SteveM

撫柳斎　Buryūsai - but I can find no artist using this name. or maybe 楊柳斎　Yōryūsai (there is an artist using this name, but the first character looks a bit different). I'm nearly certain the last one is 斎, which is common enough in gō. The middle one is a bit more cryptic - I haven't completely convinced myself that it is ryū (柳). Actually looks a bit like gonben (言) as written in grassscript, but again, nothing jumps out at me. The first one is even more cryptic.

輪宝　Rinpō in Japanese. Literally "wheel-treasure". https://www.google.com/search?q=輪宝&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiw1M6vz87tAhUNzIsBHRTwDeYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=輪宝&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECCMQJzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCABQ-WFY-WFggmRoAHAAeACAAW2IAW2SAQMwLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=dvTXX7DBGI2Yr7wPlOC3sA4&bih=512&biw=1124 Edit: I see that on wikipedia, the Japanese translation for dharmachakra is given as 法輪 hōrin (a reversal of the kanji)

It says 石川兼次鍛之　Ishikawa Kanetsugu kitau kore (made by Kanetsugu ISHIKAWA) I couldn't find any references to this smith. Could you post pictures of the actual blade?

A few thousand dollars. The better the condition, the higher the value. Good condition means unmarred by amateur polishing or grinding, patina intact, and no cracks in the steel. Small imperfections are to be expected. The condition of the furnishings is not as crucial as the condition of the tanto itself. In your case, your saya and furnishings look as a 150? year-old item would be expected to look. This is a long way of saying the condition of your item looks fine for now, so no need to do anything but protect it from moisture and fingerprints. Read the link that Grey posted. He's given his contact details as well, so you can check out his site and get in touch with him if you want a more detailed discussion.

These are bonji characters - a type of Sanskrit script, used to indicate various buddhist gods. Bonji are often found in horimono. I think these three might be the ones shown photo. Fudōmyō-ō is a popular deity among the warrior class, and he is often represented by bonji (his is the one in pink). The others might be Jizo and Fugen. https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/fudo.html https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/jizo1.shtml https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/fugen.shtml

The bottom sword Made by Shimosaka, of Echizen province Shimosaka is a group/school of smiths. If you search on them you will find a lot of information about them. Sometimes the sword will have the inscribed name of the specific smith who made the sword. This is why I was wondering if there was anything on the back. The top sword - its hard to say. I can read the individual kanji, but they make no sense to me in their entirety. Could be kanbun (a Japanese phrase with Japanese syntax, written using only Chinese characters) but I think this is different. When I put this into a search engine, I pick up one hit from a Yahoo Auction two years ago, where the seller was claiming a similar inscription was placed on a sword purporting to be from the Tokugawa family, and that the inscription was an allusion to the Japanese noble "Minamoto" clan, but, as I say, that feels a bit suspicious to me. A quick look at the sword might clear the air. 賴具武門暇日眞鍛作之

Tanto is 岡山住逸見義隆　Okayama-jū Itsumi Yoshitaka. Itsumi Yoshitaka is a famous smith from before the Meiji Restoration, to the early part of the 20th century. He truly was making swords for the last samurai, and then made a few ceremonial swords after that, as well as swords for the imperial family. The name on the kozuka I can't quite make out 義時 Yoshitoki using a variant of 時, maybe?

Top one: I have my doubts about it being a Japanese sword. Could be a Chinese fake 賴具武門暇日眞鍛作之 - A suspicious inscription. The final 4 kanji are plausible, but the preceding 6 kanji are a bit of a stretch. Would be good to have a look at the sword itself. Bottom one is 越前国住下坂　Echizen-kuni jū Shimosaka. Is there anything inscribed on the reverse side of this one?

Right side is 自立軒　Jiryūken Left Side is 英充（花押）　Terumitsu + kaō

I think he's still alive and working. Or, maybe just now entering retirement, because as of 2019 he was accepting offers of new works. His website hasn't been updated in over a year, but here it is. Born in 1951...he is younger than, say, Paul McCartney. http://katana.art.coocan.jp/ Prolific and very skilled, I would say.

Looks like ク

I looked at that also with no luck. Could also be 恏 , but that's even more obscure, and therefore (I feel) unlikely. I feel I'm missing something obvious.

Right side 長門 Left side 怒造之？ I should say I looked for a smith who used 怒 in his name, but couldn't find any. So there is a good chance I am wrong about the name.

The last two are 淬刃 (saijin) https://furigana.info/w/淬刃暁暾 I have my doubts about 藤花月. I think it isn't 藤 , but I can't figure it out.

Looks promising.　 The signature on the little knife is 近江守久道 (Ōmi-no-kami Hisamichi), who is a well-known smith from the 1600's. But these little knives (kogatana) often carry signatures of famous names as an homage, or perhaps as a bit of marketing, so don't get too excited about the small knife. What might be more interesting is the name engraved on the back of the handle of that little knife. A better picture of that might help identify it. These handles are almost always more valuable than the knives inside them, and the artistry that went into the creation of these handles (kozuka) is a field of study unto itself. The pommel/handle of the big blade itself carries a family crest: five bamboo leaves in bamboo circle, completing the overall theme of bamboo found in the kozuka, and the tsuba. https://kamon.myoji-yurai.net/kamonDetail.htm?kamonName=五枚笹竹の丸 The bling is of course secondary to the actual blade itself. Your blade looks quite interesting.

