Matt68

Hello, I picked up a Gendaito Katana with the Mei - Echigo Ju Norihisa Saku. This was an unanticipated purchase, I will put it out there that I do not know much about Gendaito smiths. I was trying to do a bit or research and the closest I could find to Norihisa was 3 Mei variants from the Swordsmith index and another Echigo ju ikea Norihisa from a different site. I am only interested to know a bit more information as I purchased it for iaido. I have done some initial research on the web and a katana (maybe from the same smith) I saw on the web for sale was significantly higher in price to what I picked this up for. This has me thinking that maybe I should not use this one for iaido and cutting practice, there are lots of cheep options for this or there is something not quite right. If He a good maker and this katana is "right" I will more than likely sell or trade it to someone who collects Gendaito blades. If not, a cutter I have. If there is further information you would like let me know. I can post more pics but this will not be for a couple of weeks as I will be travelling.

As it has been the Christmas break I was doing some research into this type of Hamon and I came across this this link to a sword that was listed with AIO Japan http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-yokoyama-kaga-suke-ason-sukenaga. My question is would you take the punt and remove the fake signature and submit the sword for assessment given the similarities in the hamon?

Today I thought I had found the Barn Find of Swords - Inoue Shinkai that the owner was willing to entertain offers on. Please note I am not a dealer just a small time collector who may have stumbled onto something special. It was purchased by the current owner 30 years ago not polished. When I went to view the sword is still not in polish and is in average condition. My immediate concerns with this sword are: The is a knick in the blade towards the top, to repair may take to much off the blade the Hamon does not seem to be consistent with other Shinkai swords (when compared to other images on the net) and it changes mid length up the sword. The Mei is not crisp The blade is short about 63cm for this maker (this may be a wrong assumption) The blade is rather thin (approx 6mm) The Mekugi ana looks to elliptical for a maker of this quality Poor quality Kiku Mon. I am aware that this maker is an important sword smith and to date I have not had the opportunity to view a genuine Shinkai for real (only on the net). I have my suspicions about this blade but would like the opinion of those that are more knowledgeable than myself. I am interested to know if this is a barn find or is it just another gimei.