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Personally, I’m leaning towards real. But as mentioned, we need to see more of the blade, especially the nakago. Chinese repro nakago (at least modern ones) are more crude than this. Usually longer, the nakago jiri is usually pointing and the nakago are very straight, with the second mekugi ana placed much closer to the tip. The shape looks legit too. However, that sword has definitely been tempered with. The kissaki was modified (repaired? ) and the little we see of the nakago shows some tempering too. Still, I believe this might beca genuine, maybe rushed later sword.

You sure it’s not an oversized kozuka?

... and here is the only one I’ve ever made for a probable Sue Mihara tanto. Was quite fun in the making!

Love them, Mike! Here is an oshigata made by Chris for my Dōtanuki:

Sure! Not at home for the moment, but as soon as I am, I will.

Wondering that too. Could it be a claim that they trace back their lineage to Biden Ichimonji? EDIT: lololololol! Bruce has just asked me the meaning of my joke on Biden Ichimonji. Well, sadly, it was no joke. Spellcheck just changed my "Bizen" into "Biden" (though both probably belong to the same period ). I’ll leave it as a proof that we should always read twice before posting.

Whatever, Gimei or not, this is a gorgeous blade.

Those are great, Chris. I still have the one you made for me if you want me to add it.

As I said in the other thread, the strange shape, the fresh characters... couldn’t we imagine that a special order sword In a very peaceful and rich period of Japanese history deviate from the standards and be preserved way better that a random sword? Maybe this was made for a rich samurai who collected swords, never used it and was kept as some kind of relic. I know that’s a lot of "could" but I wouldn’t rule it out for a special order sword.

Looks like I missed a fight? (runs to the garage to retrieve his boxing gloves).

How beautiful! Congrats man!

Hi Mike, I'm no real expert and Matt is probably the one that’s right, but here’s what I would go for: - you got the crab claws right. - thE other side I would personally describe as hako (box shaped) midare (as they vary in size) with some strong Mino influence. For the Hada, it’s hard to be sure from your pictures as the close ups are a bit blurry, but it looks like a tightly packed itame, perhaps even nashiji (but I wouldn’t swear on that one). Better experts will probably nail it better. EDIT: After checking, Koshi no hiraita looks like the best description. What makes you think it is Gimei? A special order sword could indeed have had a shape that matches the customer's demand and not the flavor of the time. In that case, Genroku could indeed be possible.

... man, I envy you, that’s a beautiful sight!

That is a beautiful blade, congrats!

I’d go with Shinshinto too. The blade looks quite recent and the shape tries to copy Koto, so I’d say it’s a safe bet.

Probably a stupid suggestion, but why don’t you take a picture of one of yours? Why doesn’t it need to be museum quality?

Actually, the nakago could be real. If the habaki is soldered to the blade, I wouldn’t be surprised if an original nakago was welded to a junk blade. Nice carvings anyway.

That would be my take too. Even though the sculpting looks good, it reminds me a lot of those bone tourists pieces from the late Meiji period. More blade pictures are necessary here.

Well, again, something is seriously wrong here. I can’t tell you what happened to this blade exactly, just the modifications are huge: - you have a mune machi but no ha machi - the nakago has been extremely thinned down, probably ground down - I can’t conclude whether the vertical lines we see on the nakago, near the Habaki are the result of the blade being in a vise or if a new nakago was welded (which wouldn’t make much sense with an unsigned nakago) oh, and I still can’t see the stamp you’re talking about.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like the shape of the nakago. Something looks very off here. I’m not at all implying it is a fake, but something went wrong here, as if, maybe on the field, the nakago was modified, perhaps for repair. Also, the kissaki and the lack of Yokote look odd.

Juan, I like your sword. The trouble with an Ō-suriage sword is that it greatly change the original sugata. Since it is shortened, it takes away from the sori, the nakago is also modified, so what looks like Kanbun Shinto May actually be something else. That’s the problem with rules, you always find something to contradict them. At first sight, it looks Kanbun, and it might have been made around that date, but it could also be slightly earlier when the shape wasn’t already entirely set in stone. Then again, I believe, probably falsely, that you’re not too far off in terms of period.

Nice! Thank you Peter.

Yup, that’s the real McCoy!

That’s a very interesting find Peter! Thanks for showing it to us. While you’re here, I also wanted to thank you! I’ve discovered, by pure chance, that you had written a book and have bought an read it. It was a real, enjoyable read. Sir, you have talent!

🤩 > 😍 >🙄 > 😪