Alex A

With what's available, Its hard to be specific. Though would be surprised if it was Shinshinto.

Its large!. Don't think ive ever seen one made from brass. Like it.

That's up to the owner to decide Rayhan. He now has many opinions.

Rayhan. I suggested that the sword gets shown to a polisher who will see it in hand and give his thoughts, before money is spent. Learned a long time ago as to shut up on what can and cant be sorted out, as im not a polisher and we are looking at pictures. Seen what appeared unsalvageable come up ok. Im not suggesting this swords gets shipped to Japan for a top notch polish. The nakago has been messed with, cleaned. Ok, so its not the perfect example of suriage and is not in amazing condition, that's something the owner needs to consider. If the bohi was added much later, i would not of assumed it would run the full length of the blade and down and off the nakago. I feel it would have been done not so long after it was made. The bo-hi in the nakago shows some age, wear and patina that has not been cleaned. Im not judging an out of polish sword on the quality of the bohi, from PICTURES. As mentioned, pictures are misleading. Also, seen many real good swords with Bo-hi and horimono that have not been done so well. Ian, we are not giving people false hope. He has been given advice to speak with someone with more knowledge that can assess it, in hand.

Think maybe your looking too much into it Ray. No one thinks they are an expert. You calling everyone experts in a sarcastic way actually makes it appear like your up for title of "expert" My advice was see a polisher and see what he thinks. 6.5 mm doesn't seen a total no go, but would have speak to them. Will tell you that judging a swords sori from images can be veery misleading. The type of suriage is "keicho" suriage and yes, good swords have been chopped that way. Tenshō-suriage and Keichō-suriage | Markus Sesko To me the sword has a Momoyama feel with the width at the kissaki appearing quite hefty, longer kissaki. Im not interested in the horimono, apart from the bohi. Do i necessarily think its a diamond in the rough, no, hence why i suggested it go to someone in hand. It don't make sense to carve full length Bo-hi on crappy swords, it was expensive. Punched ana can appear drilled if done well. This isn't a knowledge competition, its folks trying to help folks the best they can. No one likes sticking their head out and being wrong, but ive learned to not give a **** as thats how i learn.

Hi Robert, All i could say is that it appears to be a shortened sword and it could be late Muromachi Mino. What makes you state late Muromachi Mino?

6.5mm Cheers. Would let one of your polishers over there see it and get an opinion.

Yes, its shortened. You sure its a wak?, how long is the blade? Looks long for a wak

Yep, someone thought it worthy of full length Bo-hi. What's the kasane?

Ps, just a rough guide with regarding what i meant with hamon and tobiyaki regarding Ishido. One example of various Ishido, not saying yours is the same maker or even Ishido. Just for something for you to look into. ISHIDO DEN (fss-812) - Nihonto Antiques Trying to work out what swords are from images is fun, but not precise.

With the nice simple koshirae and blade, think you did very well.

Im not convinced your sword is Sue Seki. The hamon is wild and appears to rise high up the blade, with tobiyaki, reminds me of Edo ishido. Masame in Shinogi-ji also = edo Hard to see jigane, but appears finer than Sue-seki. That's as about the best i can do You need to buy books, research further online and even better, show it to someone in hand.

Im very hopeful and optimistic for you.

There is masame hada in Shinogi-ji.

Do you mean you want the shinsa team again to see it all in polish and get their view?

That's brilliant news Lewis, the mei was at the back of the queue for me.

Hi again Ivo. The pictures are terrible in regards to evaluating your sword, i cant see hada and not even dimensions. All of which is very important. especially when the original nakago has gone. Appears to be in old polish. The best i can come up, judging from whats available. Your Wakizashi was once possibly a stout Katana with relatively long kissaki from around the Momoyama period. Google Japanese blade changes over time for more information. The type of suriage is known as "Keisho" suriage with a basic straight chop. It was common around that era, though not specific to that era. So it kind of adds up. Anyways, with what's available thats the best i can do. As said, i like the simple undecorated fittings, the tsuka is in good condition, as looks the saya. Mumei swords often leave you with questions than need answering and one can only rely on opinions. All in all, if you paid the right price then its all ok.

Dunno about a government list. Try contacting OCS shipping London, they might well ship the sword out of the UK for you. I know they import swords.

My first thought was Bizen, a bit wild. Didn't really strike me as obvious Mino with the hamon. If Mino, look for a straightish hada (masame) in the Shinogi-ji. Area of the blade nearer to the mune. A feature of Sue Seki. Then there are Bungo swords also with hamon like Bizen.

Quite like the simple fittings, humble Samurai feel. Would need to sort the seppa out as 3s a crowd. Cant really say much about the blade other than the continuation of the hamon style into the kissaki suggests Koto.

Understand your issues, as the UK can be pretty limiting. Its better to save your money than be dragged into such a market and better to save for something good then go all out impulse power on something you will want to sell in a month or two. Such mediocre swords are not worth the ownership and the hassles of re-selling and shipping. Good swords can be got relatively cheap if you know what your looking for, know where to find them and have some patience. Im not talking ebay or Yahoo

Hi Michael, i have some Mino blades but wouldn't say i bought them because I'm into Mino, they just appealed at the time. Love Koto hada, love Nie, though the blade above im sure has wonderful jigane, the hamon im afraid is much too unrefined, as you point out. The nio-guchi appears a bit inconsistent, maybe that's down to age or photo. Really dont like the the patch of nie above the hamon, around 3 inches from the kissaki, at all. Though without doubt there is stuff to like. polish appears fantastic in the images. To me, there are far more appealing swords of that era. Think sometimes its better being honest, than sitting on the fence. Sure i will have swords that's many don't like.

Good we all like different stuff. Maybe the pictures but to me that hamon looks terrible, erratic. First post sword, that is.

I f that was UK, would buy it, very nice carving.

This can be deleted, thanks all