於武州大和大掾国武　Oite Bushū Yamato Daijō Kunitake 南山祝長寿 Minamiyama Iwai Chōjū 百戦不殆 Hyakusen Ayaukarazu 慶應三卯歳五月二日為出生 Keiō san usagi toshi gogatsu futsuka - tame shussei 生以首百歳二ツ胴落 (unclear) futatsu-dō otosu Seems to be a gift on the occasion of someone's 100th birthday. The date is Keiō 3 (1867). The recipient is Minamiyama. Chōjū means long life, and the phrase "Hyakusen Ayaukarazu" means One-hundred battles, no dangers. Its a phrase from Sun Tzu. The futatsu-dō is clear enough, but I can't get the bit in between. It seems to be another allusion to 100 years, but I can't make out the first bit.

藝州来島住滝本金弘作 Geishū Raijima-jū Takimoto Kanehiro saku is my guess. Meikan more (smith whose name isn't found in any list - in other words, an unknown smith). Or, a made-up name engraved on the sword to enhance its marketability.

First one on the right side is 自. This is the first part of his art name. His signature is on the left side. The art name is slightly tricky, but the signature (left side) should be super easy with a kanji dictionary. The first one on the left side is very common. The second one is not as common, but its not obscure either. And its cut so clearly you should be able to pick it out with a bit of diligence. After that is the artists kaō, which requires no translation.

The tsuba artist is Hashimoto Isshi (橋本一至), also known as Yūshūsha (夕秀舎), which is engraved on this tsuba. He died in 1896. A very accomplished tsuba artist. I don't know if he is trying to recreate a famous Chinese painting, or just trying to create the effect of a Chinese painting. Engraved are 秋江 (shūkō) and 帆彩？ (hosai?), which I think allude to a Chinese painting, or a common theme in Chinese painting.　 Reverse side is...雪山利？兆 maybe representing another Chinese painting, artist, or theme. Next to that is 萬山 and some kind of seal. Sorry, a lot of question marks. Anyway, the artist is a good one, assuming the signature is genuine. There are a lot of fakes out there.

Tsuba says "Nobuichi". There are at least four artists who used the name Nobuichi, all of the them late Edo. The wakizashi definitely looks shortened. Call it an Edo period piece, maybe even assembled for foreign tourists in the latter part of the 19th century.

John got it right. Maybe add 肥前 to the front of the mei, making it 肥前佐渡掾藤原宗平 . The mei looks very similar to the one shown in the pictures in the tweet below. Restoration is not cheap (a few thousand dollars), but your sword might be worth it. I mean, regardless of the cost, preserving the sword is a worthy pursuit, but often the restored sword's resell value will fall below the cost of the restoration. In the case of your sword, if you get it professionally polished and it ends up looking as good as the sword below, I think the resell value could be higher than the cost of the polish. "Could be" leaves a lot of wiggle room, mind you. I doubt it would be a fabulous investment from a profit standpoint. A proper polish, a new wooden resting scabbard, a new metal collar (these three are usually considered the minimum for restoration) would set you back maybe $3000-$4000. The negatives are: the sword is from a time period that doesn't excite many collectors (with some exceptions). The rough polish this sword has been given may have already ruined it. The patina on the tang is ruined, but this might be restorable. There could be fatal flaws lurking in the blade that would discourage collectors. The signature could be a fake, as is very common in the sword world. (The sword is an actual Japanese sword, but someone could have added a signature sometime in the past to "enhance" its value). The positives are: looks like a good size, it must be 70cm or longer? In general, long swords (katana) with an intact tang with signature are desirable. If the signature is authentic, the blade should have a temper pattern (hamon) similar to the one in the tweet. The connection with Hizen province in Japan, and the lineage of well-known and respected smiths, hints at a well-made blade. The neutrals: the sword furnishings look like a hodgepodge of boring fittings, possibly assembled during wartime when one had to make due with whatever materials were on hand. The fittings excite neither the collector of militaria, nor the connoisseur of antique swords. But the good thing is that you can make new fittings using authentic metal fixtures (tsuba, fuchi, kashira, menuki). The existing menuki might be OK. Scabbard and pommel would be made with new wooden parts, and the silk pommel wrapping would require new silk, but this is normal in restoration (and you could keep the existing parts separately if you like). One of the jobs of the professional polisher to get the fine crystalline structures of the hamon to look like what you see in the photos in the tweet. When people grind away with abrasive tools they ruin those structures, so avoid anyone who isn't known in the sword world. Some of the people on this site can help you. Avoid the temptation to do it yourself or to follow some dude on youtube who's got a million followers. Edit: Don't hang it on the wall. Edit #2: The menuki don't look too special. Save as antiques, but if you are restoring the blade I would go for better furnishings.

Hello Mike, That paper doesn't mention any date. The first paper you posted mentioned early Edo. That's as fine of a pinpoint as you are likely to get on a mumei blade that doesn't tick all the boxes for any one particular smith. There were only about 4 Kanewaka smiths in Kashū (加州 - Kaga-han), so your field is already super limited. Also, look around on the site below for more info. And, as always, look at the sword itself and try to figure out what the sword is telling you. Bear in mind that the best appraisers in the world (arguably) already looked at the sword, and collectively the best they could come up with is "Early Edo Kanewaka", so you would have to be a collector of Kanewaka swords of all types and really dig down into the forensics of the thing in order to be able to out-judge the experts at NBTHK. https://nihontoclub.com/schools/KashuKanewaka

銘酒 Famous sake (spirits)

濃州住浅野兼眞作 Nōshū-jū Asano Kanezane saku

I think if you sent it to shinsa today, it would come back with a different attribution. It seems that nowadays it is unlikely that it would get attributed to a name and an era (late Edo - 江戸末期 on the paper) for which there is no representative smith. It could have been a transcription error, or maybe they were basing that on some reference that was available then, but isn't available now. At any rate, the attribution made in 1963 of "Kanenaga of Late Edo" attribution feels like a dead end.