Katsujinken

- In Japan

- Not papered / green papers

- On eBay

Whenever 2 or more of these things are true, you should run away (unless you can kantei with the best of them). 

On 8/17/2021 at 4:28 AM, David Flynn said:

It looks like the Kissaki has been re-shaped.   

More like molested. 

The NY Token Kai is alive and well and remains the country’s oldest sword club. 
 

We could put on quite the exhibition!

Do come visit. Our next meeting will be in September. 

5 hours ago, Brian said:

As far as speed goes: There is a caching setting we are working on, that will speed everything up. Failing that, I'll pay for more memory or whatever. Speed will improve. Just give it a few days.

It’s already getting better. Almost as soon as I posted I said to myself, “duh, caching!”

Thanks Brian!

My biggest concern will always be speed and site performance. For now it feels like things have gotten worse, especially on mobile/LTE. 
 

But we should give this a few days to “settle” and see what’s what. 

I think I have 3 Microdear cloths now… each a different color! Relax and enjoy. 

If you’re sending the blade for a polish you’d want to acquire an agent in Japan and have Aoi send the blade to that person. 
 

That person would also handle shinsa for you. It’s just an order of operations thing. 
 

Re: the polish, it’s always tough to tell from Aoi’s “photos”.  Always ask for photos in natural light. I think what we have here is possibly an old sashikomi polish and/or simply an old polish on a low grade sword. I wouldn’t call it out of polish per se. 

Kelly is the best. Don’t hesitate to use his services. 

If you want to sell it here you will need more photos, with more detail, including of the nakago. 

The picture doesn’t show much detail but if it was presented as a Japanese blade (from WW2 or otherwise) it’s a fake. 
 

The “mei” looks like gibberish to me. 

That is not a traditionally made Japanese sword. 

2 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

Eve,

the TSUBA of No. 2377 is a cast copy and of no collecting value.

Jean, if you have a moment I think it’d be very helpful for Eve (and others) to hear about what clues gave this one away. 

I agree with what others have said. This blade isn’t going up the NBTHK ladder any further (otherwise it surely would have being in Japan for a long time). So unless you’re head over heels in love with it you can do better. If you love it and you’ve got the scratch no one should judge. 
 

I have great respect for the proprietor of this shop, but his prices are fully retail on a good day. 

True kirikomi absolutely do not devalue a blade. They are not a flaw like a ware, for example. They are part of a blade's history. Some collectors simply do not like them all that much for personal / aesthetic reasons. But my personal opinion is that a kirikomi should not be polished out. Doing so would require way too much change to the geometry of the sword. It would be a mistake. It would be better to pass the sword on to a collector that enjoys kirikomi and find a more pristine blade if that's your style.

7 minutes ago, Darkcon said:

Kaneyuki (there were some photos posted awhile back),  not Kaneuji. Autocorrect can stir up some serious problems 

 

 

John

OH! My apologies.

So both of the koto Kaneyuki in Fujishiro (Eikyo and Shitoku) are chujo smiths. Do you have a feeling about which one may be yours? Or perhaps another one? If it’s Shinto (I can’t recall the photo), I’m afraid the odds are against you.

Regardless chujo and Juyo don’t often go hand in hand. Not trying to rain on your parade!

So John, let’s see that Kaneuji signature! 

It’s still not clear to me if you’re referring to Shizu Saburo Kaneuji or one of the later Kaneuji. 

So great. Thank you for sharing.

From a fellow budoka (nidan, Toyama Ryu)!

Juyo for Shinto pieces is especially tough. You really should take advantage of others’ kind offers to take a look at the blade(a). 

1 hour ago, Darkcon said:

Well I posted 1 which is a guarantee.  The other are Shizu and some more Shizu. Well different papers than NBTHK so plenty of speculation AND plenty of desire. Understandable i hope.

 

 

John

John, out of curiosity, which blade are you referring to here?

And are you saying you’re holding a blade signed by Shizu Kaneuji?

Absolutely fake, likely Chinese. 

You could’ve done a lot worse. It’s a bit short at 64 cm, but this was typical for the time. 

45 minutes ago, Winchester said:

If someone was planning to set aside around $10K, what would be the best bang for the buck, so-to-speak?

 

Would you go "all in" on a very nice katana or prescribe to the thought of more is better? Thanks in advance.

Quality over quantity, always. 
 

Quality offers more to study and learn from and will hold its value better, meaning you can trade up with greater ease. 

Ask away! We are here to help. 
 

The search function is your friend. 
 

First tip: spend your first chunk of change on some books. 
 

Welcome!

51 minutes ago, ChrisW said:

I am mostly referring to things like the unsigned wakizashi, etc. And a lot of the prices in this auction are still obscene displays of waste.

I feel like this is usually the case with big auctions. More informed buyers know better. There are exceptions for exceptional pieces of course, but they are by definition extremely rare. 

In my case I’m referring to the father. Since the sword that started this thread has a Hozon paper I assume it’s by him as well. 
 

But I’m thrilled to discover this video, thank you for sharing it!