Mark S.

Based solely on the pictures, #1 fooled me because of the very first kanji. In the picture, the lower ‘hook’ angles down, but in the oshigata (provided later) the lower ‘hook’ curves upward. In the mei I have witnessed, Tadahiro’s first kanji the lower ‘hook’ curves upward. Maybe it was the slight angle the blade was laying at when the pic of the nakago was taken, but you can see the difference between the photo and oshigata. Guess it pays to have all the info before trying to make a determination.

If you save $2000, ‘someone’ will tell you, “you should have waited and saved $5000.” If you save $5000, ‘someone’ will tell you, “you should have waited and saved $10,000.” If you save $10,000, ‘someone’ will tell you, “you should have waited and saved $20,000.” If you save $20,000, ‘someone’ will tell you, “you should have waited and saved $100,000.” Collect the way you want to collect. You do you. While graciously accepting advice is noble, there will always be people who love to tell you what to do with your money, what you should or shouldn’t buy, and why you messed up buying what you bought. That is always the easy part. Studying and knowing what you like, being happy with your purchases, and collecting for yourself vs others is a little harder. Is it more important that you are happy, or impressing others? Who are we buying these blades for?

My guess is: 1) Disputed 2&3) can’t distinguish Tok/Juyo from mei alone.

There are always more blades.

I have a wakizashi with a mei reading simply “Nobukuni Heishiro”. After research, this mei is associated with Chikuzen Yoshimasa (one of 3 generations), but usually “Nobukuni Heishiro” is a part of a much longer mei and usually reads: “Minamoto Nobukuni Heishiro Yoshimasa”. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts about which generation might have signed this way? Or speculation for the shortened mei? My only thought is possibly this is an early blade of the second or third generation and the blade was made/signed while still working under the earlier generation and before assuming the role as head of the family name? Other thoughts?

Mumei - Den Kai Mihara Masamori katana was my first ‘real’ nihonto purchase and holds a near and dear place in my heart. Still love looking at that blade after all these years.

Redefining yokote is a normal part of a polish. This assumes no other damage and enough material left.

So then this begs the obvious follow-up… what was before? Simply stored in koshirae all the time - which is currently believed to be detrimental to blades for long-term storage?

Ouch

Well, I can only see the picture of the nakago you provided so I can’t comment on rest of the blade. A couple things to consider: 1) While any blade has the potential to be faked, ‘usually’ bigger, more famous smiths have a higher likelihood of gimei. There is much less profit in faking a less known smith. But of course it is still possible. 2) The nakago may not appear old due to cleaning or other abuse. Someone may have damaged/removed the patina before you got the blade. 3) Maybe this is a later blade and smith simply wasn’t recorded… aka “meikan-more”. 4) Didn’t have much time to compare with papered example I provided, but the relatively ‘square/straight’ mei style seems close. Of course I don’t know if this smith signed in the two character style, or only in the longer style as noted in the Sesko reference. Just some things to consider, and I am commenting off a single picture of a portion of the nakago.

Listing: https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-Japanese-sword-katana-signed-by-enju-kadokuni-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-certificate/

I believe Kadokuni is correct translation. Only one listed in Sesko’s A-Z smiths: KADOKUNI (門国), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Higo – “Kikuchi-jū Kadokuni” (菊池住門国), Sue-Enju school, it is said that an earlier generation Kadokuni had worked in Kikuchi already during the Hōtoku era (宝徳, 1449-1452), his name is in some sources quoted as Hirokuni

Deleting old and creating new seems to have worked.

iPhone user. Did anyone else’s home screen NMB link stop working recently? I now have to go through Google to get in. Will try deleting and creating a new link but just wondering if there was a glitch… or I’m the glitch?

From the Shinto Bengi

It’s a Tart Fest! $180.

I hate a good cause… $120 from me.

This is what I do as well, except on newly polished blades. But I do wonder if I should be concerned about ‘oxidation’? Not rust per se, but a ‘greying’ of the blade? If in a controlled, relatively dry environment, stored in shirasaya, is this a concern?

Thank you both so much!

Not sure if this helps. Tag on back I assume is for inventory purposes. Obviously it’s size and ???

Way out there guess. Could this have something to do with “Mu” or nothingness?

Came across this scroll. Anyone able to give this a shot? Unfortunately, this very artistic style of calligraphy is beyond my meager abilities. Thank you in advance.

A few on-line listings (usually for small items like shorter yari) will state something along the lines of “due to small size of item, no registration is needed and we can ship immediately”. Usually, the seller determines this on a case by case basis as they are ultimately responsible for getting item out of Japan. Best to ask them directly as to what they will/can do or not.

Thank you!

Habaki on recent purchase. 2 piece silver foil. Maybe clouds & rain?