ChrisW

A beautiful piece Curran!

Looks like a great time Sam! I know its a bit of a slog, but you should come to the Chicago Sword Show and stop by the Indiana island at the show! Would love to get a chance to chat in person.

Beautiful set.

I could see an argument for either, but having been dealing with a lot of Jumyo lately, I would agree that this looks like a Muromachi Jumyo den blade. The gunome/togari, the higaki yasurime, the longer nakago, and the styling of the boshi all point towards this. Early Kanemoto (2nd and later) lineage was a bit more formulaic with their sanbonsugi, which I am not seeing so much here; unless the wear is significant and the hamon has lost much of its original form. This might be a fun one to consider for Shinsa in my opinion! If you do pursue that, please let us know the results!

The Muromachi period is 1336 to 1573. Kirill believes it belongs to the Bizen school, which is one of the five major blacksmithing traditions in Japan. Kaga is a minor school, which does not belong to any of the five large schools. Utsuri is a secondary shadowy "hamon" that follows above the hamon itself and is usually a key point in attributing it to Bizen school in the Muromachi period typically. The hamon is the temperline that you're seeing on the body of the blade. It represents the hardened portion of the blade itself, from the edge to the wavy pattern you see in the body of the blade. The nakago reminds me of Kaga school blades, so my initial impression is that this is one of those.

Thank you for the compliment! I try to make sure that the listing, communication, and shipping is done the way I would want it to be done for me.

I wouldn't say its not an artifact. It is from WWII, which is still a good amount of time for something to survive. It certainly deserves care and respect. As for the cleaning of the tsuka, I would say its probably not safe to use isopropyl alcohol on the silk handle. I've never done it, so I am not sure. I will leave this up to my betters to respond to that query.

As Brian said! Also be sure to wipe in one direction in a singular swipe, do not do circular motions or back and forth as this will drag contaminants over the surface of the blade moreso than a singular swipe will. As for the isopropyl alcohol, look for 99.9% pure, do not buy any that is cut with water.

$50 donated. Thanks to Brian and everyone!

Sword is sold! Please archive, thanks to everyone! I will be donating $50 to the board.

Reduced to $1800 for all 19, $300 will still go to the board if sold here.

Reduced to $1300 + shipping for quicker sale. A great chance to add a very beautiful koto omi yari with battle scars!

Reduced to $1100 + shipping for quicker sale.

I did not receive one, but I will send you a PM.

Then you're in luck, there is a Texas Token Kai I believe. Search the forum and you should be able to find them!