Dreg

sorry for the delayed response, have been away from the computer. Thank you all for your input on this blade. Personally, I wish I could say as to whether or not it is salvageable, but I agree with the majority here and will save the final call for an expert. I wish the condition were better, but regardless, to hold this in your hand is still something. That and the thought that anything that old could randomly just pop up out of the blue is sure something. Thanks again all!

Imagine my surprise scrolling through Craigslist, when I stumbled upon a wakizashi, that while appeared to have seen better days certainly felt like something special. The seller knew this was not an ordinary sword, and knew it was a much greater value than what i practically stole it for, but his grandfather purchased this and kept it in an heirloom collection until he passed away. I have done my homework to a degree, and I am here simply to ask opinions as to my next steps. There are a lot of openings which are not deep at all, as the shinogi appears to be very high. If it has been polished much, it wasn't recent. There is damage to the Ha, and while hagire isn't present, the damage is not mild. I am not sure if this is repairable or completely devalues the sword. I am mostly interested in knowing if this is something I should pass on to another collector, or if this is truly worth the financial effort of restoration on my part. That said, into the meat and bones. I haven't had time to measure the blade in depth, but it is about 66cm overall (ko-wakizashi?) in a hira-zukuri it seems, as there is no yokote and the boshi is not indicative of a repaired broken blade. The hamon appears to be sudare-ba/midare, the polish is such that it is faintly visible, and it is impossible for me to make out grain. The nakago has only one mekugi ana and is sotoba-gata and is signed omote-mei with a very strong Yamoto no kami Yoshimichi and ura-mei with Tanba no kami Yoshimichi. I am not sure if this is the first or second generation, and is it possible both father and son worked on this? or is it more likely his adopting of "tanba"? My guess is Kan'ei blade, 1620-1640? Namely I want to know if this is simply something to hold and appreciate or is it worth (and is it possible) doing the restoration? I have someone in mind for the restoration if so, and if not, it has been an absolute treat to look at this in hand.

right on! thank you for the follow up. one last question, how does one differentiate between hitsu and fude? is it a contextual issue?

thank you!

Thank you very much! I'm curious, was I correct about the last character?

Hello all While this is not Nihonto specific, I was hoping someone on here might be willing to have a go at Kakejiku. I am guessing this piece to be early Meiji/late Edo, and it reminds me of the way the Hara school approaches birds. I do not know Kanji well, and have a difficult time reading non-printed Hiragana/Katakana, but I believe the last character is fude/from the brush of? Thank you in advance, and as always much appreciation for this forum -Dave

I misspoke. Also, autocorrect on the phone likes to make nagasa into Nagasaki. Apologies all around.

Thank you for the follow up! I keep forgetting how particular folks can be about this stuff, and it almost keeps me from saying anything for fear that I will reveal my own ignorance, despite my attempts to be clear that I am haha. I’m just curious, not really anything greater than that. I wasn’t sure how generic the fittings were, I happened to find them very attractive, even in spite of age and condition. Wabi sabi, if you will. I am fully engaged in study, but I am still very new, and have been fortunate enough to have some nice pieces in my humble collection. I found this tanto interesting, I am a big fan of what I know from soshu den and sue mino, and I saw this for a very fair price, and so the rest is history. It has to clear customs before it’s in my hands, at which time I will post better photos. All of these questions are geared to help further educate me on my purchases, and at the moment, im just trying to find out everything I can about my pieces, so that when it’s time to pass them on, someone else will know who made them.

I appreciate all the information. I misspoke on the anatomy of the sword! My aplologies.

I really don't mean to make this about the blade yet, but just so anyone who is curious has it, I do have some measurements. Hawatari 26.4cm Sori .2cm Nagasaki 42cm

It's in the tosugo section because I am curious about the furniture, more than anything. It's really difficult to make too many judgments about the blade from the photos, I figure I'll submit it once it's in my hands and I can photograph it. I know very little about schools for tsuba, particularly hamidashi, and I was curious as to whom may have made this set, which appear to match. Thank you for the thoughts on the blade though! I will post proper pictures once it's here!

And while this was listed as mumei, I can still see some marks left from what appears to be a signature. The nakago shows signs of aging, and it's quite hard to see, maybe pieces of two kanji remaining.

Just acquired this beautiful tanto, and I'm trying to get a little more information. This struck me as a possible masamune copy, and based on the characteristics, my mostly amateur eye is guessing the blade is muromachi, and I could certainly be wrong! I am writing because I have had a difficult time finding much on hamidashi tsuba, and it looks as though every Hung matches. I still have not received the sword (bought through a buyer in Japan), and only have these photos for now. Any guesses as to age/maker, or any information is greatly appreciated!

Well it certainly is appreciated that everyone has been so helpful! I have looked, and I do see what you mean about the variety of signatures out there. I ask all these questions, because at some point, provided it's worth doing, I would like to have it polished and submitted for shinsa. Mostly, I want to make sure that I am making a wise investment in doing so. I do not have a large collection by any means, so I don't ming the idea of taking care of what I have! I have recently acquired a Fuyuhiro katana in shirasaya, but this wak has been with me so long, I feel as if I owe to the blade to solve this mystery!

Uwe, do you have any suggestions for photography of the blade? Lighting is my enemy here, and without a polish, it is certainly difficult enough to see in person, let alone through photos.

also, without the polish it's very hard to see, but i believe my boshi is tarumi, not the chu-maru i thought it was. hope to get some answers!! -dave

hey there! sorry, I have been away all weekend and didn't have a chance to respond. I have been doing what reading I can to try and establish this signature, but I don't think its Kanesada. I don't really see the structure for it, particularly his name. What I do notice is that the first character in the mei looks a lot like 'Minamoto'. I could be entirely wrong, but I can't help but wonder if this was made for an official. It's really difficult to see the last two characters on this blade, and i have to assume that would be the smiths signature. I have more, clearer photos as well if anyone would like to see. cheers! dave

My apologies! Also, upon close inspection, the boshi looks to be tarumi. I will post more pictures of the koshirae, but for whatever reason, when I post, all my pictures show up sideways. Also, file marks appear to be kiri. Thank you for looking! -Dave

Hello all, this is my first post here, will be happy to identify myself as a novice who is just beginning this journey down the rabbit hole. I have been an avid student of nihonto for the last year and change, and it has become a consuming force in my life, i'm quite sure a few of you out there understand! so, my conundrum is as follows. ō-wakizashi (out of polish, but no visible opening or flaw, also no visible hada at the moment) 63cm (slightly over 2 shaku) 49cm nagasa iori-mune chu-kissaki (best i can tell) torii-zori low shinogi kiri/ichimonji nakago? can't tell if suriage has occured, no marks to indicate, although i think this is ō-wakizashi. possibly very gentle kurijiri low shinogi suguha (again, its hard to see activity in this condition) two mekugi-ana so i have some ideas, but no certainty. the koshirae is beautiful and looks to be early edo. i should mention, i came into this sword almost by accident when i was 15. until recently, it's been the only piece in my collection until a friends father twisted my arm and got my brain going... and here we are haha. i am certainly curious to hear what you think! i have provided two pictures of the nakago, one that i have digitally edited for ease of reading, although i'm afraid the kanji are incomplete. any guesses are welcomed!! thank you so much for providing this forum and an opportunity to discuss!