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Uwe, Thank you very much! Mike

All, Thank you for your wealth of knowledge in translation and identification. I've referred others here because of your skill and the gracious way you've helped. I have a friend that has the swords I'm going to post. Since I have no skill in translation myself (I should rectify that) would you be so kind as to assist. Thank you in advance, Mike

Thank you gentlemen for helping Ron out. The blade has a slight bend and 3 nicks at that point that span less than an inch. I think it is a good candidate for a proper restoration.

Wonderful! Thanks!

The blade was slightly bent and there were three small nicks spanning a half of an inch at the bend implying an impact that damaged the blade. I think it could be restored, but I doubt the owner can invest in the effort. The tsuba had a dragon detail. The saya had a deep black pebbly textured laquer that had smooth maple leafs artfully pressed into the surface. At one time it had been beautiful, but is peeling now and missing from a quarter of the saya. The ito was intact and the tsuka was sound. Thanks in advance for the skill and talent here. It is very much appreciated.

Thanks! Another thing puzzles me, there's copper wire used in at least a couple of places to secure the tsuka that is covered by what looks like bark. Without having inspected it personally, anyone want to hazard a guess as to ballpark value considering the condition? He'll want to know (they always want to know).

A gentleman came to me at the local show to ask if I could find out if this hidden cane sword was "authentic". A couple of things concern me about it, namely the tang may have been drilled instead of punched for the holes and I can not find (admittedly in my limited references) any reference to a spring loaded "tsuba" for hidden swords. The fact that there are multiple peg/pin holes makes me wonder why so many would be needed if it wasn't an earlier blade that was remounted. There are no markings that I can find and I can't see any file marks on the tang. I hope the collective brain trust here might be able to help shed some light whether this is some tourist piece or a lucky estate find. Thank you in advance.

Thanks to each of you! Is there any assurance that the blade is made from nanbantetsu?

An older gent showed a nice katana to me the other day that had about 3 inches at the kissaski broken off (yes, hard to call a broken katana nice). I showed him how to remove the tsuka and we looked at the nakago and I got a couple of pictures of the markings that I'd appreciate getting a translation so I can let him know what is there. Thanks in advance, Mike

Gentlemen, Thank you for your insight. That is very much what I suspected. I'll share that information with my friend. Regards, Mike Crenshaw

Gentlemen, An older friend of mine has this nice condition knife and I was hoping for a translation of the blade markings and any other information you might lend. Thank you in advance.