ChrisW

I don't know if I'd call that a standard machine-made blade.... if it has futatsu-hi, then I would say its either a custom-ordered blade or something older possibly. But the pictures are a bit blurry, so it is hard to tell if that is a standard bohi or the fancy double.

$2700 + shipping takes it home today! This blade would be a great candidate for Shinsa too.

Accepting reasonable offers! This would be a very fun piece to submit for Shinsa guys, tons of activity for study too!

Thanks all! What a beautiful piece.

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Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, After gathering opinions on here and other places, I am placing the Keicho Shinto katana up for sale. Here are the vital statistics: Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : Katana Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Mumei Papered or not and by whom? : No papers, but should paper to something interesting. Era/Age : Keicho Shinto (~1596), could be as early as Late Koto Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Full Koshirae Nagasa/Blade Length : 26.9in or 68.3cm Sori : 0.875" or 2.2cm Hamon Type : A very active, chaotic choji-midare. Jihada : A very irregular itame Other Hataraki Visible : LOTS of uchinoke, nijuba, kinsuki, inazuma, tons of nie and nioe formations, the boshi is different on each side which I find to be very unusual! As well as more activity I can't even name properly. Flaws : A couple of old black rust spots, a few dimples, a few ware... all expected of a blade of this age with so much wild activity. Sword Location : Indiana, USA Will ship to : USA primarily, international contingent on laws of destination country. Payment Methods Accepted : Paypal, Cashapp. Shipping options discussed at time of purchase. Price and Currency : $2800 USD. Fair offers also accepted. Other Info and Full Description : In full mounts. This sword is a very unusual blade to say the least.... the activity on this is wild. It has uchinoke (crescent moon shaped activities) scattered about the blade, tons of kinsuji and inazuma as well. There is nijuba; the boshi on this blade is different on each side with one side being a well-formed turnback with kaeri and the other having a wide 'bridge' of particles that connects hamon on the boshi to the kaeri on the spot, forming a sort of tobiyaki within the boshi. The blade is ubu which means it should do just fine at Shinsa. Their have been multiple opinions on this blade from Mino to Owari-Seki to Bitchu Mizuta Tameiye (often transliterated as Tameie) to Keicho Shinto.... so take your pick! Or it could perhaps be another late Koto school. All of these are just opinions and final judgement should be reserved for Shinsa. The mounts are also very decent. It features a smooth shiny black lacquer saya with kurikata and sageo. The tsuba is signed "Kunihiro" and has a mon on the opposite side as well. Original copper habaki. The fuchi features a torii gate with gingko tree, a monk is sitting under an umbrella on the kashira. The menuki appear to be Mino Goto styled floral arrangements. The ito is black and has been lacquered. The same (rayskin) features several emperor ray nodes, denoting a good quality setup. Matched sets of seppa. The price is $2800 but I will hear fair offers. If you are interested, please drop a message in this thread, then DM me here on the message board or email me at ChrisW7290@gmail.com First come, first served of course. ~Chris

A fascinating topic. It could also be that they are afraid that they're not able to tell apart the top quality real blades apart from the top quality fakes... as seen in the example you gave us. So rather than open the floodgates, they admit very sparingly only blades with pedigrees that are beyond reproach. Also... I would love to see any pictures of this blade as this is the first time I've heard of it... and I LOVE ken blades. ~Chris

Any other opinions out there? It would be appreciated, thanks gentlemen!

Just took some photos outside, so here are some additional ones of the overall sugata and boshi. It seems I am still struggling to capture the boshi with enough detail!

Sure thing. I will get that tomorrow when the sun is out again here.

Beautiful blade with a beautiful habaki!

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Hello ladies and gentlemen! Time to break out your best kantei skills as I have a blade here that has profoundly stumped myself and another token kai member. It is 26 7/8" or 68.26cm on the nagasa with a sori of 0.875" or 2.2cm. Forgive my tape measure for not behaving in the photos! My gut feeling is that it is an early Shinto blade while my friend thinks perhaps as old as even Late Koto. Regardless, this one has us both stumped as to school because of the myriad of traits it possesses. I will let the photos speak for themselves. It is funny how some of the photos show the clouds reflected in the blade's polish! Please chime in and let me know your opinion! ~Chris Edit: As a sidenote, the tsuba possesses a mon engraved on one side and a mei on the other, but I cannot parse the mei out. It is very worn.

Listening to reasonable offers people. Don't be shy!

Could be the site of a crushed signature, whereby they then re-applied yasurime and artificial patina to match?

The one and only price reduction: $2200 + shipping After Friday, I cannot guarantee that this piece will be available. Do not let it slip through your fingers! Pieces like this do not come on the market often.

Accepting reasonable offers now! Will throw in one of my handmade sword pillows to allow for easier studying in a color of your choice.

Lastly the papers:

Some additional photos of the blade:

Hello again ladies and gentlemen, on offer is a wonderful and exceedingly rare Den Oshu Hoju katana, of the nearly mythical Mokusa school. Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : katana Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Mumei Papered or not and by whom? : Yes, papered to Den Oshu Hoju, NTHK-NPO papers with kanteisho Era/Age : Muromachi, circa Bunmei (1469-1487) Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Shirasaya Nagasa/Blade Length : 66.6cm or 26.25" Sori : 1.9cm or 0.75" Hamon Type : A well-controlled suguha with occasional undulations. Ko-maru boshi. Jihada : Long flowing itame with some masame. Very characteristic of the course boulder iron that the Mokusa school used. If you love itame/masame, then this is the blade for you! Other Hataraki Visible : Kinsuji, inazuma. I believe there is also utsuri. This blade has A LOT of activity and is an eyeful! Flaws : Ware as expected of a blade composed primarily of long itame hada, one small fukure on one side, a few trace kirikomi, a few pits. Sword Location : Indiana, USA Will ship to : USA primarily, international contingent on laws of destination country. Payment Methods Accepted : Paypal, Cashapp. Shipping options discussed at time of purchase. Price and Currency : $2400 USD Other Info and Full Description : Comes in shirasaya with integral wooden habaki. This is a beautiful and extremely rare Den Oshu Hoju blade of the Mokusa school, which has an almost mythical status of being one of the primary influences upon the Soshu den. There are almost no extant signed works by this school and very few papered blades. This blade has NTHK-NPO papers with a kanteisho sheet and score of a very respectable 71 points, even in its current condition. The polish is old but with so much to see! It features a lot of activity as well as the presence of utsuri. One important thing to note is that this blade is ubu which is a very big bonus for a blade of its age. Given that this blade has papers and is in shirasaya in decent condition, the price at $2400 is very fair and priced to sell quickly. If you are interested, please drop a message in this thread, then DM me here on the message board or email me at ChrisW7290@gmail.com First come, first served of course. ~Chris

Sending an email now.

Given that I need to pay my polisher and a few other obligations, here is one more reduction as well as some additional pieces listed for sale. 1. 28" katana in shirasaya. $2100 -> $1900 2. 19" wakizashi in substitute saya. $1500 -> $1400 3. 27" katana in partially restored gunto mounts. $1800 -> $1700 4. 23.25" o-suriage early to mid Kamakura tachi in assembled mounts. Off the market. I have decided to get this one put in shirasaya and papered. 5. 24.5" katana in remnants of WWII leather-cased mounts. $1800 -> $1700 6. 26" katana of WWII origin. No further reduction on this one. $900 7. 17" wakizashi in American-made saya. No reduction on this one! SOLD! 8. 11.25" tanto in restored mounts. $1200 -> $1100 9. 26" katana of WWII origin. $1050 -> $1000 I have also decided to list these pieces for sale, if you are interested then please request pictures. A boy's tachi, 18" nagasa, signed to Omi no Kami Minamoto Hisamichi, with kikumon. 1st generation, 1650-1673, needs restoration but is worth having done so. In shirasaya. Silver-plate habaki. I believe this one is shoshin. $2200 A Bizen no Kuni ju Osafune Norimitsu wakizashi, dated to February 1506, 20" nagasa, in the remnants of Satsuma Rebellion mounts with classic washer menuki. Needs a polish and habaki, but the rest of the mounts are present. I suspect the habaki was shorn off by a bullet strike to the tsuba as there is a clear bullet strike on the tsuba that has bent the tsuba itself. No reason to disbelieve a signed/dated piece from this smith is anything but shoshin. $1700 A Koto katana, possibly Kamakura... at latest Muromachi based on sugata and workmanship according to polisher, 28" nagasa. Was shortened to fit Kyu-gunto mounts and is therefore o-suriage. Bohi were added on during this time. Ill-fitting silver plate habaki with kyu-gunto tsuka. No saya, I had to make a paper saya for this one. $2200 A lady's kaiken, bare blade, narrow suguha. 6.125" nagasa. Ca. 1680. A cheap little project knife. $400 A Soshu Naginata, circa 1380-1410. 18.5" nagasa. 36.25" OAL, so this one is ubu. Very much worn down but enough to bring back even still. Itame hada at the ha that turns into masame at the boshi. Could even be possibly earlier. Had a very long signature on the nakago that is completely rotted out and illegible now. $2250. A Yokoyama Sukesada wakizashi, circa Kanbun. Signed Yokoyama Kozuke no Kami Fujiwara Sukesada, probably a lesser generation? Needs more investigation. Has beautiful Yokoyama Choji/Gunome mixed hamon. Masame in ji. In original black lacquer saya with habaki and tsuba. No tsuka. $1800 A rather rare SIGNED Owari-den wakizashi, signed to Noshu-ju Ujimasa. Circa Kanbun. Damaged silver-plated habaki, bare blade. Needs a polish. Not sure how to price this one, so just tossing out the price at $1000 since I've never seen a signed Owari blade. 17.75" nagasa, ubu. Two rather rough-condition tanto in full mounts for $1,000, being sold as a pair. One is earlier, probably 1600-1650 and the other is probably 1800's. These are good for display, but would not make sense to pay for restoration. Perfect for an amateur to dabble with though I suppose. The mounts are clearly made for export. Shipping is $100 CONUS, and will include the original valuation insurance. Outside CONUS, shipping will be discussed and as reasonable as possible. You can ask any of my previous customers. I made sure things are transparent and arrive quickly. If you would like pictures of one, feel free to DM me. ~Chris