Katsujinken

Oh Jean, I didn't mean that I have had rust, just that I am ultra paranoid about making sure I never do. Your anecdote is a comfort, though!

What constitutes no humidity? Right now humidity in Paris is about 60%. Humidity in my apartment is around 20% in the winter and 40-50% in the warmer months. I use Fujishiro oil and a ZCORR bag (https://www.amazon.com/ZCORR-Corrosion-Velcro-Shotgun-Rifle/dp/B00A2SMVAC). Probably overkill, I admit. But if I had to put a Koto blade through an otherwise unnecessary polish due to the appearance new oxidation I'd just about weep.

Had a chance to check Fujishiro and couldn't find Tadakiyo. Anyone else know anything more about the smith (or at least which Tadakiyo we have here) for our new friend?

Jean's excellent directions (and the invaluable Japanese Sword Index) truly make it easy! Give it a shot. :-)

Dai saku seems reasonable, especially given what we know about the aftermath of Kiyomaro's suicide, but does that explain why it's not Juyo? And is dai saku not something the NBTHK would note in the lower papers? What are the 'customs' surrounding dai saku at NBTHK? :-/

Last year's thread is very interesting – thanks for sharing! So the question becomes: what's this doing back on the market so soon? And why is it still TH?

Magnificent.

I don't have my Fujishiros handy so I can't compare the signature but I do have my translations so I can say that Fujishiro lists two signatures for that Mino Kanekado: KANEKADO and NOSHU SEKI JU NO KANEKADO SAKU So this blade probably isn't from him. However there is a later Kanekado (late 17th century) that signs as described in the auction, apparently: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KAN1092 In summary: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All true, and also it's important to remember that proper polishing takes time. A lot of it. So there is some built-in scarcity. And there's a fair amount of risk involved for the blade, too. Even the greatest sword ever made can have its kissaki snapped by an idiot with a whetstone. One wrong move in the boshi and you're toast. You get what you pay for. Now, if a mukansa-level polish costs one tenth the value of your blade it's not a hard investment to make. If the togishi charges more than you paid for your blade you have a decision to make. All that said, if someone is lucky enough to own a shinsakuto for use in the dojo, we shouldn't denigrate them for not wanting a mukansa-level polish either. Centuries-old pieces of history must be protected (and of course sometimes that means choosing *not* to polish!). A sword forged 2 years ago made for tameshigiri is meant to be used. Different strokes, different folks.

Thanks to all. This was very helpful (and FAST!).

Interesting, thank you! And just so I'm clear, would this be an example of a blade made by hand / forged by the Showa smith Yoshichika? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/11593-minamoto-yoshichika-shin-gunto/

Does the lack of any kind of stamp mean anything one way or the other?

That was my conclusion as well. So it seems unlikely this is the same Yoshichika from the passage I pasted above. Thanks everyone for the help. Is it possible to tell if this was for the army/navy/etc.?

Is this the Yoshichika in question? Yoshichika (良近), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Tōkyō – „Minamoto Yoshichika“ (源良近), „Minamoto Yoshichika no saku“ (源良近之作), „Minamoto Yoshichika kore o kitae“ (源良近鍛之), civilian name „Mori Hisasuke“ (森久助), his blades were famous for their supreme sharpness, most of them went to the imperial guards, he also made so-called „sunobe-tō“ (素延べ刀), non-traditional swords of modern steel which were forged from one block of steel. If the blade is machine made, where does Yoshichika fit in to the equation?

Ted Tenold is highly regarded and in the USA, though I am unfamiliar with his pricing: http://www.legacyswords.com/Contact.html

Imagine my surprise as a student of nihonto when I only recently learned that one of my grandfathers brought a sword back from the war, which has been in the care of an uncle for some time. It definitely looks like a gunto to me (it's certainly mounted as one). I see no stamps. There is an angular chiseled signature, which looks like most of what I've seen from WW2, and remnants of some painted characters on the tang. Nagasa is about 26 inches. Can anyone draw any further conclusions (or translations...) from these images? Thanks so much.

For smith lines and lineages this is indispensable: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e-genealogies-and-schools-of-Japanese-swordsmiths/ebook/product-21954699.html

Ah yes, thanks Paul.

Thoughts? https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-moritsugu-ko-aoe-nbthk-62th-juyo-paper Perhaps it's old enough for that issue to be overlooked. Also curious about the tachi mei signature. I think I see it... Lovely sugata, and the utsuri really pops though!

I don't believe so, but it can help you date a blade within a smith's body of work if we know when he obtained the title.

Would love to hear some opinions from the experts on this one.

I think one could certainly do a lot worse for this price. The key is education – do you understand what you're getting? That said, this blade isn't papered yet. It looks like Aoi will guarantee Hozon, but I don't have any experience working with them on a submitting for shinsa. Maybe someone else can weigh in with an opinion? Yes of course papers aren't everything (buy the blade!), but I think it is smart for a new collector to rely on the NBTHK in this way. You need knowledge and experience to "buy the blade". $1500 for a healthy Shinto wak with Hozon is relatively low risk. And who knows, maybe it'll even go TH and then you'll probably make a profit on it. The danger is more around the $15,000 Shinto blade with Tokubetsu Hozon that is mostly healthy but otherwise completely unremarkable or of little historical significance. Or when one is actually paying for an expensive koshirae with no historical significance wrapped around a blade that should cost half as much. Etc. Tough to make those mistakes when spending less than $10,000 though.

Darcy, this is super interesting. Can you walk us through your thought process here? How can you tell the kissaki is newly fabricated?

Ah, thank you...

Here in New York we've got regular Token Kai attendees who don't own a single blade but can read signatures on the fly and those that bring in Juyo blades but need a reference book at their side for kantei. As long as folks are interested in preserving and furthering the study of nihonto and the surrounding culture, they're a collector in my book. For me the label is less about physical objects than the cultivation of the spirit through study and camaraderie. :-)