nagamaki - Franco

Mito definitely comes to mind for Stephen's tsuba.

Hi Ray, Taking in your original post info and with that long turnback and mune activity Kanetomo comes to mind (???). With a partial mei I would think a shinsa could pin this down. Thanks.

Additionally, 1. Some of the earlier swords were made without core steel and can become surprisingly thin without showing folding related flaws in the steel. There would be other things to worry about, but otherwise should be ok even after a good number of polishes.. 2. One polisher commented, when shown, that he thought a late nambokucho period sword still had at least a half a dozen more polishes left in it. Yuh, depends on the sword, depends on any previous physical damage.

Hello George, You might try contacting Chris Bowen to see what he might know.

Greetings, These sets came together on a tsuka purchased not too long ago. Comments, thoughts, other, welcomed. Some of the shakudo on the f/k nanako and clouds needs to be restored which is why they appear white. Thank you.

Push come to shove, muromachi.

Hello, An overall image of the entire sword would be helpful to those trying to determine age. Thank you.

While there is not as much at stake at lower levels, none the less, all the Juyo advice recently given should be adhered to in principal. Best to understand exactly what you have, and more importantly what you don't have before hand. While experience is a wonderful teacher not everything needs to be learned the hard way, or maybe it does. Unfortunately, for too many buyers/accumulators shinsa is game, imho. Where as for true collectors it's confirmation.

Hello, Is there a shinsa by this group scheduled for next year/ near future? Curious as to whether anyone has submitted a mumei sword to both this group and the NBTHK with similar results? Any additional comments/observations on shinsa results from this group? Thank you in advance for replies.

Hello, Agree with pretty much everything already said, only adding (differing) in that there is the possibility this sword could be stainless steel. At least that is my first impression looking at the image. Like the mon on the fuchi, can't remember seeing this pattern before.

https://markussesko.com/2015/05/14/kantei-2-jigane-jihada-3/ Hi Bazz, Believe that's correct, thank you.

1. is hamon weak??? 2. "polished", hmm, that could mean in house, fwiw. 3. no mention it will paper a. has it failed already? b. mumei should paper 4. no mention of utsuri, yet appears on oshigata a. there is one type of utsuri, name escapes me???, that appears when a blade is tired. Concerns which should be answered before buying.

Hello, What I would add to what Paul is saying is that every example should be judged separately. And, the presence of some turn back does not necessarily indicate some modification hasn't taken place. Careful assessment of the boshi as well the overall shape of the sword has to be taken into account together. Older swords such as these naginata naoshi have very likely undergone multiple polishes in their lifetime. Which leaves the possibility that something may have been misshaped and then never properly corrected. A polisher that is excellent in both foundation work and finish is worth every penny they charge, and nowhere is that more apparent than in some of these naginata naoshi examples. Further: (sorry, I'm just catching up with these newer posts) Paul, I would be very cautious about entering into the naginata vs nagamaki judgement/debate based upon the current shape. The NBTHK is wise in simply calling these naginata (naoshi) unless there is historical evidence to back it up. We would be wise to do the same. While it may be entertaining to surmise the reasons behind the modifications we see, wakizashi, katana, my thought is since form follows function, they must have had such a reason. And while we can guess, in truth we may never really know. So, just be content with what you have. One final point is that the use of naginata spanned many centuries and over that time shape changes occurred, which that in itself needs to be studied.

Hello, The shape of the tip we see here has definitely been modified from what was original on this sword. Overall the current shape of this sword should have been readjusted at the time of its last polish, imo. Otherwise, the surface finish looks to be quite decent. A new Shinsa would be of interest. An unaltered sword is certainly more desirable. Good polishers always try to preserve as much of the original sword as possible. In the end the finished product is highly dependent upon the ability and skill of the polisher.

Hello, Since it is signed, might be worth sending a rubbing to one of the shinsa organizations to seek a response. If physically submitting to a coming shinsa, then would follow Barry's suggestion.

Hello, Side stepping the question, the one comment I'd make at this point in time is that even a good sword that isn't properly prepared may end in disappointing results, multiple attributions.

Hello, One of the very first nihonto articles given to me by a fellow study club member/mentor was on the topic of how to appreciate a Japanese Sword, it was about kantei. One of the most important articles on kantei I've read was written by Sato sensei in the NBTHK Journals (English), which was about an often overlooked step in kantei, that of judging quality. Two of the essential and most important additions to a nihonto sword library are volumes on sword kantei. Based on this alone, it is safe to conclude that nihonto appreciation and kantei are one in the same. Kantei, sword appreciation, is what sets the path that we as collectors end up following, in some cases for decades of our lives. Participation in kantei is voluntary, meaning that anyone can participate at the level they're comfortable with ranging from attending more formal events to simply being a quiet/silent participant through observation on an online activity. So, one can be as serious or not serious about having 'fun' as they like. On the subject of fun, fun in the teaching/learning world is not an objective, and I will leave it at that. One additional comment. Perhaps the most dreaded fear of nihonto collectors on all levels is finding out after the fact that they have made a serious blunder in their purchase at worst, and/or learning that the nihonto they purchased isn't all they thought it was or at least should have known before hand. Too seriously, hmm.

Hello, Quick assessment, Wakizashi, (guessing) later Edo period judging from yasuri (file marks) on nakago that can be seen, looks ubu (unaltered), unsigned(?), civilian mounts, black lacquered scabbard, 2 piece habaki silver/gold foiled, shakudo leopard menuki (only 1 pictured), iron fuchi, kashira (not pictured), iron bat/moon motif tsuba. Unsigned Edo period wakizashi, unless the sword is of truly outstanding workmanship, it will result in a negative return in terms of cost of restoration. No obvious flaws. Others may chime in with additional/different thoughts.

Thinking aloud, looks recently polished. By who? Polishers thoughts? Lot's of sweeping and nie, Yamato with perhaps some Mino influence based on jitetsu, hmm, Naoe Shizu??? O suriage, yes, bottom mekugi-ana could be original, perhaps re-drilled at some point??? Kissaki probably shortened, reshaped from a chipped tip, my guess. Ha looks certainly to have been raised, again, chips taken out. Push comes to shove, Naoe Shizu would be my call, late nambokucho, early muromachi. Thanks for sharing.

Nope.

Hello John, Shibuichi can range from being a silvery grayish, to even a silvery grayish/greenish, to a silvery copper brownish, to almost being a charcoal darkish silvery gray. Which could be mistaken for shakudo depending on the lighting. On the other hand shakudo should be black, blackish, sometimes you'll see a dark purplish black, but there's no mistaking that it's a black. Exceptions, for the sake of this conversation not going there. Black. Next to each other there shouldn't be any confusion as to which is which. Thank you.

Hello John, The silvery copper brown-ish color, especially on the back of this kozuka, most definitely falls in the category of what I would characterize, describe, as being shibuichi, the front as well. Shibuichi occupies a fairly wide range of shades depending upon metal content, the darkest might even be mistaken for shakudo depending upon the lighting. A rich looking shibuchi is a mark of quality. Thanks.

Hash marks like this are generally an assembly mark, which is most likely the case here.

Hello, Additional images of all fittings, if possible, would be very helpful to the discussion including the inside of the fuchi. Thank you.

Hello, To the contrary, clearly o-suriage, this hamon continued on once upon a time. There may even be a trace/shadow to be seen in hand. Why do you believe the hamon is the original length?