mywei

Hi Jeremy, It's not my intention to pile on you here, as my sentiments are exactly as those above here. But to post pictures of an 'out of the woodwork' Shinkai blade with no authentication papers (Torokusho do not count as it they are not an certification of authenticity) with unclear pictures of the blade itself, and then be dismayed when the good folks here (some of whom have handled hundreds and thousands of blades) raise the possibility of it being a gimei is frankly ridiculous. Any expert will raise the possibility of it being a gimei in 100% of cases in this scenario. My 2 cents

Hi, Here's a papered Shinkai Juyo katana for comparison, dated Enpo 7 (1679) August http://www.iidakoendo.com/info/item/a458.htm

fascinating discussion guys. thanks for the input

I agree wholeheartedly with Lingonberry. To use an antique nihonto for tameshigiri not only runs the risk of causing huge damage in terms of value, but also doing essentially an act of vandalism towards a historical artifact that has been cherished and handed down in a family for centuries, whether samurai or not.

Ok, I see. I would surmise that koto blades would be more significantly affected compared to later blades then? I guess this would also depend on the buyer baseline knowledge in the market i.e. Papers may not hold too much significance in Japan due to a higher knowledge base? What would be a ball park figure if any if applied to say a jo/jo-jo level smith if there can be a broad generalisation? I wonder because of the motivations behind why one would bother to submit a blade for anything higher than Hozon.

how often were these tourist pieces even signed?

Hi all, Just out of curiosity I was wondering about the level of authentication papers (NBTHK) and how significant is the effect on the commercial value of a blade. ?probably more of an effect in the Western market cf Japan i.e If a unpapered blade is valued at $1, what would the value multiplier be when the same blade is Hozon, TH or Juyo. Cheers.

The kanji in #3 is the one for 'dragon'

Those 2 unpapered signed wakizashi appear gimei to me, especially that Yamato daijo Masanori one.

First mei reads 'Hizen Kuni Tadayoshi", looks like later Tadayoshi mei Not sure about the second one "?Hiro Mitsu"

Masahiro was part of the Yoshinobu line of Hizen smiths right? not Tadakuni?

Yeah it is a Hozon, not TH ?typo What about the mei? It doesn't look way off other 1st gen mei I don't think?

hey guys, to those interested in Hizen blades, it seems I've come across a nice deal (imho) of a papered (hozon) shodai Hizen Masahiro katana whilst window shopping unfortunately I'm not in the market right now, but I know there are plenty of Hizen fans here never done any business with this website before but looks legit http://www.taiseido.biz/cn11/cn22/pg521.html nice looking blade with an attractive gunome choji hamon...

Looks pretty good, and in good polish too! Not sure why you bought it if you're werent sure it was genuine, or were sceptical of the 'flimsy bit of paper' that came with it? More pictures of the nakago and paper would be nice.

Hi, By my novice eye, the Tadakuni mei looks pretty close to a later 1st gen mei ~circa Manji here's a reference Hizento Hikkei 120.pdf

good on ya mate!

I'm sure no offense was meant Reuben....

judging by the item location, i'm guessing real pictures that are from somewhere else.

Damn! I'm sure everyone here would still get one now at those prices! It's like what, 10% of what it would cost now to commission a daito now?

Interesting I wish shinsakuto Gassan blades were 200-300 yen now...haha How much equivalent to current currency? I wonder how many of these were made/sold.

Hi, The mei points to a Bungo Takada school smith 豊州高田住藤原輝_ unfortunately it is ikakire so cannot get the full signature Hoshu Takada ju Fujiwara Teru _? ?Teruyuki Hope that helps. More knowledgeable members on Bungo blades could probably shed more light Cheers

Yeah, most probably gimei You're not gonna get a genuine Tadahiro blade for 800 euro A reference to compare http://www.nihonto.ca/omi-daijo-tadahiro-4/

Would be interested to see more pictures of the jigane and hamon. Are there any papers that go with this blade? Omi Daijo Tadahiro was 2nd gen master of mainline Hizen Tadayoshi school. Probably gimei'd a lot. By my novice eye there seems to be some irregularities in the mei, especially the 近 ? There are many Hizen experts and enthusiasts on this board so they can probably shed more light.

My mistake Is this a showa-to? Only reference to Munenaga with this kanji was a Seki smith

Hey mate, First one reads: Higo Kuni ju Akamatsu Taro Kaneteru saku That's your shinsakuto for iai I presume second reads: Noshu seki ju Kanetsuna saku Showa 14 (1939) August - you are correct Hope that helps