SteveM

The name has changed to ”Gendaitō Shokuten". It's open to non-members of the NBTHK, but all sword entries need to be registered, and in order to get registered the sword needs to be made by a licensed sword-maker (I think). Here is the info for 2019 (already finished in April). I guess info on the 2020 event will be available early next year. https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/pdf/gijutsudensyo/2019%E5%B9%B4%E7%8F%BE%E4%BB%A3%E5%88%80%E8%81%B7%E5%B1%95%E9%96%8B%E5%82%AC%E8%A6%81%E9%A0%98.pdf

I agree with the guys in the other thread. I think you are looking at 信屋 (Nobuie).

I would never have guessed that. This is completely new to me. Fascinating stuff.

It looks genuine to me. The ray skin is probably the most replaceable part on an antique sword like this, with the wrapping coming in a close second (I wouldn't say this for all koshirae, mind you, but yours I think we can consider the wrapping and the ray skin to be sufficiently damaged as to be replaceable). Anyway, don't spend too much time fretting about the ray skin. You've got what looks to be an antique Japanese sword, and antique Japanese fittings, so the ray skin could be made from recycled Lego pieces and I don't think it would change the outlook for your sword. Anyway, get an expert to look at it close up, if you can, and then you can decide next steps.

Next step would be to try to get it in the hands of someone who is knowledgeable about Japanese blades. We have a few Aussies on the board, so maybe someone is close to you, or, maybe you can arrange to meet at a convenient spot. Or, if there are Japanese sword clubs near you, you should be able to bring your sword there to show the group. If I recall there was at least one Japanese-trained polisher living in Oz, so it might also be possible to send the sword to that person for an appraisal. Beware of amateurs claiming to know how to polish Japanese swords, and self-taught polishers. Nothing ruins a sword like an amateur polish. And amateur polishes have a tendency to be permanently damaging - meaning once the sword has been gound down by an amateur polish, its impossible to bring it back to its beautiful state. The polisher needs to know Japanese steel, the shape the sword should be in, the shape of the tip, the way to handle the hamon, the way to highlight the various activities, etc... And a classically-trained polisher will also know how to handle flaws in the sword, if any. Just making the sword "shiny" is the kiss of death for Japanese swords. Until you show it to an expert, the best thing you can do is avoid touching the blade, keep it lightly coated in a very lightweight oil, and read more on this site about sword care, etc. Learn what you can about Morimitsu. You've got a massive head start with what Bazza showed you (and he's in Melbourne, so maybe he can take a look or help point in the right direction). There are a few smiths who used the name Morimitsu, so maybe you can try narrowing down the field of candidates. Bazza suggests shinto period (from the 1600s), but the way the sword curves up towards the handle makes it look older to me. And that hamon is fairly distinctive so I feel you should be able to make a good guess at which Morimitsu this points to. If the name on the sword is genuine, I would look around the internet to see if I could find any other examples of swords from the same smith. But this takes a bit of practice and patience to weed through the false positives and close-but-not-quite-the-same-smith results that inevitably come back. A polish would cost you a couple thousand bucks, and authentication would cost maybe another thousand after shipping and import/export charges. And that comes with its own pitfalls, especially in Australia as it seems the customs agents there can be fairly capricious in deciding what is an antique. Embarking on that path as a trader, well, you will have to make your own mental calculations of cost/benefit and risk/reward. But I'm intrigued by what I see in the shape and hamon, so I would first see if any collectors around you feel its as interesting as I think it is.

Nice shape. Good-looking sword. Don't worry about damaging the habaki; they are considered, for better or worse, items that are normally replaced every now and again. (Obviously I exclude the very specially-made habaki that have intricate carvings or family crests on them). To me, this looks like a sword that might be worthy of a polish, a replacement habaki, and a new shirasaya. The WW2 fittings are interesting for militaria collectors, but this sword looks to predate WW2 by maybe 500 years, and looks like a true samurai relic. If it were mine, I would consider keeping the WW2 bits separately, and put this sword in a shirasaya - and if the signature is authentic I think I might be foolish enough to even consider getting a proper koshirae made for it.

Signatures on the tsuba and fuchi: 藻柄子 Sōheishi 入道宗典製 Nyūdō Sōten-sei 江州 Kōshū 彦根住 Hikone-jū If the signatures are genuine, I would be tempted to get the tsuba restored (if it can be restored). The sword also looks genuine - that is to say it looks like a real, Japanese sword from what I can see based on the shape. The fittings too, look like real Japanese fittings, and not fake knock-offs. So you are presented with a very common dilemma: enjoy the family inheritance as is, or spend the several thousands of dollars getting the sword and fittings restored, and end up with a healthy Japanese art sword - but that would be an expense that isn't likely to result in an ensemble whose value would exceed the cost of the effort. Anyway, usually the next step is to get an expert to look at the various parts in hand. That should give you more information to help decide what to do. Also, keep your fingers off the sword because fingers and fingerprints only hasten the degradation of the sword. Edit: Robert was faster and more economical with the assessment. If it is a Sōten tsuba, I hope it isn't ruined, and that at least a partial restoration could be made. It certainly looks to be in the style of Sōten. And of course Ray's note is also correct.

Ugh, I was close. In the case of the "classical" name like 五右衛門 (Goemon) or, in this case 助左衛門 (Sukezaemon), the reading for 衛, which traditionally was ゑ (we, or ue) has morphed into just え.

元禄六歳八月日 守益助左衛門 Genroku 6 nen, Hachigatsu-jitsu, Morimasu(?) Sukēmon Not a 6-year old birthday, but a date of Genroku 6 (1693) The last name of Morimasu is unusual...so I have some slight doubt about that, although I don't see what else it could be.

I agree it sure looks like 伊 On the other side, I think 於㐂 ? (said without much confidence)

Yes, you got most of it. 豊岡住甲斐定俊作（花押） Toyooka-jū Kai Sadatoshi saku Toyooka is a city in present-day Hyōgo prefecture.

Jean got it. In kanji,　備中國水田住国重作

Looks like two sakura flowers flanking a central aoi or tsuta leaf motif. I don't know what to call it, but you often see the three individual flower-in-circle motifs together in a trio like this. There must be some name for it. Usually all three are the same flower, as below http://www.jp-military.com/teiban/viphtml/70.html My impression is that this is a generic Japanese motif, and not one kamon of a specific family.

Yes, 関天秀 (Seki Amahide). The same smith and signature as the one below: https://www.seiyudo.com/KA-098111.htm

I actually don't get the reference to Yodogawa, so if anybody can close that loop it would be appreciated. I looked around for "Yodogawa" references in other tsuba, but couldn't find them. I did find out where the "wagon wheels in water" theme comes from. Its apparently an auspicious reference to long life or rebirth, as wagon wheels were immersed in water to keep them from drying out, warping, and to prolong their life. Its found on other items too, lacquer-ware, ceramics, etc. But none of those references mention "Yodogawa" (Yodo river), which is a river in Osaka. The one site that mentions a river, says that wagon wheels were put in the Kamo river in Kyoto. I half-wonder if there is a regional bias here, with Kyoto-based people identifying this with Kamo river in Kyoto, and Osaka people identifying it with Yodo river. http://kinohana2.blog62.fc2.com/blog-entry-283.html https://tokka.biz/fittings/TS455.html https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/e/5ebb8e2695b2130ae517503359330d97 https://www.japaneseantiqueshop.com/product/22 (hako-gaki translation on the other thread)

丸形鉄地真鍮地 高彫象嵌小囗　平安城 名鐔也 昭和壬子囗秋 寒山誌（花押） on the lid 平安城象嵌 淀川図鐔 Maru-gata tetsu-ji shinchū-ji Takabori zōgan ko ? Heianjō Meitsuba nari Shōwa mizunoe ne ? aki Kanzan shirusu (kaō) on the lid Heianjō zōgan Yodogawa no zu tsuba Parts in blue are where I lack confidence in my reading. Parts in red I am completely lost. I think you can figure out the translation from here, since a lot of these terms are used in tsuba study both in Japan and abroad. The year should be 1972 (autumn) if my reading is right.

