ROKUJURO

It might be missing an arrow like this one:

Opelab, welcome on the board! Please sign all posts at least with you first name plus an initial as is requested here. The first KANJI of the MEI is probably MASA. Although the SHO arsenal stamp hints to a mass produced blade, the HAMON looks quite attractive. There is probably no HADA to be seen as the steel was not traditionally folded. The date looks like SHOWA 16, so probably 1942. There is a good possibility to damage the blade with uneducated polishing attempts, so it is a good idea to ask before you start the angle grinder! Please read here on the board about care, maintenance and polish. Enjoy your blade and take your time to learn about it.

Geraint, this blade looks like an oil hardened one, and perhaps in the days of war they did not care too much to have it polished traditionally.

Seen with the eyes of a smith, this is a wonderful work of art! Is it somewhat resilient like a spring? How old do you think it might be?

With dimensions of 64 x 66 mm it is certainly not KO-TOSHO, but the KAMA and NATA SUKASHI are also found in TOSHO TSUBA of later dates, so it is a TOSHO design TSUBA at best, but not old, I think.

As far as I know, TAMESHI-GIRI was mostly done with a special TSUKA and no TSUBA..

Michael, what is Samari?

Florian, I missed this interesting thread until now, but I want to make a remark concerning the MIMI, which is not formed by TEKKOTSU, I think, but it is a variation of NAWA MIMI. This may lead to a closer classification aside from OWARI or KYO SUKASHI, I hope.

Francesco, as we both wrote: same technique in the SADAKAZU blade.

Felix, the MEI is probably of little importance as it looks very much like a cast copy. Where you would expect to see fine traces of the chisel, you see dull and obscured grooves, So age might be quite young, I think.

Of course, it is a question of taste, and it is quite unusual compared to most other blades, but I think it is a genuine blade, not GENDAI, but a form of AYASUGI HADA, no acid involved. It seems to be an intentionally enhanced HADA, caused by the composition of the steels in the KAWAGANE.

Mike, you can mark your signature in the profile, so you don't forget to sign..

Welcome on board of the NMB! The maker seems to read MASAHIRO, but the rest is not easy to read for me, Without more and better photos I think it is a machine made WW II SEKI blade. Please sign all posts at least with your first name plus an initial as is requested here.

No display, the few items are stored in a TANSU.

Peter Jan, please compare with KAWACHI no KAMI KUNISUKE, early EDO JIDAI. The photos do not allow a guess whether the signature is genuine, the qualiy of the blade or any possible flaws, and important details like HAMON, HADA, and HATARAKI. So no estimation of value is possible. In case you are tempted to buy it, you should consider the additional costs for polishing, HABAKI, and new SHIRASAYA, which may add up to $ 2.000.-- or more. Without such an investment, the blade will face further deterioration and cannot be appreciated.

Grant, while sparrows are usually linked with bamboo, the scene might be of a hawk looking for a meal. In the internet I found a description of a HASEGAWA TOHAKU painting of that same theme, a few lines of which I have copied: .......If you are a sparrow or a mouse, what could be more frightening than the shadow of a hawk or a falcon hunting overhead? Even a hawk sitting on a branch attracts crows and jays, which try to scare it away from their families and their nests. Hawks, falcons, and eagles are powerful birds. Many Japanese artists of the Edo period created their works for powerful men — the wealthy and mighty nobility and warriors who ruled Japan. These men saw themselves in the hawk’s ruthless strength. Some warriors trained falcons as hunting birds or kept them as symbols of military might. They avidly collected Chinese paintings of hawks to decorate their homes....... Maybe that is of some interest to you.

Grev, that is reallly a nice one!

Ben, the NAKAGO looks carefully made, but the HAMON lets me believe this blade was oil-quenched. Unless there is a defined HADA to be seen, I don't think it is a handmade blade/GENDAITO.

Help is difficult as it does not look like Japanese or Chinese. Please sign all posts, if Giloth is not your real name.

What about strip, bar, or ligament?

I would simply call that the plate (or TSUBA blank, if it is related to a new manufacture of a TSUBA).

Neil, on the photo, the NAKAGO looks indeed like late KOTO or early SHINTO, but that is all I can say. Better (close-up) photos may yield more hints, but without polish to reveal HADA and HAMON properly, it will be difficult to evaluate.

Google knows Paul Martin: http://www.thejapanesesword.com/profile/paul_martin.html, and he is a member here at NMB (No. 56).

I don't think so.

Chris, the picture you are showing is the "Rattenkönig von Hameln" who is not typical Japanese, nor is the flute. On the TSUBA the place for the signature on the SEPPA-DAI is partly taken by the TAGANE. An original MEI (can only guess TOSHI TOSHI) would have been only partly visible, I think.