Tony C

Does anyone know what sort of koshirae was shown at 10:13? Looks like an aesthetically refined 'tactical katana' .

Ah the Shinshinto Kantei, might get a copy someday . I think the last character is a kao- an artist seal, so that was why I was perplexed on why the kao seems different when the name seemed right. But now I guess the name isn't quite right either...

Hmm, thanks. Guess my old assumption was right...

Hi Geraint and thanks for the heads up on the Bonhams page. I'm still not quite sure as to how the cutting is odd- as I've always assumed that the gimei would look faint, scratchy and shaky, with no emphasis on any part of the strokes like http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2012/12204-1.jpg as opposed to http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2014/14330-2.jpg. Is it in the frequency of the chisel marks?

Hi Steve, yes that is what I thought at first, but then I saw something like this- https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20503/lot/1178/ and it seems his meis can look somewhat off.

Hi all, a learning lurker here with a bit of a puzzle. I got this tanto a while back, accepting it as a gimei Suishinshi Masahide, though now it's starting to bug me as to the authenticity. After coming across numerous examples of Masahide's varied signatures I am now completely confused... The yasurime and nakago patination is correct. The kanji are written with confidence in the same style, same strokes as many of Masahide's later works- even with the correct stroke direction (if that makes sense?) on the lower left stroke of 秀, which proves the hypothetical forger is attentive to details and studied genuine meis. However there is a lack of kaokuin (which isn't too much of a problem) and the kao itself is so far removed from any genuine kao I was able to find on the internet. So here's what puzzles me: if the forger was able to replicate the mei to a great likeness then why is the kao so poorly done? If the forger inscribed a wholly believable signature already then why bother adding a kao and increasing the risk of a bad stroke? There is also the question of why the forger didn't copy the mei precisely, with the more common, elongated 心 character (hope you see what I'm describing here) like the other gimeis but rather copied the one which only appeared in some variations of Masahide's signature to make it more convincing? Then there's the blade itself. I believe it has a ko-itame hada though it is so tightly constructed it is almost muji. I've read that Masahide forged ko-itame, though the examples I've seen were more lively than muji... Any help would be greatly appreciated, with explanation on your view for learners like me. Hopefully I haven't missed something completely obvious . nakago- http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/tc9182/media/P1020047%202_zpsrdx17ycw.jpg.html?filters[user]=146475841&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2 overall shape- http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/tc9182/media/P1020049_zpsgfzx8mk4.jpg.html?filters[user]=146475841&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1 blade- http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/tc9182/media/P1020042_zpscstuofzl.jpg.html?filters[user]=146475841&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Thank you. You have all been very helpful. Grey, I'm sorry I got my facts mixed up... I meant Muromachi but was thinking of something else . Just curious as to what would be a good evaluation for the price of the piece as I won it at an auction?

Hi all. I bought my first nihonto and it arrived from Japan today. According to the seller it was made in the Edo period/ late Kamakura but he couldn't be sure because it's a mumei. If you guys can help me out here that would be great. I'm not sure if there is a jihada on the blade (though I have read some smiths are able to fold the blade but leave no trace of jihada). Sorry about the low quality photos. It would appear the tang was shortened and you can see it was heated at the end due to the blue temper colour. Also, after I have applied a thin coat of layer onto the blade and sheathed it, when I remove the saya there are splotches of rainbow coloured patches across the blade. Is this normal? Thanks in advance, Tony