1tallsword

thank you Juha for your Kind comment. Yes the blade is very well made in my opinion. maybe you should post some pics of yours in the translation section and see what the fine folks on here have to say. I believe There were 10 generations with only the first 4 generations mei this way. even though yours might not match the 1st or 2nd generation it could still be the 3rd or fourth...

very Interesting indeed, thank you for the lesson chris, cheers

I want to say soshu hiromitsu but lets try akihiro

thanks to all that tuned in. yes Franco and James I agree. sounds like so long as the quality is present and the mei is still present than it would be up to the judges discretion. cheers.

thank you Franco, May Not sounds like quite a vague blanket term... seems like it may mean may not/ maybe so ... lol James brings up a good point, anyone have any documents or seen any Shinto suriage swords with TH papers ???

Hey Folks. Just scored This fine wakizashi. Thought I would share for your enjoyment and discussion. It is believed to be either a joint work of the shodai and nidai , late work of shodai .. or nidai. I feel its Nidai, but what do I know..LOL . knowing that most blades i have seen by shodai and nidai have received TH papers , I wonder how this blade will do being suriage? enjoy . ..

this sword has some serious issues on the Mune... In my opinion..

Chris, I think that is smart on your part.

I would be extremely cautious chris. although many state no issues ! I can not say the same. Laws are vague at best, customs has there own opinion of laws. left hand don't know what the right is doing... you get my drift.. if you do ship make sure its priority mail, tracking,insured,signature.. and even with that there are no guarantees. I've had packages with the labels deliberately scratched off or rubbed so it can be deemed undeliverable as addressed then filed on a shelf for someone decades down the road to discover. I personally will not deal with china. Even with my personal EIAP number makes no difference.... good luck.

well .. i should really let the experts translate this one but ill take a shot... i see no daijo fujiwara ason enju masakatsu

congrats chris! and just in time for christmas too.

I agree the mei is not smooth flowing or crisp. look at the vertical stroke in Kai. also the horizontal stoke in second kanji is off in my eyes,compared to several legit examples this one just doesn't feel right to me,

welcome to both Heresi and allen. and all past new members! great to have you with us. I hope you find this board as fun,knowledgeable and helpful as I do every day cheers.

I have purchased several items from united states,Japan,singapore, australia and UK over the past couple months with no issues.its all about knowing how and who to ship with. having the appropriate paperwork and sometimes providing import or export paperwork. of course being a licensed importer and exporter of weapons for the past 10 years helps. when in doubt consult a broker. , anything can be shipped anywhere in the world folks, and I have done so. each and every case is different. I have scaled back a lot and only work now for close friends,long time customers and myself. the workload became too much and overwhelming. 18 years ago when i started collecting winchester firearms I found myself asking questions no one could answer, one person would say one thing and on and on.. I finally got sick and tired of relying on gov. officials to tell me what they didnt know. so I started a long drawn out process of educating myself on importing and exporting and finally securing my own permits,licenses ect.. this came with a great deal of blood sweat and tears so to speak.. hence the reasons why brokers are not cheap... niether are doctors.. :lol:

another hint. you might try google search ( mito school kozuka ) as Piers D already stated.. you will get your answers. hope this helps

first column serial number next is meibun.. in this case its mumei (unsigned) next are the measurements, next are remarks and judges seals.. bottom page is kaneisha then the item , followed by attribution ( already given to you) then the date and signed and sealed. I will let the other fill in the blanks , try to use the pages at the top and info we have provided

you can always offer a pound of bacon with every new member :D people go crazy over bacon.... maybe start fryin bacon at meetings and shows.. the smell will get them through the doors...

very happy for you chris. nice to see the blade get a caring custodian. of course when you get tired of its beauty you can mail it to me :lol: tiss the season for giving

Jean, this is why I said the last picture "seems" to show a dark hada. we all realize swords can look different in different pictures. unless held in hand who knows. I do agree with you that the latter uda are ruff, however earlier smiths are quite nice and a lot better quality. regardless , I will stay on topic and say I like this sword very much. look forward to more info and pictures on it. I didnt catch the first kanji but you folks seem to have it covered

the last pictures seem to show a dark hada. leans one towards the northern provinces. chris mentioned Yamato. how about uda in the yamato tradition. mino?

just an update.. I had a very knowledgeable individual examine the sword over the weekend.although he was very modest and stated he is not an authority his experience is beyond most. without me telling him anything and not knowing what chris bowen stated,his comments were as follows after an in hand examination. there is nothing wrong with this sword. the sword is early, around 1300, it was much much longer. to shorten a sword this great length it must be heated, explaining exactly what chris bowen already stated. I asked him about the hamon running of and he stated , a person would be fooled by that but it is 100% correct when it was heated and finished and explained in great detail to me the process. I had one person mention it might be retempered ?? he quickly put my mind at ease stating no, and stating various points about the nakago and blade and why it was not retempered . so conclusion... chris bowen was right. and i have a very nice sword :D cheers.

I first would Like to thank Barry for a great presentation yesterday not only on soshu blades,but blade identification in general. He and the other members made it inviting,fun and most of all informative for the beginner and any collector for that matter. I attended for my first meeting and had a great time. I brought several of my swords and enjoyed seeing others enjoy them. I had the pleasure of listening to some very experienced individuals teach me some things i did not know about my blades. I met some great people and made some good friends. I cant wait for the next meeting! I am relatively new at collecting and studying the Japanese sword. almost 2 years now. Im 36 years old and can tell you this from my experience. make it inviting, make the newcomers feel welcome. If you are rude,tough or too hard on them they will walk and find another hobby that the folks will accept them with open arms and happiness,be happy to teach them and explain things. Dont get too technical with new collectors, try to use easy terms and if using Japanese language try to explain in english as well. if you ask them questions about a blade and use Japanese language point to the part you are talking about and explain the english part of it. No matter how experienced you think you are and some may feel they have something to prove, never and I repeat never make the beginner feel like you are better than them or look down on them, they will just run ! we all started with learning one simple word at one time. we are all learning, some at different degrees and levels but we truly never stop learning. The most experienced people I have spoke with about swords spoke in confidence,kindness and with great explanation,which in turn made me feel comfortable and want to learn more. this in itself shows the great confidence they have within themselves to teach what they know. its not about giving off a vibe to be right all the time,lecture and look down upon people of lesser knowledge. I find to many trying to prove something and talk way to much when they should be listening. I was once told the strongest voice is silence. cheers...

ill second that stephen and thank you Brian i totally agree with you.

to Mr. Bowen. thank you for all your time and efforts,pictures,explanations,drawings ect.. on this post your knowledge and efforts have not gone unnoticed. thank you to everyone else as well that has taken there time to tune in, cheers

thank you to all that have expressed their opinions. I wish I could add something of importance to this conversation that has not been addressed already. As mentioned my pictures are not the best, my flash tends to highlight brightly the strong parts of the hamon and wash out the faint hard to see areas,for that i apologize. this has been a very good thread for learning. I can tell you in hand i can see hamon past the ha-machi. the right side is harder than the left, when tilted at angle with light hitting it the right way , this is what i see. as mentioned I will be showing this sword next weekend (or sooner) to mr. fimio for his opinion. If anyone is in my area (Barrie, ontario canada) and would like to see it in hand feel free to message me, no problem. cheers.