DoTanuki yokai

I dont get why someone see Shinto in this blade ? Suguha Boshi ? It look Hakikake/Kaen to me. Masame in the Shinogi ? Looks like Mokume to me. I can not say where the shape points i think it is Suriage. And forget the shape of the Nakago, for me it looks clearly modified. This could be because its Suriage what my opinion is. I would place it somewhere in Muromachi.

https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/wakizashi/672/00.html

I want to say that i love what i see of the blade but what i dont like is the Mei. (just if it was unclear in my last post) Could be made for an event but i have never seen this style of signature, maybe someone with a better library then me or the NBTHK can tell.

It should be Sukenaga i think, isnt the other side signed ? Hamon looks promising to be shoshin and they made some long swords. The Kikumon and bishu osafune junin looks suspicuos to me but it could be special. (I dont like it but still a nice find )

Hoki Kami Taira Ason Masayuki

I try my luck with Satsuma Masakiyo.

More pictures could help, try to take off the habaki. I think I can see Fumbari ?

But for the first time the Uchiko opinion got some reasonable arguments from an expert. To be honest in most of the threads on microfiber and Uchiko I felt alone with my Opinion without any information to support it. But now this shows that Uchiko still got a place in the modern Nihonto world and is not only used on old polish.

David, I mentioned in my first post that this blade got no papers and I don’t want to influence study with wrong information. Every identification thread is some kind of Kantei thread but by going this route I can sort out the influence of a possibly fake signature. Also even the NBTHK is sometimes wrong.

Alex Nailed it with Sukesada but everyone were also close. Maybe i should have hidden the Nakago This blade does not have papers and maybe im a little biased because i own it so what are your opinions on the Signature ?

There is very much that i would want to say about the "poor quality" of Japanese steel or their armor but i will only stick to the Japanese sword polishing. A Japanese polisher will not remove more metal then neseccary and will do his best to remain the original shape. The polisher also must be an expert in the identification of the swords manufacturer, only if he knows who made the sword he can chose the right stones and process for the polish. Professionally polished blades will not just have a flat polished surface but will have a microstructure with higher and deeper parts that result from polishing stones that are softer or harder then different parts of the blade. Most polishing pastes for metal use corundum (aluminum oxide), this stuff is harder then any steel and will make a nice flat mirror polish that is not what we want for a Nihonto. The place where you can enjoy the Patina is the Nakago (tang) of the sword as this part isnt oiled or gets polished. The blades shape look for me Kanbun Shinto style with not much curvature and the tangs patina could fit to this i think. (Mid 17th century) But i dont put that much weight in my opinion of the patina because this is the part that can be easiest influenced by many factors like how it was preserved or if someone tried to make it look older with different methods. Also the color of the Nakago patina can be very different on photos and light conditions. I cant really say more about the blade because the condition of the polish does not allow to see more. If you want to learn more and dont want to spend on books yet you can find many informations here http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/information.html & http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/terms.html. I would start with http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/treatment.html and http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/appreciate.html.

The appreciation of Japanese blade did not begin with „wow this looks cool“, what we see today as good quality is what made this swords good weapons. I think that numbers and statistics do not change quality neither can I see the value of this approach.

Just another opinion on microfiber vs uchiko http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/uchiko.html

Yes it is Urushi and it’s kind of nasty, like painting with maple syrup But the actual painting is the easiest part, most of the time you clean brushes and prepare the urushi before you spend hours sanding if your humidity and temperature did not ruined the colors while curing.

Another Kantei i hope you can again excuse the dust and other things on my camera lens. To be fair i want to say that the blade got no papers but a signature and this is for fun i think. Also the polish looks old but i think this is a more fun way to ask if the signature could be shoshin. Nagasa: 45,6cm Sori: 1,45cm Motohaba: 2,7cm Sakihaba: 1,99cm Kasane: 5mm Edit: Forgot to say that the Shinogi is low and the Kissaki is 2,85cm Long

Nice find, i like the shibo nuri that apears to be done with rice. I have done it and the unregular shape and size of rice gives an interesting pattern. This was just an experiment i made some years ago on a cheap pen that showed me that rice is a little big for a pen and has only very little contact on the surface. (my pen got a yellow layer under the red with some charcoal dust in it if someones wondering) It looks much better on your saya

I dont know how i found this but it is very interesting some are a little nihonto related and i am very impressed by the medicine ones, just want to share this. https://www.jonathanahill.com/images/upload/jahill-cat-221-Japanese-chinese-books-scrolls-mss.pdf

My guess would be late Muromachi Bizen Sukesada.

Looks like the Museum had a more positive Interpretation. Sad for the Tanto but its awesome that you remembered it and thanks for the efforts and Jon Snow moment. (is this related to game of thrones? I have not seen all seasons and don’t get it ? )

I don’t know the purpose but I’m a fan of Negoro-nuri and like this, would say this is a cupholder.

Ahh I see, have you also translate the full date, I don’t recognize the last 3 kanji Would the stamp on the Mune mean this is not a Traditional blade ?

The signature looks like „ChoShu Ju KaneMichi“ but I’m not sure about the Michi. Is there a stamp above the date where the habaki sits? Date is Showa 17 (1942)

Thanks for your input, what do you think about this piece ? https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/26571 I would love to see better pictures of it but alone the condition of the Mei is great. (Too good? )

I think it is a sunnobi Tanto and they wrote Tanto, but after it is bigger then 30cm Nagasa it is a Wakizashi. This is just what I thought.