Ray Singer

The nakago (tang) must remain in the current condition. The black patina that you see is correct for the time period and should not be cleaned or removed in any way. As far as the blade itself, Japanese swords were polished intermittently every few years or decades depending on the conditions that they were kept. I would not look at the current condition with rust and take into consideration it's overall age as the reason for pitting. A sword that is only a few years old and poorly maintained can similarly become rusted and pitted. I strongly advocate as well for speaking with Andrew.

I believe this is Uda Kunimune. Muromachi period.

Wakizashi by the famous top student of Horikawa Kunihiro. Jojo-saku smith rated. Dewa-daijo Kunimichi’s dated blades are seen from the Keicho (1596-1614) to Kanbun (1661-72) periods. As far as we know today, his active period extended over 50 years. Because of this, his blades are seen with Keicho Shinto to Kanbun Shinto shapes. This is an extremely interesting sword, with a wide gunome-chogi on one side and the other is more Shizu-based with long streams of nie. In shirasaya with tsunoguchi and a gold foil habaki. Two sets of NBTHK papers. Formerly from the collection of Arnold Frenzel. $6,500 (plus shipping & PayPal)

I provided the bio from Sesko. I would suggest researching "Bungo Takada" online and you will find much info on the school. https://www.google.com/search?q="takada"+site%3Anihontomessageboard.com&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS954US954&oq="takada"+site%3Anihontomessageboard.com&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDg2MDhqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Matt, I was the one who provided the translation and the Yukihisa swordsmith bio (and did not see people questioning the authenticity). I don't generally see a lot of Takada with questionable mei. While I suppose any inscription could he faked, it does not seem (based on experience) that Bungo Takada is a common target for gimei.

Kanetsugu

See below from Sesko. KANENAGA (兼永), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Mino/Musashi – “Musashi no Kuni Edo-jū Fujiwara Kanenaga” (武蔵国江戸住藤原兼永), “Kanenaga” (兼永), “Bushū-jū Fujiwara Kanenaga” (武州住藤原兼永), this Kanenaga moved later to Edo´s Kanda district (神田) KANENAGA (兼永), Genroku (元禄, 1688-1704), Musashi/Ōshū – “Kanenaga” (兼永), “Bushū-jū Banzai Kanenaga” (武州住万歳兼永), he moved from Edo´s Kanda district (神田) to Ōshū province, it is unclear if he was the same smith as the Kanbun-era (寛文, 1661-1673) Kanenaga who moved from Mino to Kanda

江戸神田 = Edo Kanda

https://www.Japanese...ndex.com/origami.htm

Please also note not to do anything on your own to polish the blade or remove rust, especially on the tang (nakago) which should retain its current dark appearance. Also avoid touching the polished part of the blade with bare fingers, just keep the blade oiled to preserve the condition. This is a very nice piece and is worth submitting for papers at some point in the future.

From what I can see: Mei: Bishu Osafune Sukesada saku Dated: Tenbun ni ju nen ju gatsu hi Made by Sukesada in Osafune village Bizen province. A day in the 10th month of 1551.

Soshu ju Muneie

Yes, that's what I see as well. Yoshinaga.

Perhaps Yoshinaga.

As set above this looks like areas of past corrosion. This is not nie or any other kind of normal activity in the blade.

The paper has a nagasa of 1 shaku 8 sun 4 bu.

Bishu refers to Bizen (the more formal way of referring to the province). This is not suspicious in any way. Bishu can also be seen used for Mihara blades in adjacent Bingo province.

Listing a very impressive ubu middle Nanbokucho tanto attributed to the Bizen smith Osafune Morisuke. The blade has two sets of NBTHK kanteisho, both Hozon and Tokubetsu Hozon, stating this attribution, along with the Tanobe-sensei sayagaki below. The hamon is ko-gunome and the jihada is a beautiful itame with utsuri. The nagasa is 9 sun 7 bu, and the sword has a wide mihaba. The nakago is ubu and typical of middle Nanbokucho Bizen. The overall sugata is very similar to Nanbokucho Bizen Tomomitsu and Yukimitsu tanto in my collection. This is now available on consignment for $6,750 + shipping & PayPal. 備前國⻑船守助 但⽣茎無銘也。時代南北朝中期同⼯ニハ延⽂及ビ貞治ノ年紀ヲ有スル在銘作ガ存在シ本作ハ其ニ頗ル近似シ出来優矣 本作刃⻑九⼨七分弱也惟時⼰丑季弥⽣良宜⽇探⼭邉道識「花押」 Bizen no Kuni Osafune Morisuke Tadashi ubu-nakag mumei nari. Jidai Nanbokuchō-chūki dōkō ni wa Enbun oyobi Jōji no nenki o yū-suru zaimei-saku ga sonzai-shi honsaku wa sore ni sukoburu kinji-shi deki iu nari. Honsaku hachō kyū-sun shichi-bu chaku nari Koretoki tsuchinoto-ushidoshi yayoi ryōgi no hi Tanzan Hendō shirusu + kaō Osafune Morisuke from Bizen Province [This blade has] An ubu-nakago and mumei. Morisuke was a smith from the mid-Nanbokuchō period and there exist work from him which are dated between Enbun (1356-1361) and Jōji (1362-1368) and which are very similar to this blade, which is of an excellent deki. Blade length ~ 29.3 cm Written by Tanzan Hendō [Tanobe Michihiro] on a lucky day in March of the year of the ox of this era (2009) + monogram

Listing this one on behalf of a good friend, and one who tries to only buy healthiest and most fault-free swords he can find. This is a very healthy, ubu, mounted katana by the famous Jojo-saku Shinto Horikawa school smith Dewa Daijo Kunimichi. The blade has a long nagasa of 71.8cm / 28.3" and a perfect nakago with clear mei. In high quality Japanese polish, two piece gold foil habaki, shirasaya and a nice koshirae with Soten style fuchigashira and menuki having a samurai theme. Being sold for $8k + shipping and PayPal. This is an excellent price for such a high quality, healthy and mounted Kunimichi in koshirae. On hold.

Yoshichika, September 1944

Somin + kao. Compare with examples below. https://www.google.c...1C1GCEU_enUS954US954

The additional photos show more clearly what was implied by the first one in your other post. The tanto is in bad shape. Aside from the blade having been substantially degraded through past polish and repairs, there are kizu opening up all over the blade. There are other smiths who legitimately signed Masamune, including one in the Shitahara group, but regardless of authenticity a blade in this poor condition may not offer you much to enjoy and is not something you would want to buy with the intent to restore.

Fuchi is not totally clear but I believe it is signed by Inoue Mototsune, carved at the age of 88..

While it is correct that the papers attribute to Sukemitsu, the blade is not signed Sukemitsu. Mei: Bishu Osafune ___ (suriage) Nengo: Eisho gannen ___ (suriage)

On a blade that has lost so much material, additional polishes are even more likely to uncover issues and make the blade even more tired.