Mark S.

If you do again, take pics of your process!!! Well done.

Terukado was known for working with foreign steel. Not sure if this could cause the effect in the photos?

New member with limited experience (no offense). No price stated. Private PM offers. Phone numbers listed publicly. What could go wrong?

Looks like an obi knot?

Below, please find excerpts from an article by Darcy Brockbank (RIP). Please note, I edited out most parts of the article discussing chasing papers as they were not pertinent to this discussion, but I point it out so no one thinks I am intentionally trying to edit Darcy’s original intent: Don’t Bother, It Has No Boshi - Darcy Brockbank When I started out in sword collecting, I visited the San Francisco sword show a few times. Like everyone else, eagerly looking over the tables for interesting items. At this point I was just beginning to be able to read some Japanese, and I saw a sword with a sayagaki to Rai Kunitoshi. This was ranked Tokubetsu Hozon. Like most beginners as soon as I figured out what Juyo was, I wanted to find them myself, submit and get a sword to win in the competition. Rai Kunitoshi is one of the masters of all the ages, so for a rookie, this seemed like an easy candidate. I looked over the sword and it was beautifully made with sparkling silky jihada. It was a little bit short but it had a Honami shumei, a red lacquer inscription attributing it to Rai Kunitoshi and this further elevated the value. [MARK S. NOTE: at this point another experienced collector Gary Condell (RIP) let Darcy know the blade had no boshi] The boshi is the hamon of the sword in the kissaki. For westerners it is one of the last areas of the hamon they tend to look at. This is a bit misguided, as the boshi is one of the key areas of the blade for functionality and kantei. I read in a book a phrase which sums up how you should feel about the boshi. The kissaki is the head of the sword. The boshi is its face. The boshi is as important to the sword as the face is to a person. - Someone Very Smart Whom I Am Paraphrasing Here lies some magical wisdom because an excellent boshi is one of the factors that drives a sword through Juyo and Tokubetsu Juyo rankings. Having no boshi whatsoever is a fatal flaw in most cases. It kills the sword, unless the sword is of sufficient age. In the case of this Rai Kunitoshi with no boshi, the NBTHK struck a balancing pose. As it was Kamakura period work by a great master, it was allowed to rise to Tokubetsu Hozon but no higher. If the work was lesser quality it would not even go here, or if the work were by a lesser smith it would not receive any papers at all due to the lack of boshi. This is, again, why people need to study and cannot accept easy, simple explanations for complicated issues. If a sword has a fatal flaw it's going to be abandoned. Rai Kunitoshi work should never be abandoned, so by striking this balance between the extremes the NBTHK causes the blade to be preserved. A polisher had dummied up a boshi on this sword and for beginners it can be hard to tell the difference. Why the polisher did this is up for speculation, but Occam's razor tells us that it was to fool someone and convince them to buy this piece as a clear no-boshi condition will scare away many treasure hunters. Therein lies something that is hard to get away from in this hobby (nor should it be gotten away from in total), which is the pursuit of elevation of papers. With this blade, few actually would enjoy it for what it was, but once the flaw was pointed out to them they would lose all enjoyment of the piece. When they saw it, they were not thinking, my what a beautiful work of Rai Kunitoshi but they were thinking Man, this is cheap and I can get a Juyo out of it. Posted on July 25, 2017 Author

In general, most definitely bad… EXCEPT… if the blade is extremely old and/or by a documented famous smith AND the blade adds something to the study of nihonto. Maybe the blade is dated, has an interesting mei that confirms where or when smith was working, there are few blades made by this famous smith and this blade is important to study the activities that can still been seen, etc? Not all damage or ‘proper repairs’ (in some cases, polisher may have no other alternative) relegates a blade to the scrap yard… but there needs to be a VERY GOOD reason that these types of things can be lived with.

Why mumei? Debated here quite often with numerous theories. A little searching should provided some interesting reading, but if you are looking for specifics about why this particular blade isn’t signed, you are likely not going to get a definitive answer.

Hizen Koku ju TADAHIRO saku 肥 Hi 前 zen 国 Koku 住 ju 忠 Tada 廣 hiro 作 saku (made this) Plenty of examples on line to compare it to. Big name. Lots of gimei examples as well.

Nope, nope, nope… this just won’t do. Between the chances of some N.O. Voodoo attached to the blade and being taken for drinks, I’ll have to insist you send it to me at a fraction of the price to keep you safe from further harm. I’m assuming you are home?… did you get your beignets on the Mississippi?

