Jean

GhostGuardian, Please sign all your posts with your full first name + an Initial as per the boad rules.

BTW, Taro has demonstrated forging technics twice in France in the citadelle of Besançon. I was there last time with my friend Thierry Bernard and Jean C.

Mine will be shipped beginning of August upon my request. I am off, on holidays, in July with little access to the Web.

Hat off, John

Fantastic Ford

Could be Kanbun period (1661 AD)

Not even convincing fake

The kissaki looks like it can be saved

No sign of mine either

If I am not too lazy, I'll take some pictures or a video in October.

Greg, A picture of the hada/hamon could help explaining why it is not Nihonto. Concerning nakago Chinese Nakago : crudely finished, nakago ana poorly drilled, nakago jiri very poorly shaped, bottom of nakago back/mune not even straight, and I forgot the poorly chiselled kanji.

As said Pete, so rare, I think it is the first time I have seen this smith name

I have a NMB good friend who drew my attention on the Kissaki via a pm

No but correcting the Kissaki/yokote. Someone has been at it with such enthousiasm that there are scratches passing the ko shinogi, the yokote is slightly curved on both sides and it looks like there are remnants of the former yokote. BTW, Lol concerning the oshigata and the yokote drawing

Something will have to be done to the sword in Japan before having it exported, guess what? ...

Yes, it is a dead end Bob only gives his background and how to contact him, he does not need anything else, his fame/reputation is well established among seasonned collectors. He is the only foreigner who holds a stand at DTI .... See Guido's comments above. When you know Guido, it says it all Almost all of his deals are not public. His prices are hardly competed due to the fact that he has a job and does not need Nihonto business, this side activity simply helps him keep contact with collectors and Martial Artists. BTW, he must be the only foreign member of the Japanese nihonto antiques dealers association; this allows him to take part in private Japanese dealers'auctions. A great friend to have.

Gomabashi IMHO and not futasuji

https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-oite-toyama-mitsuru-teinai-shigetsugu-saku

Jeremiah, Believe me, long timers are still facing this dilemna. I am going to tell you how I have solved this problem. I fixed me a goal, the gokaden. Now, I was on a limited budget each time. So it was a question of waiting for the "Deal" in each school. I found opportunities through Darcy's website and thanks to him and his kindness, I found my Soshu tradition (Tametsugu) and my Mino tradition (Naoe Shizu). My Bizen sword (ubu Yasumitsu) was found in Japan. I saw it on display, alone. Early Kamakura sugata with Ko Kissaki, incredible fumbari. A friend negociated it for me, I got a 10% discount. How many ubu tachi from Yasumitsu in this style one can see? I don't know but I have never seen its like. My Yamato sword, it was very difficult, all that were available through the years had defaults, including the available Juyo ones. Then my friend Bob H at a DTI had a printed list of on consignement swords (not on display). Among them, there was a non papered Yamato one with two sayagaki, one by Honma Junji and on the ura by Tanobe sama. The blade was fantastic, no kizu, pristine and furthermore reasonably priced. I could not resist. I bought it (I got a reasonable discount from Bob) and put it to shinsa, came back as Tegai Kanekiyo, late Kamakura. For my Yamashiro blade (Ryokai), Bob was there and found it for me with a good discount Bob H is a lovely guy, so friendly. He can find almost everything you want at very competitive price. I almost never negotiate with him, I ask him what is the best price he can give me and it is always in my budget. So the swords came to me on their right time but I had made up my mind from the start and did not jump on the first passing by. It took me years Since Gokaden were completed, I bought two tanto. A yoroi doshi (1cm thick), I always wanted one and a Kamakura signed Yamato Senju'in tanto by Sukemitsu (http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19201-kantei-for-fun/), this one was for me, late Kamakura Yamato tanto are very rare, but a signed one by a Jo saku smith, it is the Holy Graal.

Suppose you have a certain amount of money to buy a sword . Taking into account the number of swords available at this price (or under) and the fact that tomorrow there will be more swords available at this price, question: when to buy? What will be your triggering factor and why? That is a question a collector must ask himself if he does not want to have regrets...

The Ichimonji blade was also a real treat

Helas, too late. Nevertheless, thanks a lot Curran.

Search a little bit, Jose

Done for Florin

Unless Markus Sesko's book "swordsmiths A to Z" is uncomplete, 4th generation (the most valuable) never signed this way (nor any other btw as I strongly suggested). Gimei.