Jean

Alex, Alex wrote: « Well, I'm going to use your advice, unfortunately I don't have much time to show my not-so-rich erudition in the English language« My answer: Try French, if it is easier Попробуйте французский, если это проще..

What a hada..

Could be Baby Megalodon bite...

Kunitoshi: two signatures: 1- niji mei Kunitoshi - two kanji 2- sanji mei: Rai Kunitoshi - 3 kanji Nowadays experts tend to say that they are the same person, niji Kunitoshi mei being his early years as smith with a wild hamon, then sanji Kunitoshi (mei: Rai Kunitoshi) later where his work is very classical Rai, calm suguha. The most impressive Rai sword I have seen was displaid at a DTI several years ago by Rai Kuniyuki. The wildest hamon I have seen in a Rai school, O midare with plenty of ashi....sigh....

Niji kunitoshi (Rai school - Yamashiro) Late Kamakura, saijosmith

Yes Kunitoshi

From the blade scan, it seems there is a very tight nioiguchi along the midare hamon.

Chris, Darcy quote: « Someone might say it's just the hadori that's changed but the hamon now clearly cuts right through the dragons and if it was like that before then the polisher would have only put hadori on the bottom third of the hamon. That would be even more weird. So I think it's another recent retemper. Paper is dated Heisei 28 which is March 2016. It went onto their site in October. They may be responsible for it but they have it flagged as a consignment. There is a little nick in the blade on the bottom right just above the machi. It is in the picture too. So this blade did not get a full polish. Otherwise it would be gone.«

Thanks Darcy for this Alex. There is only one conclusion, Aoi Art is the window of Japanese swords for Western Countries. So beware of Consignment items. You will see that Tsuruta san does not vouch for consigned items.

Luis, I have no idea but perhaps somebody thought it was more marketable in O midare in Western countries. Alex, No , I have not; I don’t feel as a masked avenger

You must all learn to look ... I think the horimono is ato bori (engraved later but not recent either). It is not up to the smith reputation. The question is : what are the characteristics of a Yamato blade: high shinogi, masame, and a SUGUHA Hamon. Naotane would never have made a big midare hamon. Have a look at the horimono: Do you often see horimono being part of the hamon? Normally the hamon would have run under the Horimono and the dragon claws would never have been included in the hamon. The kanteisho is dated March 2016 and shows a perfect suguha hamon under the horimono. On the right side of the blade under the dragon tail, there is in the picture a clearer spot as a mizukage. This blade according to pictures and certificate has been retempered between march 2016 and now.... Thanks a lot Darcy to have drawn our attention on these facts.

Or rather to Darcy who draws my attention on this blade: https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-taikei-naotane What do you think of it?

Most probably 2nd generation. It is assumed that works after 1423 can be attributed to second generation (Markus Sesko) Edit to say, ask for a Hozon guarantee...

Did I say that, Hamfish? I said that photoshopped scans can hide flaws so that to be sure, daylight pictures are necessary. Why do you think daylight pictures were displaid?

I have checked the pictures of the Sa (photoshopped Scan and daylight pictures), same for the Yukihiro. I have reached a conclusion. Don’t buy any blade without having the daylight pictures of the blade, photoshop erases all the ware. I have already detected hamon ware/kizu on daylight pictures which did not show on the photoshopped scans.

It shows the difficulty of choosing a kanji reading .... George is right, I simply checked in Markus’book...

I am referring to Gassan Sadakazu. I have noticed recently a new translation as Gassan Sadaichi. I presume it is the same smith, but what is the correct reading. Till now, I thought it was Sadakazu.

Here they are, the Kozuka was ex-Haynes collection in shakudo

Could be a movie title "Jigsaw Massacre"

Speechless...I have two left hands....

It is an auction so nobody knows what will be the final price, but it is really a bargain. You will notice that the kanteisho gives an attribution to Kanetoshi, not so frequent. I have not checked but probably jo saku level.

Sorry, I sold my collection a few years ago, fuchi/kashira, tsuba and kozuka... I like it very much, good artist, I’ll try to post some pictures.

This is a top sword for beginner, Considering the price, I even prefer it to the Sa: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-tegai-kanetoshi

Bob, I agree fully with what you have written, except one thing. You wrote in 6) « Signed Nambokucho or Kamakura blades tend to be more pricey », no absolutelly not, they do not tend to be more pricey, they are out of range... for the common amateur...

Just saw the topic. Nakago is typical. A bit of browsing later: