vajo

chinese 住 勝 䒳 仁 (Zhù shèng duǒ rén) but i think it should read "Yoshihito Sumikatsu" proudly made with Dremel.

Max your picture is not to good to judge. The color of fire gilded gold is different to modern electro plating. You must have more tsuba in hand to see the difference of all that things. There are so many possibilities for metalwork.

Max when it is painted not fire gilded or patinated it is a cast copy. Sorry. The Japanese are masters in gilding and metalwork. They didn't paint tosogu parts. Only in wartime they painted gunto parts mostly iron. Cooper was patinated with niage. Cheap tosogu from the edo period was lacquered with urushi mostly black. But this is rare to find and now some worthy.

You could buy a horse and ride down Broadway with this drawn blade, shouting "Everything for the Emperor!" It would be quite authentic, and you'd be famous instantly.

You tsuba is for me Hamamono work (Nagoya mono). Genpai war crossing uji river its a common theme. Some say work for tourists in meji times. It was very popular in the late edo/meji time. Maybe you ask if it is fake or modern reproduction? The term mass produced could hit nearly every tsuba from all periods. The price depends in quality. Those workshops made all level of tsuba. High and low quality weak metal tsuba. The second picture looks more like a modern copy to me. But i can't judge it from your picture. But some of these tsuba get papers (Kyo-kanagushi) at all. So don't worry. As long as it's not a cheap Chinese copy from a smelter. But with the current copper price, even those aren't cheap anymore.

The question is was it made by him or was it made/ changed wartime. The Koshirae is made up of parts. The Seppa are from a Type 3. But we've seen something like this before. Bring your sword to war or assembled after war? I didn't like this part.

its not leather Bruce its lacquered Paper. I have one. http://www.schmucker-info.net/letzte_stufe_gendaito.html

And why shouldn't "regular" members be allowed to offer anything anymore? They usually support the board with sales or donate proceeds.

Make it even more valuable. Only Gold members can buy and sell. (Revelation of John 13:17)

My advice: Bury it in the garden and wait a few thousand years. It will be worth millions. Or, put it behind glass as it is, hang it in the dining room, and tell everyone a great story about it. Most will admire it.

Beautiful sword.

Gendaito are traditionally forged swords. However, the star alone is not proof but only an indication. Every sword must be checked for universally recognized characteristics.

@Scogg yes the nanako of the same is vice versa.

Sad that i didn't weight the sword for record. A genuine Typ95 feels massive in hand. It feels like a real weapon. This feels more like vegan meat or a non alcoholic beer.

@Scogg Sam i made some pictures. This sword has been looking very good. But fake. This is one of those swords when you have it in hand you notice instead that it is fake. It feels wrong in hand. I think i shown it hear some time ago. It was good for learning holding in hands. I was sending the pictures Bruce i think. Notice the broken screw head because the material is very weak and thin. Look at the seppa and the habaki. Same weak sheet metal. Last part the fake stamps. The look sharp and not blury but fake.

I recently held one of these. They're much lighter than a real one. Everything seems a bit smaller. The habaki weighs less than half as much. The tuska feels far too small in the hand. The sword feels tinny. The seppa are complete rubbish and don't fit at all. They're purely decorative. The screw and the screw head is very weak.

Those badly polished Showa22 blades often hurt my eyes. I don't know who polished that swords for him.

Our dear friend Krystian posted the tsuba on Facebook. It's exactly my taste. Teruaki/Hideaki with Kao. Just a side note. My resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental. I would never claim that the pig resembles anyone.

Robin that gunto picture looks strange? Did you take it? It looks on the picture like that cigar

Bruce you found something new. Cool. I think the smith could be added als RJT smith.

Should be ✰ stamped Bruce. Are they any star stamped blades from him?

Love it Ben. It looks perfect. Very nice. I like the saya too.

+56 Padawan

Easy way for the most repros. Look at the nanako punches. Original it was positive. On fakes it is mostly negative.

Beautiful flamboyant hamon.