The signature is a very, very poor rendering of 正宗 (Masamune).

Mitsu - something - kimi yūran no go? I was thinking Mitsunari, but I can't quite pin it down. 光成君遊覧之号(?) It looks like a companion piece, or some related theme, to the piece to the below. 光君遊覧之内須みよし詣の図 / 芳虎 画 ヒカルノキミ ユウラン ノ ウチ スミヨシ モウデ ノ ズ hikarunokimi yūran no uchi sumiyoshi mōde no zu http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko30/bunko30_b0295/bunko30_b0295.pdf

Hello, This is a print from the 47 Samurai, or rather, a character from a dramatic portrayal of the 47 Samurai, done by Utagawa Yoshitora in the mid 1800s. It depicts the character Ōhoshi Yuranosuke (the dramatization of the real life person Ōishi Kuranosuke). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cishi_Yoshio

山嵜美將（花押） Yamasaki Yoshimasa (kaō) Interesting tsuba. A quick search on the internet didn't show any matches for that name.

It is a reference to this shrine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taga-taisha The "Ta" written on the sword (夛) is a variant of the more common 多. Edit: I see you got the same info on the other thread. The shrine bears the name of the deity, but the deity in this case seems to be a medieval fabrication, or in any event, it seems to be combination of Japan's two founding deities Izanagi and Izanami. And even here it looks like a very regional thing. I don't think you would find any Japanese praying to the god "Taga", although they may well know and wish to visit the Taga shrine. In the sword inscription I think it is meant to invoke the Taga shrine, and it's ancient position as a shrine to Japan's founding gods. In other words, its a kind of patriotic emblem/totem.

A couple of the kanji are wrong/missing 謹　大華鑛業株式会社作之 Daika Mining Co. (It might have a different name in English...I can't find an exact translation) 滿洲国建国十周年記念 Nitpicking, but sometimes tiny errors can cause search engines to go astray. In this case, even with the revised kanji I couldn't find many references to this company, and none which referred to sword-making. Assuming the inscription is legitimate (and I think it is) it may be one of a very limited production, or maybe even a sample.

The paper comes from before the war. It has the name and address of a newspaper on it, and the newspaper was merged with another newspaper and changed names in late 1941 松陽新報 島根県簸川郡出西村大字求院 出雲国直江向下 大字求院 Shōyō Shinpō (← name of newspaper) (everything that follows the newspaper name is an address, located in Shimane prefecture) Shimane-ken Hikawa-gun Shussai-mura Ōaza-Gui Izumo-kuni Naoe mukaishimo Ōaza Gui

天満天神宮奉納願主作州津山住鍛冶囗大囗 正徳弐年辰八月十三（？） Tenman Tenshin-gu hōnō ganshū Sakushū Tsuyama-jū kaji Shōtoku 2 tatsu 8 gatsu 13 reverse side 久米 Kume (illegible) This is a votive offering (奉納), to one of the many Tenman shrines in Japan. The one that comes to mind is the Tenman-gū shrine in Osaka, dedicated to the ancient scholar Sugawara Michizane (aka Tenjin). Sakushū Tsuyama is a place name in Okayama prefecture. It would have been in Mimasaka-no-kuni in the old days, which is abbreviated here as Sakushū. Shōtoku 2 (tatsu = year of dragon) is 1712. I can't quite pick out the month and date, but it looks like August 13th. A closer shot would remove any doubt. I can't read the part at the bottom, so I'm not sure if it is a name or more location information. It has what kind of looks like a kaō at the end, but I think the name of the smith is on the other side. On the other side is what looks like 久米 (Kume, which is a location name, and by extension a family name) associated with Tsuyama. But I can't figure out the bits after that. This part looks like it would be the name, but I can't be sure.

I agree with Ed. At first I didn't think it was myōga, but now I think it must be a depiction of myōga (just not the one we typically see on kamon). I don't know if its intending to be a kamon, or just a motif, but I don't think it could be anything else.