Ray Singer

Translation seems clear. Ensho San Nen hachi gatsu hi. Bishu ju Mitsuhisa saku.

This looks like 延正 - Enshō, which is not a real Japanese era. My feeling is that the mei is questionable.

https://www.southeastshowsauctions.com/nthk-shinsa-2019.html

Absolutely confirmed.

Yes, there is an NTHK (Yoshikawa group) shinsa scheduled.

Excellent gendaito. Still available.

Looks like Fujiwara Moritsune. 藤原守恒

備前國住長船__左衛__祐定 Bizen (no) kuni ju Osafune __sae__ Sukesada Clearly meant to be a zokumei/personal name for one of the Sukesada, such as Yozosaemon, Gensaemon, etc. I am not confident in the signature. As Jean was saying, this is seen in Sue-Bizen. With kazuuchimono (mass produced items) a hamon which was intended to be a continuous choji gonome breakdown will break into areas of notare, suguha, etc. Unsure if this sword actually is Sue-Bizen, regardless of the mei, but if so it is not uncommon.

Unknown Lev, but I will ask.

When the sword was found out of polish I received a lot of skepticism that the sword was as old as Nambokucho considering the health (8.6mm kasane).

Thank you. The second sword (Nambokucho Nobukuni) is as you said not for sale. It is a long time member of my collection... Best regards, Ray

As far as I know, Robert is not a part of the group. yakiba@sho-shin.com

Congratulations Barry! The sword is going to a good home. And thank you for doing this Ray.

Thank you both . I just posted photos of my favorite tanto, attributions to Enju (NBTHK) and Rai Kunitoshi (Kajihara). A nice example of an Ono Kokei polish. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo4QzJiFI8R/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1rflejos1uw6g

Hizen (no) Kuni Kawachi Daijo Fujiwara Masahiro. Signature of the first generation Hizen Masahiro. I suggest contacting Roger Robertshaw through his website below for his assessment of the signature's authenticity. http://www.hizento.net/index.php

Please share photos which show the signature clearly. As mentioned above, this is not a Goji-mei Tadayoshi, but may be a first generation Hizen Masahiro. At that point, you may want to have the sword authenticated (have the signature verified) and sell here or consign to a dealer to sell for you. Best regards, Ray

Congratulations James. If the mei is good, the Yoshii may be earlier than Sue-Bizen (which I believe is classified as starting from 1467). Per the link above, there were only two Yoshii with working spans after that time (and into Sue-Bizen). Look forward to seeing photos.

Thanks for the kind words. Still many photos to upload. About halfway there... Best regards, Ray

I also think this looks like like a Hizen-to.

I am a bit confused by the reference to 'gojitada'. If this is referring to a Goji-mei Tadayoshi (five character mei of Hizen [no] kuni Tadayoshi), then this is not one. This is a naga-mei (or long mei) Hizen signature. The mei (from what I can see) looks more like Hizen (no) kuni Kawachi Daijo Fujiwara Masahiro. Can a better photo be provided? If the translation above is correct, and if the mei is authentic, this would indicate a date after 1628. This is a shodai, suriage Kawachi Daijo Masahiro I owned and had polished by Nakamura Yutaka. http://www.ricecracker.com/inventory/item621_katana_masahiro/621_katana_masahiro.html

There is nothing in the photos which resemble a Japanese sword. Please see below for information which will help to distinguish fakes like this from authentic items. http://jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

Photos after restoration can actually be viewed in this thread as well. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19681-is-there-anything-special-about-this-pistol/ Kind regards, Ray

Thank you Malcolm, that particular piece had a full restoration done in Japan to replace the missing elements. I will add the post restoration photos to the image gallery as well. Best regards, Ray

Thank you Ken!

The first may be 兼房 with some strokes too worn to read clearly.