mywei

Given the period (late koto) and smith, the length and shape could suggest a katateuchi However, the jigane looks quite rough to my eyes, and there is no nengo, making it unlikely to be a chumon-uchi and more likely kazu-uchi mono unfortunately Depends what you are wanting to collect (quality/quantity/period etc) and the price asked ofc My 2c

伴入道風一作之 Ban Nyudo Fuichi saku Date is maybe Tenna 天和 (cant make out the exact year) February

@SteveM 耳の平_ _ に　maybe?

Omori Teruhide Not sure if he ever signed this way though?

Signed Bishu ju Masatsugu (no papers) http://sinogi.dee.cc...u-w31886/w31886.html Signed Masatsugu (Fujishiro papers to Bingo Mihara but Nbthk not as sure) https://www.e-sword....1110_3012syousai.htm

My guess is 水心子正真（？改） Suishinshi Masazane

looks like 華湘公司 to me It's a Chinese sounding company name (華湘) but could be Japanese also.

Thanks Paul for sharing your experience. Wise words in regards nihonto and other things also to not easily dismiss out of preformed ideas or prejudice I think! I guess smiths like the Sukesadas that made kazuuchimono also made custom order work for the Daimyos so it was not like they lacked skill!

Yes you're right Heian is the old name of Kyoto, and Jo means castle Its likely your sword is much older than ww2 by several centuries. Im sure more knowledgeable members on this topic can elaborate further on your sword but there were quite a few smiths that signed with Heianjo over the centuries (e.g. those of koto period Yamashiro-den Heianjo school, or those who moved to Kyoto like Shinto period Shimosaka school)

平安城 Heianjo Can't really make out what comes after on your current photos, maybe 國 Kuni as the fourth

Looks like a Yamato Monju school smith signed with this Might be Terukuni https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TER83 See ref https://www.nipponto...swords8/WK329721.htm

I think there's lots of examples of this i.e Daimei. E.g Shinkai signing for his father Kunisada, or Hizen branchline smiths signing for one of the mainline smiths etc Markus' article on Kajihei mentions this also specifically regarding Kajihei and the Naokatsu forge https://markussesko.com/2019/12/31/kajihei-鍛冶平/

Gimei is gimei regardless of when it was done. However it was not uncommon practice for contemporary colleagues in the same school to cut the mei on each others blades during the Shinto period onwards in my understanding, during times of high workloads (this is not gimei). Most gimei would probably have been done posthumously for various reasons, like a Daimyo family needing to possess a Masamune for prestige, or a struggling smith in the 19th century trying to make ends meet (eg Kajihei/Naomitsu or even Gassan Sadakazu) Hope that answers your question

This reference may be useful to you https://www.aoijapan...tsuyama-ju-kanesaki/

Kiyomaro (and disciples) come to mind when thinking of Shinshinto soshu den Naotane also made soshu den works

I would guess for the menuki 安随 (Anzui - not sure of if the first two is in the correct order) 安親 Yasuchika Interestingly the backs of yours look like this set from Aoi depicting Buddha - if your one shows the same? https://www.aoijapan.net/menuki-yasuchika/

The last paper Motif Botan+dragon, phoenix, dog Mumei Kyo Kenjo Nadekaku gata Jitetsu Kinko nunome zogan Kebori Dote-mimi 土手耳　（Karakusa-mon nunome zogan) Ryohitsu-ana 両櫃孔 Hope that helps @Brian

The first certificate looks like an old white NBTHK nintensho that got phased out in the 50s I believe Demon motif tsuba Signed Suifu ju Yasutsugu saku Jitetsu mokko gata Sukidashibori 鋤出彫 Nunome zogan

丁亥 __(3rd character some sort of bird I think) __ 杏花

Might be signed 利典 but I'm not 100% on the second character What Ray meant by his signature comment is that it is a forged signature by another smith (this is called gimei). This is very common for this particular smith (Kotetsu) whose works have been notoriously subject to forgery as his real work is extremely valuable

Looks like a great resource! Thanks for sharing

Kaga Shinto smith 2 generations, active around Jokyo-Joo era See refs https://www.toukenko...i&katanaA050623.html https://sword-auction.com/en/product/9105/as21495-刀：加賀住藤原長次初代/

There's no need to take this 'personally' imo, it's not an attack on your person or character after all. When you ask for opinions from others there will always be those that you disagree with, unless you just want everyone else to validate your pre-formed opinion on the matter. Unfortunately with really big names like Mutsu Tadayoshi in good recent polish, you have to wonder why it doesn't have papers? You would expect any previous owners to have attempted a shinsa especially if they went to the trouble of polishing it. This does looks like a good blade with konuka appearing hada and an active gunome hamon but questions will always remain in its current state. The signature is not a 100% match to papered Mutsu and the nakagojiri seems different to other ubu examples? Without seeing it in person no one can really say for sure. I would suggest the only to put it to bed would be to send it for shinsa. My two cents

江州彦根住 藻柄子入道宗典製　 Goshu Hikone ju Mogarashi Nyudo Soten sei Box also says Motif Unryu with raging waves (荒波雲龍) Late Edo period

Jon have a look at these ubu examples and compare the shape of nakago to yours Also have a look at the file markings on your nakago and see where they end to get an idea of how much has been shortened https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-060922.htm https://www.samurais....jp/sword/12114.html