I paid 18000yen which equates to about $165. Needless to say I'm not happy with the purchase. That smarts...Having done lots of lurking through the forum, I thought I might be able to spot a obvious cast copy. The tooling marks and the defined chiseled signature is what made me jump on the purchase. There was some residual gilt on the tops of the waves that gave me hope, but I was seeing what I wanted to see. I'm now dubious of the other vendors in the area that carry sword parts from time to time. I'm going to see if I can snap it in half just to be sure nobody else can make the same mistake. Thanks to all for your knowledge!