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I’d be really interested too. In the meantime, this was posted in the ikazaya not so long ago. A gruesome comparison between a gunto and an older blade. .. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29761-tameshigiri-for-dummies/

Do you just want the head or the whole screw?

From the little I see, I tend to believe it’s real, but pending more pictures of the naked blade and close ups of the temper line.

Would have been fooled too. I thought it was legit. Very high quality reproduction.

I don’t know. Like everything, it’s a question of rarity. They are (relatively) easy to find outside Japan, but I’m not sure one could enter Japan easily, so obviously, they’re stuck with the local offerings, which must be rather scarce, so highly priced.

It’s hard to really be sure with these pictures as close ups would be necessary, but I still think it’s oil tempered.

From the first pictures, I’d say it has the telltale signs of an oil tempered blade, but it might just be the lighting.

Yep, there should be a sticky for those vids! No commentaries or anything, just the vids with an index link. Or even though they’re not articles proper, they should be archived there too.

Some really creepy paintings there!

Another thing, your sword has no Habaki. Sorry my friend, it’s fake as they come.

Thank you Bruce, that’s very thought provoking, and digesting it, it makes be ask a couple more questions: - if during 43 Mantetsu and Koa Isshin coexisted while the Koa became scarce in 44, can we assume the with the end of the war coming, Dalian was slowly stopping its production or that the “other manufacturer” was taking over? - The W was a halfway inspection most likely, as you said. Nick Komiya’s chart had let me assume so far that the ones labeled Mantetsu and stamped W were finished in Tokyo while the Koa were still made in Dalian. At least that’s how I’d interpreted this but it seems that with the Koa Isshin being sold in the sales section and stamped W that both Mantetsu and Koa were sent to Tokyo. Unless the W was also used in Mukden too, of course. - As fo the Mei, I don’t know. I’m not saying just one person was signing them, but it must have been a very small group as they seem pretty homogeneous and, usually, at least for traditional blades, the most common practice seems to be first polishing and then signing. But of course, with mass production, it might have been completely different. Also, I found this article in one of my books. Now much have been discovered since that was published, but the end note is quite intriguing.

That second video was absolutely perfect!

That’s very interesting Bruce, but There is still some stuff that isn’t clear in my mind, so maybe I’m just too dumb to understand, so, if I missed something, could you clarify (or maybe this isn’t established yet): -why shift from Nan to Ren? -we still see some late Mantetsu with the Koa Isshin, while most drop it. Does it mean that both could have coexisted because some were still made in Dalian while others were made in Mukden? -we know some blades were finished in the Tokyo arsenal because of the W stamp, so the question is why all those blades (I mean every Mantetsu blade, whatever their origin) supposed to be unfinished, still were similarly signed by the same person? I mean, it raises the question as to what “unfinished” actually meant. Just polishing? Or Koshirae making? It doesn’t make much sense to sign a blade before it is polished.

That was great though a little fast. I wish the pictures were up a little longer. You’ve got an incredibly good voice Ray, just made for that!

Congrats to the new owner. A Tsuba I really wish I’d had the money for!

Weird... I remember seeing a different technique in a book but I just can’t reme,ber which book at the moment...

So we’ll be a coterie of monsters for Halloween!

Okay, I’m probably wrong but taking into account a Kanbun shape with a deeper sori, I’d go rather for Genroku Shinto. But previous experts are probably the right guys.

Yes indeed! Thanks Chris, tonight I’ll lay in bed a little less stupid than when I got up this morning!

Really? I thought they were place on the yasurime...

Looks weirdly placed. That said, the inscriptions look well done and the nakago well finished, so might still be a nice sword.

Yes, it works fine. However, if you try to go there from google, it doesn’t work. You have to go to the site itself then find the specific page there.

I predict a buyer will be excessively lucky!

Careful, though, it’s missing the mekugi screw.

I think the shape of your sword is very interesting, Jim. I’m eager to see the naked blade!