Don't expose it to sunrays!

What is your name please?

The TSUKA photo with the KANJI is upside down, difficult to read. Please clean the TSUBA with your wife's toothbrush, there seems to be a signature starting with TADA....(?). One MENUKI depicts O-MINOGAME, the 1.000 year old turtle (don't take the age too serious!).

Kinnan, you are getting better! Still difficult to judge by photos, but it might well be a good TSUBA!

I would repaint it.

Kinnan, I am a bit spoiled as far as good photos are concerned, We have some gentlemen here at the NMB who are able to shoot phantastic photos of their TSUBA. Without wanting to be impolite, I have to say that yours are a bit behind those..... If it is a SHAKUDO TSUBA, I think it must be a very good one, but I cannot see the workmanship. We would need very well focused, enlarged detail shots to say more. In the worst case, it could as well be a blackened copper TSUBA from a mass production - very late EDO to SHOWA. Show it to an expert so he can see it in-hand!

NIHONTO of course.

Looks like a copper alloy to me. Some better photos of both sides may reveal more of the qualities.

Terri, you can add your signature to your profile so it will appear automatically in every post. So you are a first grader in a Latin class, learning Greek. That sounds quite complicated, and it is almost the same with Japanese swords. You have to study many books and learn to see, holding quality swords in good condition in your hand, before you get an idea of what you have. That takes many years, and many collectors study even Japanese to get closer to the sources! What is a real sword to you? This one (YOSHISADA) may not be considered a traditional Japanese sword as it was probably made from industrial steel and not entirely by hand, but by machines. The signature says that JOICHI ISHIHARA had a smith's name (YOSHISADA) and was registered as one of the Seki province sword smiths for making military swords in 1939. My suggestion for you is either to get as much information on this topic with books (many of them are not really cheap) and here at the NMB forums (for free). as you can. You may want to keep these swords until you know better what you have - we are all really interested to help. Of course you could sell the whole stuff, but many potential buyers will be better informed in this field than you, and this is a disadvantage for you. Even a way of a thousand miles begins with a first step!

Misstt, please sign all posts with at least your first name plus an initial. It is a rule here. Concerning your post: What is your question? If you want to facilitate us reading the signature, please show the NAKAGO upright. To give a comment on the blade, we would need many good photos of the full (naked) blade and of the details: KISSAKI, HAMON, HADA, HA-MACHI, NAKAGO, a.s.o.

Jeremiah, re-shaping to a completely different style makes no sense. This would lead to a loss of authenticity and value!

Kinnan, the KANJI on the first photos are the date, but I can't read it. The other side shows the MEI. I have the impression that the whole package was a quite valuable one in the past, and it may be well worth to have a skilled craftsman look after it. If the broken KISSAKI is really fatal, will be seen then. Don't try any 'repair' by yourself!