Jacques

Smith is 一貫齋正行 Ikkansai Masayuki who later changed his name to Kiyomaro

Answer We have here the proof that it is impossible to have a valid answer based on even good photos. With the sword in hand and even with the nakago hidden, an educated person could at least find the era. No tobiyaki on this sword.

It's not Muramasa, his katana has a more prononced saki sori the (torisori for the sword in kantei and he did'nt produce this kind of hamon. One mentionned (who is afraid to try an answer) the boshi is not visible but for this swordsmith the boshi is in accordance with the hamon. That said, I don't think it will help you much.

It's not Nosada even if some time he produced a jihada wich is itame slightly zanguri mixed with straight grains. His hamon is gunome midare or gunome choji. It's not Kotetsu, Kotetsu's hada is a ko itame very tight and without straight grains. He did'nt produce this kind of hamon his gunome being coupled by 2 (yotanba) and the hamon starts with a short yakidashi parallel to the hasaki. ps there is no nidait Kotetsu.

It's not Kanemoto. Kanemoto's hada is more tight and his hamon irregular with togari

I think most people have a misunderstanding of how to use kakana.

Nioi deki or nie deki is not the only criterion to be taken into account in determining a sword's effectiveness. The architecture (shinogi or not), the length, the width and finally the thickness must all be taken into account.

Your turn to play 3 stages : 1 jidai - 2 school - 3 swordsmith (a big one). Nagasa 69.7cm, sori 0.7cm

Would love to know what kind of research. Personally, if I don't know, i don't buy.

Okay, which schools did you study at ?

Perfect nonsense, we just have to know our limits (i perfectly know mine) and those are far away from expert's ones. If I put 2 swords in your hands, one from shodai Tadatsuna, the other from nidai with the nakago hidden, would you be able to tell which one is by the shodai? No, the experts can. They may be wrong, but you don't have the knowledge to judge. I don't have this knowledge too, even if I know a lot more than you and the majority of the members of this forum. That's why I'd never question their judgment. It's the same thing with climate skeptics: they know nothing about the subject but reject the work of real specialists.

You don't have all the knowledge you need, even if you think you do. Buying an object doesn't make the buyer an expert. As you quoted me, I took the liberty of enhancing an essential part of what I'm saying. I'm a physicist, specialized in fluids and especially atmospheres, but I'm not good at solid-state physics beyond the common basics (photon and phonon are quite different). The same goes for experts: a Nihonto expert is not a firearms expert, and vice versa. We must know where we belong and stay there. Unfortunately, the Internet pushes people to believe they know more than they do (some people even go to their doctor and say: "Doctor, I have this and I need this treatment") and, no, not all opinions are equal.

Do you have the necessary knowledge to judge? I don't.

A papered Kiyondo with the same mei https://www.touken-world.jp/search/22350/

In addition to what jussy said, you have to take into account the number of swords that exist for a given smith? If it's few, it's harder to distinguish whether the mei is shoshin. The works of certain smiths like Go Yoshihiro are judged by existing literature . in short, it's a world of which we know almost nothing, and to criticize it is to show a certain audacity, as they're real experts, and we're light years ahead of them..

konuka hada

To understand what konuka hada is, which is nothing other than a variety of ko-itame, it is absolutely essential to see it with a hizento in hand. All the rest is just meaningless talk. This is not just for konuka hada, but for all special hada.

You can't detect a gimei based on just one example, you have to look at the whole of a swordsmith's career as his signature can evolve over time. I totally disagree, it's precisely when the work resembles that of the copied swordsmith (hada hamon etc.) that you have to pay attention to the signature.

Which one? There are many Yasumitsu from different eras, schools and kanji.

As Tanobe sensei charges for his sayagaki (one Japanese polisher I know even says he'd do them on umbrellas if he was paid well), he's inclined to "embellish" reality. That said, he's fallible like any human being, and that's why a college of experts is preferable to a single opinion (In science, it's the same thing: there are books and peer-reviewed articles).

Gimei until proven shoshin. Usually Yasutsugu's (Shimosaka) mei is not that close to the nakago mune but centered on the nakago shinogi, nakago jiri is usually kengyo. Nyudö would lead to the nidai.

Thanks for replys guys (excepted one totally off topic not to say stupid). Long, slender legs, scales on the back can be found on dragons made by Nobuhide, but the orientation of the tail is always the same; this is the important point in determining whether a horimono is by Nobuhide or not.

One of these horimono is by Nobuhide (the one on the right), and the other is questionable. Can anyone tell me the major differences between the 2 ?

About mei , it should be closest to the nakago mune with less space between kanji. That said, Nobuhide changed his engraving style later in his carreer.

Sure ?