Mark S.

Not “All”.

Along with the current issues, you also have to ask yourself how this blade will stack up competing against other blades. Juyo is a competition between ALL blades submitted, not just a checklist of criteria. A blade can check all the right boxes and still not obtain Juyo because other blades were simply judged ‘better’.

First character is very difficult to see. Initial impression of mei is Kunimitsu. But that is based more on feeling than clearly being able to read the characters. More confident that second character is ‘mitsu’.

This has been an interesting thread even though some of you seem to like to argue about some really meaningless, silly s**t. Stop wasting time on silliness guys. Having said that, and turning back to a more practical response to the OP, I just turned to my wife and asked the “what if” question, and while she is not ‘helpless’, her pause and uncertain answer made me realize I need to create a more ‘concrete’ plan for her to follow. Lucky for her, I’m a bit anal in my documentation, cataloging, and labeling my modest collections (nihonto, tea ceremony equipment, firearms, etc). What I will be putting together for her are avenues for her to consider when she is ready to part with my things and a ‘tour’ of the stored items and where documentation is located. Of course, if given the opportunity, I will part with my collections on my terms. If not, at least she won’t have to worry about being totally lost.

My guess is that this is very loose hada in the layer of core steel revealed when the bohi was cut and made worse over time. Umegane is usually a rectangular shape with defined edges.

That Ray is just too quick! Just went to look at reference to confirm Kanechika and he answered before I got back.

Yes… Nobuari appears correct. Unless there is an alternate reading of the ‘ari’ kanji? Can’t find the smith listed (but maybe someone with more extensive records can help) so maybe meiken-more (unlisted smith)?

Blade is not signed which is not uncommon. As has been previously stated, do NOT try to do anything to clean blade or tang. ‘Shiny’, ‘polished’ or ‘clean’ does not apply to Japanese swords. Resist any effort to improve the blade. Better to do nothing. The rust on the tang is supposed to be there and any attempt to clean the blade could cause a lot of damage. Also, please try to not handle blade with your bare hands. Holding it by the tang with your hands is ok, but not the blade. Acids from your skin can further damage the blade. Depending on where you are in US, we might be able to point you to someone who could guide you, or if you are local to a show, you can get a lot of good advice.

Life is too short guys and gals… life is too short…

Several great FREE downloads right here at NMB in, interestingly enough, the Download Section. Highly recommend the Nihonto Compendium by Sesko. COMPLETELY FREE. If you purchase a few of the on-line resources, I highly recommend Sesko’s A-Z Japanese Swordsmiths, and later the Koto, Shinto & Shin-Shinto Meikan’s for an excellent mei reference. He usually has a few sales throughout the year (around the holidays usually) and many of his references can be had at substantial discounts. I like having those on both my phone and computer.

Minty, Minty-er, Minty-est.

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?