Prewar70

Sorry for the pics, all I have at the moment. Thanks

John, I did not have a chance to have a tsungai made during restoration in Japan. Honestly I missed requesting one because I kept the koshirae here in the US not thinking straight being my first go around with the whole process. I can have one made here hopefully if I decide to keep them. Military mounts don't excite me much, so I was considering selling them. Any thoughts on keeping the package together vs. selling?

Well I can't believe how time flies, approaching 2 years ago. Shortly after this thread and discussing with Roger, I sent the sword to Paul Martin. He examined it and like many others had doubts as to the validity of the signature but felt it was a good sword. He also had it examined by a couple of others and same conclusion. We decided to polish and submit to NTHK thinking if it didn't pass, they might at least make an attribution. It did not pass, and they did not give any indication as to possible school or smith. So we discussed removing the mei, repatinating, and submitting to NBTHK thinking it would should pass. I struggled with removing the signature, even though it wasn't authentic. I finally decided to go ahead with it, and felt that I was in the best of hands with Paul, and the sword was already in Japan so might as well push my remaining chips to the center of the table. Paul contacted me two days ago. It received Hozon papers and was attributed to Monju Shigekuni, 2nd generation. As I have not seen the papers yet, I asked if this was a Monju den attribution or specific to Monju Shigekuni. Paul said it was Monju Shigekuni and this usually references 2nd generation. He was a well regarded smith, rated Jo-saku and Wazamono for cutting ability. His father is one of the best Shinto smiths, and was rated Sai-jo saku. I feel like I did ok, especially being my first time for all of this. I'm excited to get the sword back so I can share pictures but that probably won't happen until late March.

Thanks everyone. This sword is not my area of interest but the price was right. Any ballpark range in value

Well almost. So can you help me on what I found. Thanks.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Is it just me, or does the sword mei not match the TH paper pictured? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Samurai-real-sword-Wakizashi-sharp-steel-blade-Koshirae-by-Tadayoshi/263309696826?hash=item3d4e7b1f3a:g:jM0AAOSwuxFYyfaW

I had to check the calendar and make sure it wasn't April first.....

I am by no means an expert but if the consensus is that the Mei is false I would remove and then submit

But why pay any attention to the mei if o suriage and added later?

If it's O-suriage by a lot then why is the mei still there and positioned high in the nakago?

Is anyone else willing to offer an opinion or confirmation with the translation. Thx

Thanks that's a start. It's the inside liner from a scabbard. Maybe some others will chime in.

Any idea what this is? Thank you.

I don't have any specifics to share bc I'm too new with nihonto. But I have learned through collecting Winchesters that no matter how rare or scarce if you search hard enough you will find another. I have to believe it's true with swords as well. Collectors reach a point when it's time to sell seeking new caretakers. So all is not lost if you are patient.

Arrows for sure the ends are nocked to accept a string.

Ok so I feel like playing even though my knowledge is very limited but how better to learn. I can't guess as to school or smith so I will stick to period and what I am seeing. Hamon seems more recent shin Shinto. Jigane/jihada not the best pics but doesn't have a Koto feel to me. Nakago besides being beautiful, looks old and suriage, with several mekugiana, however, description says its ubu. So I am going with shin Shinto period.

Take a look at the new Sukehiro on aoi. Mei is very different if this is the same generation.

Darcy I really appreciate your input on this and so many other aspects of nihonto that you share your experience. I find your approach and way of communicating easy to follow and it makes sense to me, especially for someone as inexperienced as myself. This thread along with many others reminds me that there is no free lunch out there.

Has anyone heard from him? His email is bouncing back and I am trying to get in touch on a sword of mine that he was/is working on.

I would love to see a jihada pictorial showing good, better, best, superior. Maybe someone already has and can point me in a direction or folks could post a picture of a small section of blade showing good detail. Hada being different depending on the time period. Also does good jihada Imply no flaws or openings in the grain, aside from bad or over polishing? I would assume yes, if you have very good steel you should have no rough grain.

I'm wondering what you think about the maker and quality. All three pieces have a mark, don't know what it is. Simple marks to keep the pieces together or something more. Fuchi looks like copper with iron. I like it. And the habaki is two piece, silver over copper or silver plating? Seems like good quality. And the seppa again silver plate over copper? Appreciate the help.

Any pics of the Katsumitsu?

Ford I really like that bit of photoshopping as it really does help distinguish the subject, flow, and artistry. It looks good, thanks.

Thanks for some feedback guys. I'm getting the feeling there is not a lot of information on this smith. Peter, the link works, but its in German and when I click English I can't get the swords to pull up. Skimming for the school or smith in German, I could not find the sword you were pointing me to. If you have time, maybe you could help. Thanks.