Alex A

What Dave said.

Remember this Kanefusa on Nicks site some years ago, almost Katana length, nice blade Katana Signed Kanefusa in Koshirae - Nihonto Art

Yes, i think they were more expensive but think most will take it on the chin (so to speak) to get the goods over safely. There is the guy in the US i mention and another dealer in Holland that mentioned he uses them. Good to read they ship swords. Ive found them to be very good, even have their own sorting office in the UK so avoid the dreaded parcelforce hub. I was contacted twice and paperwork sorted without issues. As said though, these were antique guns and not swords. With shipping swords, you never quite know how its going to go and things same to change with whoever you speak to on the day but hoping maybe UPS has a more sensible approach and will offer their services without hassles

Just a thought. I do get confused over USPS and UPS, but have you tried UPS? (as i understand it, nothing do with USPS) I say this because of what a gun dealer told me in the US a while ago, he told me UPS have their own planes so thats the service he has to use to shop antique guns overseas as USPS wont. Different scenario, but maybe worth asking them.

Bad news, hoping you get it back. Many eyes will keep a lookout.

Ichimonji

Hi Oleg, Nothing factual about who made your sword, just thoughts. I have a Mino Sunnobi tanto, luckily for me its signed and made life a little easier. It did not come with any shinsa papers so i spent much time looking into the blade and tried to work out the date it was made. A bunch of smiths with the same name working from around 1530 and well into the Edo period. Tanto of this form did not not just cease to be made all of a sudden, its a grey area, not black and white. I would look at a similar papered tanto described as "Edo" and think how have they come to than conclusion?. When you look at mass produced Sue-Koto and compare it to something later you see the difference. Im not saying Sue-Koto is all bad by the way, big fan, has character, such works by the likes of Kanesfusa et al i find amazing. As mentioned, the dark steel is a big clue to working out whether Sue-Mino or not. At the end of the Muromachi period things changed, smiths went their own way and set up new schools such as Jumyo and blades changed over time, maybe yours is part of the transition, dunno Im not sure exactly what you mean when you talk about "thicker" blades. An example. If im new to the hobby and start to look at Yoroidoshi (armour piercer tanto) for sale online i may get lucky and find 2 or 3 which still have a thick kasane of 10mm and my opinion is formed that this is the norm. Spend 10 years or so looking at Yoroidoshi for sale online and you see the vast majority have been polished down to 6mm or less, Another example, Dotanuki schools swords often described as massive and no doubt some are but spend a lot of time looking on the internet at examples for sale and you will find most are average. Hope you get my point. Gone on a bit,

I dont think its Shinshinto, more early Edo for me Thing about nakago, sometimes they are in good preservation and the other side of the coin is who is to say it wasn't messed with at a later date Along these lines maybe Early Edo period Katana Unsigned by Jumyo for sale | Samurai Museum Shop

For what its worth, think Kirill may be on the right track. Very difficult from these images. Sue Mino Jihada is said to be blackish, i can only speak of the typical Sue Mino i have seen and when put next to later blades then it becomes more obvious. The blade above, steel seems more refined than Sue Mino. Im looking at pictures though so a lot easier for you to judge. I also think Mino when i look at the blade, but not the end of the Muromachi, more Edo. Perhaps wrong and is Sue Mino, or later Owari, but wouldnt be surprised if it turned out to be something like Jumyo or obscure smith. Unless its textbook then attribution is difficult, be good to see what a Shinsa team calls it. Ps, pc only lets me reply if i quote someone, not sure what the hell is going on.

