David Flynn

Michael Cummins?

Just a suggestion. Why not save your money buying off ebay, and attend some sword shows in the US? You'd be able to handle many swords and ask questions. There is nothing like holding a sword, before you buy it.

From Japan without papers? Instant Red Flag.

Definitely Teruhide. Unless they are signed as a special order, I find the Nijimei to be of better quality. Value? To sell I would suggest between 2- 2.5K. For insurance, I would say, 3k.

Munetoshi and his brother, Akihisa, were both students of Shigetsugu. I have one of each, both, don't have any stamps.

I would call Owari Seki.

I see two separate Issues here. First, when acquiring a blade with a signature, one believes the signature is soshin and then disappointed when found out it's gimei. The second one acquires a sword with a signature and assumes the possibility that it's Gimei. The second one, is usually a seasoned collector, who is aware of where the chips may fall and accepts the outcome, one way or the other. I have noticed some dealers who have dubious swords will write something along the lines of, The sword is signed. Some, the sword signed, but has not been verified. To me these are direct pointing to gimei. Again, how did one come across the sword and what are the expectations? If the sword is signed and dirty, one must be diligent and do the research. If the blade is clean and the features are clearly seen, then does the work match the smith. With todays internet, it's becoming more and more easy to check Oshigata. Today, anyone who sends a sword for polish without checking the sig. deserves what they get. Pre internet, it was more acceptable. So, what does one do with a polished gimei blade? Sell it to a martial artist.

Whatever happened to one doing their own research? I have a Munetsugu. I checked with all the Oshigata I could find, and found one character that was done differently. I thought that it meant it was Gimei. A friend of mine who knows some dealers in Japan, sent them the Oshi and both said Soshin ( he apparently changed the way he did this character in the last couple of years of his life). I sent the sword (via Paul Martin (whom I would highly recommend )) for polish and papers and it received Hozon. One of the problems of checking for Gimei is, if the blades dirty. Then one must rely on mei research alone. If one buys a sword with sig. and without papers (unpolished) then one must pay a price they believe is acceptable to Gimei. Then it's punt that one is willing to take. However, if the blade has been polished and doesn't have papers, then it's 99% sure it's Gimei. Bye the bye, I bought this sword at a price I believed would be acceptable to me for a Gimei.

I know this is off topic, however Kirill is not right about Buddhism and Reincarnation . Buddhism doesn't teach reincarnation, it teaches, re-birth. An example of this is. A washing machine is scrapped and turned into a car. Is that then still a washing machine?

Who came second?

I've been led to believe, Gassan Sadakazu was such a smith. Before he was appointed Imperial Smith, he was doing Gimei of high grade smiths.

A photo of the whole Sugata, would be nice.

Hi Trevor, this message board is only for REAL Japanese swords and not modern re-productions. I'm sure if you check the internet, you will find like minded collectors. Also because these are repro's unless one asks the manufacturer, what they believe it was modelled on, everything else would be a guess.

Cleaned tangs aren't necessarily that bad. A signed sword with a clean tang will still get papers. The biggest problem with a cleaned tang, comes with Mumei swords.

Are you talking about polished blades only? If so, if one is selling a polished sword with out papers, it would sound alarm bells. If you're talking about swords found as is, then it's up to the potential buyer to ascertain as to whether everything is right. As a rule of thumb, I believe a genuine sig sword in as found condition is less than half the price of the same smith, polished and papered.

Wakizashi, were definitely made during the war. I have seen traditional and Showato. Someone I know has a wak by Okimasa.

I think this is a water tempered blade. Is it possible to show some better photos? I would also like to see a photo of the sig.

Are these for sale at Aoi Art?

WoWsers.

Just as yardstick, if this was a Genuine Kozuke Daijo, it would be worth US20k min. Polished and papered. If it was genuine, I doubt the seller would sell it for the amount you paid.

I've looked at this signature in a few oshigata, and to my mind, it's Gimei. Also, the Hamon is not done in his style. I have a Daisho ( with papers) for this smith. Enter Kozuke Daijo Sukesada, in the NMB search, and there is a photo.

Look like a Komonjo sword. Yes all Nihonto are water quenched.

To me, it looks like the Nakago has been cleaned and re-patinated. So, very hard to judge from these photo's.

Gendai, Nishimura Kanetsune.