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Polishing cream is bad for a real Japanese sword. First, the cream is going to get into the folds of the metall, hiding the Hada, then, the polish will remove or partially erase both the nugui and hazuya make up. So bad, bad, bad! As for oil, I use Choji, but the current recommendation is Tsubaki oil or machine oil. and Uchiko is only recommended on swords which aren’t in great polish. Today, most people use isopropyl alcohol to remove old oil.

Beautiful!

I think it was also a fad. It was apparently first developed (officially) by the Soshu tradition and then copied by others. If it had been so bad, I don’t think it would have stuck, especially during the Sengoku Jidai. And unless the first one was indeed a mistake, the others weren’t. Hitatsura creates tobiyaki, but the type of blade you seem to describe isn’t unheard of either.

That’s what what I saw immediately: the background screams Komonjo... the mei too!

I think he means tobiyaki, yubashiri, hitatsura or ichimai for the boshi. Unless we are talking about a very clear utsuri. And yes, it’s something I’ve often wondered too!

Nothing special? I think it is quite nice!

Yikes!

Very interesting theory, Dave. I was well aware of the sad end of Takamori and the circumstances, but I think it’s the first time I hear about Satsuma-age. That’s funny, because Usagiya is one of my favorite website, but I guess I must have missed that one. Thank you for this, Dave! Actually, I’ve just reread Usagiya's page and had seen this before but if I knew the shortening process, I had never noticed it was linked to Satsuma. Very interesting. EDIT: by the way, here’s an excellent book about Saigo Takamori https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00DRDS1L2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I think it is an urban myth. You can have activities with other steels than tamahagane. The activities are created by the temperature, the water quenching AND the fact the metal is folded. I think that if this condition isn’t there, you can’t have activities.

Excellent job! That is what I was taking about. I have a T10 sword with exactly that kind of sunagashi.

One of the possibilities is they are indeed Satsuma Rebellion swords. It was the end of the Samurai era with swords being banned. Maybe they used arsenal swords to prevent their hereditory heirlooms from being destroyed in an attempt to eliminate swords as a symbol of the samurai class. They knew they would probably lose and die and maybe they didn't want their swords to go with them. Pure speculation of course!

I agree with you guys. I use the term Satsuma Rebellion Swords because that is the common term used, but I see no reasons why the Satsuma rebels wouldn't have used regular swords. So unless there is a rational explanation, the armory theory sounds logical. Dave, I'd be curious as to what your theory of the origin of the name is. It could be interesting and maybe lead to new researches.

I have seen it on a Chinese folded blade, but never on an oil tempered one so far.

I know that at the beginning of the Internet, my two favorite sources of knowledge were Richard Stein site (thankfully still among us!) and the late and regretted Jim Kurrash. I remember printing and binding most pages of those sites and to this day I keep them as a sacred treasure and still refer to them. Jim’s contributions can still be accessed via the way back machine, but I think that such contributions, provided they are not copyrighted, should always be preserved. They deserve a place on this site. People like Jim Kurrash and so many others I may not even be aware of have unknowingly kindled the sword fire in many a person throughout the world. remembering them and preserving their work is, I think, a task that befalls to us. It is our way to perpetuate what they have done and pay respect to their memory.

No, Sir, I’m a gentleman and only bare with women! I do agree, Satsuma Rebellion sword. No a great sword or great mountings at first glance. However, once I have said that, I would keep it. It’s a piece of history you have here. Not that many have survived and if I had one, I would certainly keep it.