Greger

Hi Jussi, you are correct, I live in Malmoe Sweden. I'll get on it right away to update my profile! Do you have any contacts near by that might be able to help me out irl? Thanks in advance.

Hi again, thanks for your input. Doesn't look all hopeless, but I think I will do a deep study on the Sho-Shin examples Jean linked. Except for the nakago, my blade looks a lot like the Sho-Shin wakazashi by Sengo Masashige (son in law), but this weekend I will hit the books! Brian, the hamon is not uniform on both sides, but similar (see attached scan). The loss of machi, how do you see that there was one from the beginning? The welded on nakago theory sounds bad. How often does blades with this phenomenon come by? Thanks again for your help. Much appreciated! //Greger

Hi guys, for some time ago I bought a wakizashi signed Muramasa from an auction house in Sweden. I´ve my worries about it being a gimei, and I would appreciate your opinion on the matter. I´ve had some help from Jimi-san at http://www.tanto.dk, who also have his doubts... One option is to send it to Japan for a shinsa, but I don´t want to waste more money in vain! The auction house I bought it from had a picture of a torokushu, which means that it has been in Japan recently, but is still without origami/ certification papers. Jimi-san also pointed out the small tear on the kissaki (circled in one of the pictures) as a potential kizu. However, the tear doesn't seem to be visible on the other side of the kissaki. This is also one fact holding me back from applying it for shinsa. I´ve only attached some pictures here, but the rest you will find here: https://plus.google.com/photos/113175810135573506896/albums/5989978287607936273?authkey=CIGVjqTJ1K67HA I hope your opinion can help me making a wise decision! Other observations and ideas about my blade are more than welcome. Thanks in advance! //Greger

Here's a pic on the kissaki...

Here are some additional pictures on the nakago and blade.

Got some help earlier on this blade, suggesting a possible WWII one. The pic off the mei is pretty bad, but is there any one who might get something out of it or maybe confirm that it is a possible WWII blade? The nakago might be shortened by the look of it. For what purpose would one shorten a nakago? Thanks for your thoughts in advance, Greger

Hi Geraint and Grey, thank you very much for your thoughts about my pictures. They are highly appreciated! The news about the blade was a bit disappointing, but by the look of it I'm probably happier with out it. Does anyone else have any idea about the mei? Since the package will be up for sale, I still might be interested as I find some of the tsubas quite nice, so its a matter of getting the package at a fair price. I'll have a more thorough look at the japaneseswordbooksandtsubas page to get a better picture of what the tsubas might be worth. Tsubas with signatures, are the more often of interest or is it always quality and design? Grey, I might take you up for some individual advice next week! //Greger

Hi guys. I´m a new-bee here, and haven´t made my first buy yet. However, a friend of the family who has a smaller collection is ready to pass it on and since I've been showing interest I might be the one who gets to buy it. However, this friend of the family is not that sure of what it is he got, so I took a bunch of pictures of what it is he has, and am now looking for advice if this is a good starting point for a novice collector, and of course a hint of what would be a fair price... The blade seems to be in quite bad shape. There were no rust, but the polish seem to have been done over a kitchen table and there is no visible hamon at all. There is one complete mounting, but the ito/braid seems very poorly done. There are a couple of tsubas, two of them signed, and some additional fittings as well. There are more pictures posted on https://plus.google.com/photos/100360261079405087451/albums/5905922231721806625 Please have a look at the attached pictures! All remarks and information are welcome. Thanks in advance. //Greger

Hi guys, I´m quite new to this and am about to buy my first antique nihonto. According to the seller the blade is from the Koto-period while the other details are more towards the 19th century. I have tried to interpret the mei, and am pretty sure about the koto-period, late 1500. Smith and region is however much harder and I have no clues yet. I have attached three pictures, two of the nakago and one on the complete set-up. Do you reckon 2500 USD is a fair price? Thanks for your help in advance, Greger