Lee Bray

Page 344 under 'nie' in Kodansha edition for anyone interested.

Thank you, gentleman. I thought I'd broken a taboo after seeing no replies for a few days. This is instructive, cheers. Ford - Do not apologise for being 'elitist'. It is the only way traditions, especially of this age and complexity, can survive in my opinion. Once terms and definitions are diluted or changed to suit something the original intent becomes lost. Please continue to be elitist with your opinion and your work. Whilst it may have been very obvious to some, I'm not one to go for the 'Emperor's new clothes' and wanted something a little more substantial than the circumstantial. I've been lucky enough for my location to find and be given the opportunity to look first hand at some very impressive swords, namely Tadayoshi and some of the Gassan school, the latest one being an Enomoto Sadayoshi. An awesome piece of work. I think I'm still at a stage where I can appreciate the difference in quality but my brain doesn't fully absorb the details due to the 'wow' factor and and the fact that I'm concentrating on not drooling on the blades... 'Studying' pieces on the net takes away the 'wow' factor for me and leaves you to concentrate on details and not worrying about 3 feet of someone else's very sharp, very expensive piece of steel. Pointers such as the yasurimei definition at the polish transition and the actual corner sharpness of the nakago jiri...priceless. Thanks.

Thank you, Jacques. Having reread my post, I hope I didn't come across as aggressive, I'm just curious as to why people think it's gimei. The horimono is not a valid reason, in my opinion, and whilst the fact that it is a 'Kotetsu' coming out of Japan is a give away, I'd like to know what it is about the blade that says gimei.

Appreciate the pointers, Brian, thanks. Got some pics of the blade and more info. It's signed tachi mei as above and also dated as Showa Ju Hachi Nen Hachi Gatsu Yoshi Hi (Lucky Day in August; 1943). The kanji for Masa is your first version. The hamon appears to be midare.

I have Slough's reference book but no mention is made of this smith. Anyone have any knowledge on the matter as I am looking at purchasing a blade which may well be the same one?

That's the best chuckle I've had in days... thank you. :D

I've been looking at this sword as well and as has already been pointed out, the horimono is naff, and glaringly so. That, to me, doesn't prove a fake or a gimei straight away. It looks like a recent addition so that suggests it's covering up a flaw, although I'd rather look at the flaw than that horimono... So with that said, what else about the blade suggests gimei? Ignore the horimono. Ignore his dodgy English; that maybe why he wrote 17th century Muromachi, doesn't really matter, who reads the blurb? (Apparently it's Nagahisa as well, not Hisanaga, so it would seem his Japanese isn't top notch either.) Ignore the papers; I thought they were fake until it was pointed out to me they weren't NTHK or NBTHK. I also have strong reservations about the seller from some of his earlier ebay introductions. I'd swear I've seen a couple of 'non Japanese nihonto' in his beginning auctions but I could be wrong, so ignore that too. :D I'm curious as to the sword and what about it suggests gimei. The nakago is well finished and the mei looks to be well struck. The tameshimei appears to have been struck at another time from the mei, which I'd expect. It looks to me like a very well made blade, although the polish/geometry around the yokote area seems somewhat rough. I'm not looking to buy it, I'm just very curious as to its 'pedigree' aside from the horimono, and the fact that it is a cheap Kotetsu coming out of Japan. Instinct says fake, I'm wondering what about the sword says the same?

Could be. In my private emails with him he ended up using some rather colourful invectives and a similar style to the stuff I've read in his auctions, so I've always assumed it was the same fella.

Matthew Hardy? When I dealt with him a couple of years ago, he went by the name of Richard Macintyre.

The first tsuka looks as though it is supposed to have an ito wrap as there is a divot near to the kashira which is the same on a wood core to allow for the knot size. The positioning of the decoration suggests that too, as it is on the same plane as the menuki would be. Interesting piece.