EdWolf

Hello John, Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the blade. I have asked the seller for pictures but taking good quality pictures of the blade with a phone is almost impossible. I will visit the seller this week. Hi Jussi, Thanks a lot for your opinion! This is really a fascinating hobby. There is a lot to learn. My feeling is late Muromachi. Hopefully a good picture can confirm this Best regards, Ed

Hi John, Thanks a lot for your help! So, attributed to the Taira-Takada school but not to a certain swordsmith. Nothing about the age of the blade. Best regards, Ed

Hello to all, I’m working on a wakizashi which is papered. The seller can’t tell me anything about it. So, I’m trying to translate the papers, but I’m stuck. With my limited knowledge I think the blade is made around 1600. Is the date somewhere mentioned on the papers? The blade is unsigned and if my translation is right made by a swordsmith of the Taira Takada school. Please confirm. Is the name of a Swordsmith mentioned on the papers? Hope one of you can help me. Your help will be highly appreciated. Best regards, Ed

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing. Best regards, Ed

Nakago is the tang. Regards, Ed

Hi Neil, Thanks for your reply. I find this a very interesting detail. Normally this kind of labor / time reducing things are seen on late war production runs. But this is on a high end, early war piece. Best regards, Ed

Hi Neil, Beautiful swords! One question about your Kai gunto sword. Is the heart shaped figure of the hanger closed or is it just the angle of the picture? I have only seen the open-heart type hangers. Best regards, Ed

I'm not an expert but the date looks like: Showa (1926) ?? Year, 8 month , Lucky day. Regards, Ed

Very, very nice. Wish I had space for such a nice cabinet. Regards, Ed

Hi Uwe, Thank you very much for your reply! For me, reading kanji is still a very difficult thing to do. I normally use the stroke count method. But to determine the actual number of strokes is sometimes difficult. When trying to decipher a mei I use the following method: I try to find one or two easy to read kanji characters and use the Nihonto Club mei search engine (option contains) to decipher the remaining kanji just by comparing the missing kanji. A time-consuming method but it works most of the times When trying to read something else, I’m totally lost. Thankfully the members of this forum are very helpful and that is what makes this forum great! Best regards, Ed

Hi Steve, Thank you very much for your information! 1792, cool. Based on the individual Kanji on the left side. Something like, to protect, war... Maybe one of the other members knows the meaning of left side. Best regards, Ed

Hi to all, After removing the Fuchi I found these markings written on the Tsuka. Can anyone please translate this? Your help will be highly appreciated! Best regards, Ed

Bruce, Thanks for your reply! Best regards, Ed

Hi Bruce, Never heard of this method before. How do you clean the blade after rubbing the blade? Just water, drying the blade and a thin coat of oil? Thanks for sharing! Best regards, Ed

Very nice! Congratulations, Chris! Best regards, Ed

Very nice! Regards, Ed

Hi BaZZa, Thanks for your thoughts and kind words! Best regards, Ed

Hi Guido and Henry, Thanks for all the information. I find this very interesting. Best regards, Ed

Hi Brian, Christian symbols, if have never thought of that. That would be odd. Maybe anyone else? Regards, Ed

Hi John, Thanks for your reply. I totally agree with you. If gimei, it’s still a very nice package. The decorations are very nicely executed. Here are some more pictures. Best regards, Ed

The weather is changing, and the snow is melting away. I finally took some pictures without the use of a flash. Still almost impossible to take good quality of the blade. I think the overall look of this tanto is very nice. I like it a lot. How is the instrument next to the wari-kogai called and what is the use of it? Best regards, Ed

Hi to all, The Kogai Bitsu and Kozuka Bitsu are on the inside decorated with some markings. Does anyone know the meaning of it or is it just some kind decoration? Does anyone have pictures of similar markings? I have never seen it before. Best regards, Ed

The tang seems unaltered (ubu). Sorry but I don’t have pictures of the blade. It’s cloudy and dark outside and using a flash is not an option. The blade has on one side a goma hashi Horimono. On the other side a single wide groove. The habaki an seppa are gold foiled. Here’s a picture of the koshirae. The mantis is very well executed. When the weather changed to sunny I will try to take a good picture of the blade. Best regards, Ed

Hi Geraint, Thanks for your reply. It’s not an easy task to read the signature. I was happy about the fact that I could read most of it. So, it could be a famous name and if, so it is probably gimei. The cost for sending it to Shinsa is more than the cost of the tanto. Thanks for the link. Regards, Ed

Hi Ken, I’m not the kind of warrior type of guy. Not even a keyboard warrior Simplicity if the key to success. I will try to find some videos about iaijutsu. Sounds interesting. Best regards, Ed