I would just alternate oiling it and wiping it down a few times to see if that calms the rust down. Not sure what you mean by it having a “pretty good shine”, but shiny isn’t always good. If it was done with metal polish or a similar non-traditional method, that is not a good thing. If you have access to good quality uchiko, and know how to use it, some light treatments might also help, but could also do more damage.

I have two such blades with smiths that aren’t recorded. The first is a WW2 Showato katana signed Unjosai Katsunaga. There are other examples of work by this smith but no official records reference him. The second blade is a wakizashi signed Kuwana ju Morishige and was papered by the NTHK-NPO in 2023. Just an FYI, smiths/blades that are not recorded, but the organizations feel is ‘authentic’, are referred to as “Meikan-more” (roughly means “not in the Meikan”) and that phrase may be included on the paper. There is an old post somewhere (and it MAY have been stated by Darcy - a longtime respected member who is no longer with us) that states something like “one of the important aspects of sending a blade by an unknown, unrecorded smith to Shinsa is to get him on the record”. Of course this may be considered a ‘selfless act’ as it would cost you money and may not add anything to the value of your blade, but it may add to the knowledge and history of nihonto.

Brian from behind the camera…

Members are listed left to right. Parenthesis indicate NMB moniker. Mark (Mark S.) Michelle - Mark S.’s wife Matt (mdiddy) Dan (DTM72) Ce Ce -Dan’s wife Mark Jones - WAY in back (Mark) Grey (Grey Doffin) Yurie (yurie) Eric - black hat way in back (owazamono) Yurie’s husband - I am VERY embarrassed I could not remember Yurie’s husband’s name. My sincerely heartfelt apologies. I hope someone will correct my poor memory. Steve (SteveM) Mike (TnMike)

Grew up playing numerous Avalon Hill board games (and others) and reading The General magazine (although at the tail end of their popularity) with my older brother and a couple friends until D&D took over. Still have a couple games and have come across/collected a couple obscure(?) AH titles that I didn’t even know they printed. LeMans, Roadkill, and a couple others. As most, I started with Tactics II and moved up. A few other rudimentary Milton Bradley military games that I grew up with but no longer own were: Dogfight (WW I), Carrier Strike (WW II aircraft carriers), Chopper Strike and several others that included miniatures as a part of the board game. I still have a copy of Battle Masters which is a fantasy-based game played with large figures on a huge mat. And who remembers the large Marx Battleground military play sets of plastic soldiers/vehicles as well as the Airfix 1/72 plastic miniatures. Had boxes and boxes of those and can’t tell you how many Mom sucked up with the vacuum cleaner or Dad stepped on and yelled at us kids for not picking up our toys! Sorry for the trip down memory lane… just reminiscing about youth and hours and hours of fun and quite a bit of historical education wrapped up in all that! I could spend hours going down the rabbit hole of researching all the various military games I used to play.

All packed and ready to fly from Chicago to Vegas tomorrow!!! Can’t wait!

I wouldn’t take it as a judgment of the blades or your sale. It has more to do with the fact not many have $10,000 in their back pocket to be used as ‘discretionary’ funds. Wish you the best of luck with this sale. Will be envious of buyer.

Here is a tutorial on making a paper Saya from a very trusted member of the community. Should at least protect blade from damage, if you are careful, until you can figure out next steps.

A few of mine. Bright Sun is great for seeing detail, but washes the color out a bit and makes them look dry. Sorry

If I might make a suggestion… and this may be due to my retired Senior NCO military need for specificity and to know where my junior airmen might be at any given time when you say ‘lobby’ of the Westgate… well that could be a very large area with lots of chances for ambiguity. How about we meet at the Elvis statue in the lobby so there is only ONE spot? Just my recommendation but I’ll defer to the group

Yep… wife and I are in. Just confirming to make sure I have right place: Yama Sushi The Strip 3049 S Las Vegas Blvd #20, Las Vegas, NV 89109 Correct? Wife is investigating menu to find something to eat.

Not trying to hijack, but my own personal opinion is that all mumei blades should be “Den” and then attribution. But that’s me…

No slings or arrows. At the end of the day, it is your money and you can do with it as you see fit. Members here can only comment and provide ‘conventional (hard earned experience) wisdom’ that can lead to less regret later on. I have had a blade or two that the purchase of, or polish of, would be seen as ‘not having a return on investment’. As long as you understand that and the item makes you happy no matter what others think, then you are free to do as you choose.

As stated, always be cautious with old papers, but let item stand for itself. I have a Bizen Osafune ju Yokoyama Sukekane wakizashi dated “a day in February 1862” that has a 1961 NBTHK Kicho Hozon (white paper) and just received NTHK-NPO paper in 2023. I would consider old papers a ‘starting point’ for research to confirm the blade and/or mei matches the claim.