drbvac

I have this naginata that is signed " Higo Donatuki Matahachi" Nagasa is 46.3 cm, nakago is a long 47.1 cm and it "looks" right age. I "have some other oshigata - some are close - others not - and it is high on the nakago so ? Opinions accepted with thanks

I'd say we hijacked it pretty well, but to be honest, when I said i like mumei, or don't worry about gimei, I usually find that I look at the blade, buy it if I like it, and then worry about the signature. :lol:

Agreed as far as respectable and as is not to confuse the buyers or people looking, but considering the cost to remove the gimei is it worth the trouble and would you then have it sent to shinsa. I knew there was a reason I really love the mumei stuff!! :lol:

Painting your car to get rid of a name that had nothing to do with the car is not quite the same as removing a false name from a blade - I can see what you mean, but at least the person who wrote the false name forged the blade. Maybe many years ago a young smith wanted to show he could copy a great style and years ago it may not have been so much a financial consideration as now? If I have a gimei removed, if the blade is decent, would you then send to shinsa to determine the "real" maker? How would you decide, I have a naginata that is probably gimei but from a cost benefit analysis if I note that it is gimei why bother removing it?

I would certainly be in no rush to mount it for Iai either - even if gimei its a nice blade

Not be belabour the point and I may be seeing a distorted picture but it seems to be o-kissaki and would have liked to have it in hand for a bit!

I agree it looks like stainless but it is very nice and the nakago seems very long for a kaigunto.

I think it is a barong or indonesian sword. Barongs came from the philipines and sometimes had a horn handle like this. Not usually a machete style blade but I would bet NOT Japanese

Very nice

You may in fact be better off if the insurance will pay for a new Tsuka and wrapping considering what it must have looked like prior to falling

Yuki - its hard when the strokes get twisted or bunched up for sure but as you can see there is no vertical stroke on the right to close the rectangle above the verticals

Maybe - but , its like saying well this picture is paint and signed PIcasso - I was like you 20 years ago and on a bad day still am -- read read read, ask , then maybe buy.

I bought a naginata from Komonjo and am pretty sure it is gimei BUT - it was relatively inexpensive, nice size, nice work and whomever tried to imitate the maker did a great job. I can understand the frustration that some may feel that the seller is misrepresenting his goods when in fact he is probably stating it clearly that such and such is signed whatever but not saying it is made by . May be a fine point but like buying the rofex watch - you get what you pay for and whether e-bay or Christies - buyer beware.

This comes up once a year and although I agree that the paper is probably what is gimei I do have a gendaito Kanefusa in mounts with a stamp, and Dr. Stein does say they have been papered , maybe after the stamp is removed? http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/kanefusa.htm

Gotta love the aussies - too damn cold here most of the time!

I wonder if it was heated because it was bent?

I checked out the other link and I have to agree that Bob did a great job of the blade - it will be interesting to see the shinsa as they don't even look like the same wak.

Not bad for a first buy, it is tired and I would be "very" surprised if it dated to the 1300's. Mounts look authentic and I am sure you would get more info with a picture of the nakago (tang ).

Come on guys - regardless of how it was drawn - my point was what is he basing the tracing on - I can't see the pattern he has drawn - the hamon on the blade doesn't look the same to me!

I am not sure what sort of pen he wrote on the blade with the trace the hamon but I think he missed some of the nuances in the pattern. I have a hard time with the old eyes but I don't see the hamon following the line he drew - maybe I better stop trying to determine the type. http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-sword-SOSH ... 2556c17dc1

If you really "like" the tsuba I wouldn't cut it for any reason and look for another to mount on your blade, It is a lot easier and won't hurt the tsuba if the nakagoana is too big!

I agree that it is possibly worth a low grade - considering the original cost to get a window polished to see what you really have may be a start. Rare to get a two piece habaki on a low grade blade.

All the best from Canada and as they say to me "may you never be as old as you look or as young as you act!"

Heres another "I think" but actually it may be 2mm

Joe: A tachi is a long sword usually worn with the cutting edge down and when worn like that the signature is on the side facing away from the body, tachi-mei. If gendai - I guess its just a sword of appropriate length signed as a tachi rather than a katana.