Ken-Hawaii

Jason, I strongly suggest that you ignore the mei on any blade you're considering, until you have a lot more experience. As has been said many times, "buy the blade, not the mei."

Yakidashi on both sides indicates an ubu blade, & usually Shinto. I like the hamon, but can't hazard a guess from your photos. Looking at the tsuka, I don't see any wear on the tsukimaki where they cross, so it's probably modern, but nothing wrong with that. Nice fittings, too. I'd also vote for the trade.

Welcome aboard, Thom. From the thickness of the blade, my first opinion is that you have a yoroi-doshi, in what looks to be moderm mounts. In the future, please show the completely bare blade, rather than everything else. The sugata (shape) tells the age, which leads to other info about the blade. The tosogu (everything else) was probably changed many times over, with way we change our clothes (at lest pre-pandemic), & tells nothing about the blade, itself. The markings are probably used to match up the various pieces.

Oh, it would work, but one important detail is that you should never use so much of anything that it collects, dust, dirt, and other debris that can damage your blade. With choji oil, you should apply the bare minimum needed to protect the steel from the elements.

Nice!

Nice, low humidity up in Jackson, too. Great job on your room, Jim!

Nope, it's not one of Mike's blade (Komonjo), although he finds it interesting, but very thin. He's been trying to identify the seller for some time, but hasn't had any luck.

Try posting one shot of the entire bare blade, which will tell us the blade's age.

Jason, you've gotten some excellent advice here, but it is still a very-complex subject. Our illustrious member, Markus Sesko, has done a great job of walking members through a university-level course on Nihonto https://markussesko.com/kantei/ & I think reading through that, to understand the basics, will help you more than initially trying to understand the often-inconsistent Gokaden concept. Welcome aboard, & I hope you enjoy studying.

You certainly have great photographic skills, Ray.

Shikomizue? Hard to tell.

Welcome, Neil. Age is determined by the sugata (shape of the sword),. Why don't you start reading through https://markussesko.com/kantei/ & see if you can figure it out yourself.

Jussi, you're a real jewel! That's an incredible amount of work. Thank you/

You might want to add Woody Hall, who worked for Bob Benson, polishing juyo blades. He moved to Las Vegas last year, hawaii.togishi@yahoo.com. He polishes all of my blades.

Nice kabuto, Chris.