Hi Oleg, Not many replies so far, probably because its a difficult one. Does not land in Sue-Bizen for me. The blade itself looks well made and later, the nakago appears later. Without spending a lot of time looking at the clues its hard give an opinion. Was thinking one of the "country smith" schools that worked in other styles such as Bizen, maybe, forget the name as brain hasnt fired up yet. (so still considering late Koto) Got some clues there, file marks, shape of nakago, boshi (looks distinct) and clear blade showing details. If get time over next few days will take another look. Cheers

Hello, Unless the koshirae is made for a blade, it will scuff and ruin the polish. Best

Hi Bill, your right, thats all that matters. Searching within what you can afford or what you want to spend can be a challenge but is always good fun and for me has been the best part of the hobby. Truth is, most folk cannot afford the swords they wish they could so there are always compromises. The tanto i mentioned above is something that may have been attractive to me on one of my sword hunts in the past but some would describe it as junk, its all relative. Well made, signed, old, authentic and i like the fact it is with its old fittings and probably been sat like that for quite some time. If you cant afford the top stuff then you have to find ways of enjoying stuff at the lower end, though this i must say can become futile and probably would make an interesting topic. There will always be good swords for lower prices. Sometimes best keeping purchases to yourself, forums are great as a whole but alas there are always one or two elitist (fake elitist) ******** that feel the need to rain on a parade Anyways, happy hunting.

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. A small curiosity ive had for a while, good to throw some light on it. The page above is from "Bushido vol2 no1 1980" so a long time ago. The writer does speak of the sound only, be good to find out where they got their info from but doubt thats going to happen. Most of the smiths for both variants, 兼升 and 兼増 are pre 1600, Maybe with illiteracy in those times a little confusion but sounding the same, then maybe Cheers again!

Another long shot. Kanemasu blades being given as gifts ?, this is the only page i have ever seen it written. Common knowledge in Japan maybe anyone know anything or seen it written elsewhere.

Im wondering if someone got a hold of a school mumei example and got inventive. Was this auction in Japan ?

At first glance and leaving it there. I really dont like the look of the inscription and without papers it wouldnt be for me. The mei itself, again, could not buy from these images Something odd about it. Blade looks ok.

This was a gift from Enomoto Sadahito for purchasing one of his fathers blades. A letter opener, all signed. Top dude, he really didnt have to do that but i was chuffed that he did.

The original point to this thread was to work out whether its a good idea to spend $4000 on it, just using the images available and not spending all day on it. A few observations that would personally put me off Its on Ebay, and no mention of papers. The ana look like they were cut yesterday with crisp edges and to me what looks like burrs visible Why so many ana ?, looks odd. Made to look o-suriage but the blade itself looks modern Saya looks modern with a crappy fit of the kojiri To me, the fittings look questionable, menuki look especially modern. The ito wrap looks modern. The blade was by so good to start with that they decided to shorten it by giving a tensho chop straight through the big clumsy mei lol I may be wrong but usually when i start start seeing stuff i dont like about a sword it makes me not want to spend money on it. Chinese have been making these long enough to maybe want to try a new spin on things and suck in some Ebay newbie. ? Who knows, anyway, better stuff about that comes without ???????????????????????????????????????????

I mean this joking Phillip, but 100% full on mounted cavalry horses asses A few seconds looking at the nakago was enough to start alarm bells, perfect drilled ana and the mei, looks dodgy and its on EBAY, What the others have said. Look at sales pages here and well known dealers , buy a sword with papers, no rush. Never let the heart rule the head, as we all guilty of at some point. Loads of advice and info on this site regarding purchasing swords,

Nice sword Luis, especially the bright and thick Habuchi which really stands out. Reminds me of Bungo too, i gues its the nakago that has you leaning towards Bizen too maybe ?, perhaps a good clear shot of the nakago the right way up might help. Seen it written that many Bungo swords resemble Bizen closely. One for Shinsa should it bother the buyer enough.

Thats one hell of a request On the subject of Seki into Edo, steel gets better and so does mei, but, lacks so much of the Muromachi.

Hello, Dont be so sure its Kanbun, as said, tricky. All this best done before purchase., not after

Difficult enough in hand, never mind pictures Just had the impression that if the blade continued to broaden if suriage, then it would be one hell of a blade at the hamachi in its full original form. In some photos that looks the case and in others it dont. Still, always good trying to work them out. Hope it turns out the way you want. Cheers

Hello, Very difficult from images but your blade appears to have a decent amount of fumbari. In the picture with the older blade, it appears more obvious. Some info types of kissaki form (ksky.ne.jp) A tricky one.

Great. Whats the story on the rusty relic?, if anyone knows that is.