Alex A

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

Cant say ive seen that design very often, at all, though what do i know. Thanks Dale, would be nice to pull them together.

Congratulations Okan. Look forward to seeing your website and your items for sale.

For me, there are two ways of looking at this. Either a link to history, a real link, but that isn't happening 99.9% of the time and is unrealistic for many. Or You accept such a medley as above, for display. I have one now, nothing matches at all apart from the Brown ito, sageo and the fact im content with what i spent and how they look. Its not as though the ghosts of the past will haunt me over it, as they did the same. Will point out, no theme on fittings, plain and simple. all fitted out late Edo. (apart from sageo lol) Would rather have something i like and put together for display, rather than another cobbled together overpriced concoction that someone writes "daisho". Own personal opinion is a lot you see was put together in the early 1900s. and beyond, no way of knowing without provenance/proof. Have to say, Brown ito is my favourite, maybe that comes from Shogun. (original)

Nice one Lewis, be good to see it polished, whoever you use.

For some of us that are "sat on the fence". so to speak, about the mei. I may have missed this Lewis but what about the sword actually ticks boxes so far regarding the sword itself? Open minded regarding the mei, have to be as don't have enough references and always a chance a fake mei is added to a legit blade, which happens. Is it booked in for polish? window?. I assume it will need full polish anyways as cant just be left with a window if you want to resell it should it turn out gimei. Can anything be seen?, sorry if this has already been covered so far, just that there doesn't seem to have been much emphasis.

Cheers Geraint, did come in handy. On a side note, ended up buying one of those cheap wooden sword stands from 9 circles, £43, didn't want to spend much so does the trick. Black Painted hardwood, glued it together yesterday, more than adequate for anyone wanting a cheap stand

Think there are old threads for newbies by the older dudes that didn't turn into bickering contests. Just in case newbies a bit lost in all this. Im lost, lol From memory, basic less bias advice.

The sword arrived today, no complaints about OCS, they were very good and will let them know they did a good job. I was at work but luckily and unluckily (whatever way to look at it), the Misses was off to sign for it. Tricky situation again but so far so good, though it has been logged, no doubt

No doubt they have been down this road once too often., Colin

I agree, though edit and staying out of it lol

Worth a try Tony. As the old saying goes, if you don't ask you don't get.