Prewar70

Throwing this out to you guys for further opinion. From private discussion with Roger, as I understand, Hizen swords are somewhat notorious for being thin skinned. However, this is not necessarily the case for a master such as Mutsunokami Tadayoshi. He was renowned for producing very tight steel. Where weld openings are not of great concern on some swords, they are usually a sign of gimei for this smith. It could also be a sign of over polishing on a legitimate sword? Again no way to tell for certain until it has gone through Shinsa, but I wanted to open it up for discussion. I've studied the blade and found 3 openings in the weld lines in the shinoji. I've cleaned up some of the loose rust on the mei as well, I've included those pics. No worries, I haven't used a steel wire brush or grinding wheel, just some duct tape pressed on and ripped off to pull away loose particles.

So much great advice thanks. So if I send it to Japan, is it always polish first then review or can it be reviewed first in its current state and if it's good you spend the big money on a proper polish. I think I would like this to be polished regardless however I believe there are varying levels of polish available.

Joe let's connect next week sometime. I will PM you and thanks for being willing to do this.

Roger thanks for all that great information. I went back and took a few more photos, I hope it helps. The curvature seems shallow to me. I do not see any flaws other that poor polish. No grain openings, etc. It's all very tight. I forgot to include the saya, which I did now. The habaki is moves about an inch down but its fit is very tight and will not make it over the rust so I'm leaving it alone. All of the other fittings match in number, 17, and very good fit as well. I know that the tsuka had not been removed ever. Did some reading on the crossed hawk feathers mon, apparently samurai families liked to use them. If anyone is passing through Minneapolis and would like to take the sword to Chicago next weekend please get in touch with me.

I contacted Roger to get his input. Regardless of the mei, what can you tell me about the sword, being in military mounts, etc. Does it look to be of good quality? Was this most likely a family sword that accompanied a soldier in WWII?

Ray thank you, great information. What's your opinion, how's it look to you?

I'm sure folks are taking a big exhale, another post by that guy from MN, but who cares So i found a sword in military mounts but had a feeling it might have been older with the one pic I received of the hamon. Seller could not remove the handle, price was right, so I thought why not (audible gasp by sword connoisseurs). Tsuka was sticky and quite a bit of active rust underneath. Overall the sword is in really good shape sans some kissaki handiwork by someone but looks repairable. No nicks or openings or flaws, it looks healthy and would most likely polish well. Now for the signature, please have mercy and don't make this a test. At some point I will sit down with some of you (San Fran?) and someone will take mercy and get me started on translating. I learn much faster with a teacher. I'm looking forward to your feedback, thank you.

Lance, thank you for taking a look. I zoomed mine again, not sure what it means.

I don't see a kanji by that name Stephen !

OK can one of you old farts tell me what the kanji on the seppas mean.

I will be in Houston next weekend or I would definitely make the drive to Chicago. Again I appreciate all the advice. It's a tremendous help.

I don't know if anyone listening is a hunter, but reading your post Peter got me to thinking. If you've ever been to Africa, or here in North America, or anywhere in the world chasing game, you can usually put hunters in one of two camps. Some are there because they want the biggest and the best, nothing else will do. And others are there more for the experience and memories, and a good representative animal is enough. It might not make B&C, but it might have been the oldest, with the most character, or whatever other attribute blows your skirt up. I'm a neophyte nihonto admirer/collector. I can go to AOI Japan and buy a very nice papered sword and I probably will, as can anybody. But what I am finding is there is a thrill to the chase that can be just as rewarding, if not more in some cases. I've experienced that in other areas of collecting as well. I have no false hopes about this sword, no plans to polish, and no desire to try and make it something that it isn't. But I can still appreciate it! I don't mind character, a few flaws here and there, but what I really like is originality and honesty. This piece is honest, it's not pretending to be anything that it isn't. I'm asking a lot of questions and taking a bunch of photos (more than fellow members Muramasa haha) to learn and soak up what I can from this very knowledgeable community. So I believe this sword to be worthy of owning, and I've looked at it every night before going to bed and after watching the new season of Outlander That old dagga boy with his horns worn to a nub is every bit the trophy compared to that soft 40 incher! So I appreciate all the commentary and information, it all helps.

Ah, good one. I like my hypothesis better. I will say that the lines are not squiggly, but all straight and defined. I'm going with battle scars! Any ideas/help on the seppa kanji?

I might be going out a limb, but there are a number of very faint, but sharp lines on the spine of the sword. Could these be kirikomi or battle scars from coming into contact with other blades during battle? Difficult to photo but hopefully you can see them. They seem to be clustered, I can make out 4 or so, 2 together.

The sepas are inscribed with the same kanji, if someone can tell me what that means. I am tickled over this sword. Thanks for looking.

Looking forward to everyones' feedback. Thank you.

Bought the sword. Looked way better in person than in pictures. Looking forward to posting some detailed photos when I get a chance.

There were 2 deleted posted on the tsuba threads, this and the other one, where I responded to two questions. Must have been caused by the server move. Regarding the polish, that's what I figured... Thanks for responding.

He's asking 600 for it. Does the blade really have little value due to the defects?

Thanks Jason, 1800s vintage maybe? The nakago has uneven aging/patina, doesn't looked cleaned just not very old yet. Does that sound right?

Brian, why do threads get changed and posts deleted? I replied on both of my Tsuba threads tonight only to come back now and see that my post and the one I replied to were deleted???

I'm going to see this Wakizashi Friday afternoon. It's the start of my turkey season here in MN so hopefully I will have a nice gobbler on ice in the morning and a fun sword to consider in the afternoon! Here's what I have for pics so far. Saya is in good condition. Blade has a few openings as you can see and is unsigned. Provenance, same old story, sword has been in the family a long time, brought back by a world traveler. One thing that did jump out at me is the tsuka. The ray skin, if that's what it is, looked a little off to me, in color and the nodules all seem very uniform. Everything else seemed honest. What do you think? Thank you.

Thanks David

I came across this one on the web, not mine, don't know anything about it, except I have not seen one like it. I think it's a beautiful piece.