stekemest

What I can read is "kanoe-uma, 10th month" (that's octobre 1930). Can't identify the rest without books (which I don't have here at the moment).

Agree. It initally looked to me like a modern reproduction with an artifically aged nakago. There is something wrong about the nakago, anyway.

The rust on the nakago looks a bit strange. Do you have a better picture of it?

If you dont need it anymore, I'd take it. :D It's still a historical blade, though...

First thing that came to my mind is that it was gilded for the tourist trade, as the usage of much gold is rather unusual in Japanese art. But that's just a guess. I haven't ever heard of gold same before either.

You can slightly rub the nakago with horn and some water or oil.

Thank you Martin.

I see, thanks. Any hints on how to care for it? It has no active rust.

Thank you John. What is TLC?

This tsuba, signed "SHOAMI IESHIGE", was part of a katana I got several years ago. There are some minor traces of gold in line shape left, but they are hard to see. I got varying opinions about this tsuba and would like to know if a consensus about the date is possible. Thank you all very much. Peter

James, There's no single reproduction which will really be like an original. They all look like what they are: Chinese/American reproductions with rather cheap materials. If you want something that looks like the real thing, you will have to buy a real nihonto. You can get quite decent ones for 1500$ and a bit more. Peter

That's no meiji piece. Even meiji weapons had some quality (as everything in Japanese art). Those are just fake.

Yes, typical satsuma koshirae. Here's mine.

A picture of the nakago/tang would be nice. From what can be seen, the sword looks out ouf polish, but nice and without major flaws. Sugata doesn't really look like shinto to me. stm

Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu!

I'd rather say koto. Sugata, nakago, niji-mei....

But can the higher weight of shinshinto swords really only be explained by the polishing and shortening of earlier Katana/Tachi? I have seen Koto and Shinshinto swords similar in size and breadth, and the Shinshinto often felt much heavier. I doubt this is only because of polishing? Regards Peter PS: I hope this is not off topic, to be honest, I dont even know what the topic is at the moment...

During a kantei, the nakago (tang) usually cannot be seen, and it is not very safe to date a sword based upon the tang. It can only give a hint, because usually the older swords have thicker and darker rust, while on newer swords, there is very little rust and the yasurime can be seen much better. But I have also seen shinshinto swords with tangs that looked like koto, so you should be very careful with that. It is much better to date a sword based upon the workmanship of the blade. As for the chinese tangs you have shown, you should better not take a white background, because there is not much to see on these photos. You should also better ask in a Chinese sword forum, e.g. SFI or else.

Doesn't look fake to me, just an unusual writing style I guess.

Well, that's not a problem concerning Nihonto only, but works of art in general. Just remember the many paintings that were attributed to Rembrandt until a few years ago and are now regarded as works by his pupils (the man with the golden helmet being the most prominent example). Attributions are not based on the inscriptions only, but mostly on style etc., but in most cases they are still opinions and opinions can, of course, vary.

Remember that buying a nihonto does not mean you can do with the blade whatever you want. It's an art object and an historical artifact. They should be treated with great respect and care. The only historical blade I'd use for training would be a WW2 Gunto. stm

Photos of the whole sword and the kissaki would be interesting. If it's fake, it seems to be a slightly better one than the usual Chinese trash. It at least doesn't look like bunmei at all.

Thank you Brian. I still don't know much about nihonto, so I hope I don't annoy you with my questions.

Is there really a strong fumbari? It doesn't seem so to me (but I don't know much about that feature). Does this mean the blade is not shortened, but the shortening just imitated? (shin-shinto then?) The middle mekugi-ana is indeed very new. Could it be WW2? Thanks again, Peter

No, I don't see any characteristics at all. Is it at least possible to put a "time frame" on it ("older than..." or "newer than...")? Thank you, Peter