doomsdaymachine

Is this Satsuma style koshirae? No menuki, deep kashira, beefy tsuka and udenuki ana in the tsuba?

Can I just say that this is a lovely tanto? Have a nice day.

Thank you Moriyama-san! Go big or go home, right?

Any thoughts on this? Cast tsuba, brass, obviously later made. Looks like someone cleaned it, then painted it.

Weird looking, but I like it. Willing to bet this is like satsuma age on a naginata with a broken tip. Odd muneyaki otherwise imho.

+1

It's a fake, but at least it was free!

Michael, same name, but the angular final stroke on the Moto is more rounded out on mine. That's the reason I figured mine wasn't one of the first few generations of Kanemoto (if shoshin) I'm in touch with Ted now. Hopefully there will be a resolution on the horizon!

Is there any precedence for smiths dating to a period, but beyond when the period was? Confusing...an example might be better. Gentoku lasted from 1329 -1331. That means there should be Gentoku 1, Gentoku 2, and Gentoku 3, right? What if something is signed, with no question, Gentoku...lets say 7? That's well beyond Gentoku, and I believe even beyond the next period. Is this a thing? Or maybe a forged signature and date by someone who didn't know when Gentoku ended?

Fujimoto Harunobu?

Lacquered saya or shirasaya? Lacquered saya have nowhere to expand but inward. Un-lacquered wood expands in all directions, meaning it gets taller and wider proportionately to inward expansion, changing the shape of the hole in the wood.

Those look a lot like the mats that Bugei used to sell. If they are they are fun to cut, but they are spongy. Won't provide you the same feedback as cutting real tatami omote. Bad cuts can still make it through just fine. I vote Nihonzashi.

Thanks for the suggestions, Brian! I'm comfortable playing with hot water, but I'm not confident in my ability to only heat the necessary area to just the right temp. I think I'll leave this for a professional. In the mean time, I've cleaned the blade and oiled it but I'm concerned about the water I poured on the habaki earlier. I know WD40 isn't great for swords, but I need to make sure there's no water trapped under the habaki. Thoughts?

Just saw this. Thanks, Lance!

Thanks for the effort, Robert! If there's any risk to the blade, you can bet I'll be leaving it to a professional. I know of Ted, and would love to hear his pro opinion on a solution to this. I guess for the time being, I'll just keep cleaning, oiling, and researching! Even if it turns out the problem is too severe for a reasonable fix, the mounts alone are worth more than I paid for it by far. ...That said, I really hope it's not too much trouble to fix.

I don't think the nakago was welded on, though I won't be able to know for sure without removing the habaki. I can say that this habaki wasn't seated all the way to the munemachi when it was soldered, but the hamachi is flush with the habaki. I think this it was a fitment problem that someone ham-fisted their way through.

Ed, I'm pretty sure it's solder. Nice and silver and hateful. Chris, I imagine it should clear off without much trouble if polished, and if I have a new habaki made, I won't be heartbroken about the destruction of this one. I can't seem to catch it on my phone, but the hamon looks to go right under the solder, only disappearing where the actual material has concealed it. Fingers crossed...

Here are some shots. The nakago side is unmolested. Seems to only be in a couple spots. Like I said, the hamon looks completely unaffected.

BIG PROBLEM! Tried the hot water habaki removal method to no avail, and discovered in the process that the habaki has been SOLDERED TO THE BLADE. God, this is maddening... Any suggestions? Seems to only be on one side. Material is light grey, like silver solder or electrical solder or something. Hamon runs right to the solder but doesn't seem to fade, so I'm assuming it's a relatively low temp solder.

Thanks, gents! This is turning out to be quite a bit of fun. Alex, I'll see what I can do. What appears to be rust is actually my current headscratcher. I think it's paint, or some such nonsense. Some of it came off when I gave it a clean and oil. My best guess is someone at some point covered all the metal, including the habaki, with this weird, brick colored paint. There is a little bit of it left around some of the other metal fittings. Also, the habaki seems to be pretty well stuck on. Any advice on getting it off without hurting anything?

Thanks John. It's older, 2 character signed Kanemoto. I have a thread up on it in general, discussing the signature and whether it's worth a polish or not. This thread gives me hope! lol

Robert, Steve, thanks for that. I'll keep looking around. I have a couple of older books, but I can't read Japanese, so I'd just be looking at pretty pictures. Any suggestions for research materials? Bryce, thanks! I didn't even notice that. Glad I posted the pics. That thread is interesting. So this isn't a type 98, it's an early type 94? I noticed right away that it had the sukashi variant of tsuba and the ashi is really forward, but didn't think anything of it since it lacked the second ashi. Lance, I'm definitely happy with the find. Be interested in checking out what experienced folks have to say about it in hand. I am in Southern California, near San Bernardino. I know there's a show that happens up in San Fran every year. Would that be my best bet? Also, I have put some oil on it since photographing it, and I have some good uchiko somewhere. I need to find it, though. Be interesting to see if I get some clarity over time! Ken, I have a vague idea of the cost of a polish, like $100 an inch, give or take? So I know at least a little of what to expect. But a habaki and shirasaya I don't really know about. I guess I wouldn't know if any of that was worth it until I got it looked at. Wouldn't want to put a couple grand into something that didn't warrant it. Maybe a window?

Was just pointed to this thread, as I have apparently come into possession of one! Didn't even know this was a thing.

This thread is incredible! One day, when I get big and strong, I will make a find like this. For now, I can't wait to see the end result of the polish!

So, likely gimei as opposed so some other Kanemoto? Bummer, but not a big one. I paid less for this thing than a cheap Paul Chen sword. Worth a polish or appreciate as is? I know I probably won't recoup the cost of a polish, but it's hard to see anything as it is now. Couple more photos. Numbers matching, but missing one seppa.