waljamada

I'm in SE Wisconsin and could sell you a sword in your price range. I'm actually about to sell three or four blades, couple wakizashi and couple katana to make room for the new ones I've purchased. Here's some pics of a few. First three pics are the Nobutaka mumei wakizashi in all leather gunto mounts with nbthk papers, fourth pic is another wakizashi signed Kanemoto (maybe gimei or just a later generation but still 3/400 yr old blade) and last one is a koto mumei over 27" nagasa in great condition type 98 koshirae with aluminum saya. Wouldn't mind helping out a fellow WI collector. I'm on vacation in San Francisco for another 5 days but can share more pics when I get home if you're interested.

Great choice! Caught my eye too!

Thanks Thomas, it caught a bunch of eyes I see. Not surprised. I knew I wasn't making a go for it so wanted to wait before asking about it in case someone else on NMB was making a go. It actually ended up being more interesting than I thought due to the Nakayama history. He was an intriguing figure. Not sure how rare his cutting tests are but it's a neat bit of "modern" history to have attached to a blade.

Thank you John, Interesting...a stamped cutting test. Just Googled Nakayama and that does add some definite extra cool. What would this more modern cutting test constitute of I wonder? https://kenshi247.net/blog/2011/02/14/a-lineage-all-but-forgotten-the-yushinkan-nakayama-hakudo/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakayama_Hakudō

So now that this blade sold I feel I can ask questions on it. A type 98 gunto with what looks to be a signed gendaito and general tassel. Blade looks to be in actually pretty good shape considering seller mentions its just been sitting in an attic. Anyways, the unique thing to me was the additional Kanji on the nakago. Looks almost stamped or just very carefully etched in. Either way, wondering if anyone could tell me what it signifies....soldiers name (perhaps a known general? A slogan? Was just curious as it's pretty neat and haven't seen something quite like it before. Either way, fun to see an attic Type 98 gunto fresh to market from an individual who got it at an estate sale (still waiting on my turn for something like that) with general tassel that survived pretty well minus some missing tsuka ito etc...

Yeah, got lucky with this one. I could tell from the tsunagi it was an older somewhat petite blade with a possibly koto/shinto sori. Was open to whatever fit though. Was really glad that the blade that worked was in good polish, signed, good smith and papered. Worked out real swell. I cashed in a swath of my nihonto luck with this one but left about an inch in the luck bucket for later. Good luck to all those at the show today and Sunday. I'm there in spirit.

First day of the show is on the books. It was well attended and looked like there wasn't an empty booth space to be had. I walked in there with a wandering eye and curious hands which I mostly scolded and kept in my pocket. Behind my eye and hands was a main drive/focus...my Unicorn Cinderella quest. I had a type 98 koshirae with sharksin saya (purchased on NMB) and wanted to find it a blade. I would mention this quest and mostly told "Good luck" and I'd take the well wishes. I knew it would be tough, but if it was to be done; this was the place. I walked booth to booth with my tsunagi with a few potentials coming and going. Hours later I had about given up while at the same time never yet losing faith. Then at the end of an aisle it happened.... I came across a Tadakuni Nidai with Hozon papers for an affordable price. I laid the tsunagi over it...huh...this might work. I tell the dealer my quest and the potential of his blade so he says, "Well lets try". I ask him do it because god forbid anything happen. He takes the blade out of shirasaya and it just happened to fit perfectly into the seppa, perfectly into the tsuba, perfectly into the tsuka...but could the mekugi ana honestly linenup as well? I heard the magic words..."they line up perfectly!". I responded "No way, you might have found my Cinderella! Now if it's a perfect fit I feel like I can't even try to haggle!" The seller then said, "ha, I'll take $100 off". Class act.... Then of course is the last and final piece...the saya. He picks up the blade perfectly mounted in my tsuka and slowly...slowly...starts to slide it in. Only the penitant blade shall pass. He continues...so far so good....and then the Cinderella moment...it fit perfectly including the habaki. Tight, nestled and safe. Lastly, it really could use one extra seppa to really snug things up. Went to Grey and Mark's table digging into Mark's tacklebox of seppa, gunto etc...parts. found the perfect seppa that lines up perfectly with the other seppa and locking mechanism. We were all systems go. No pumpkin. The only thing off was that the tsunagi was about an inch and some change longer. So Cinderella Tadakuni was a bit shorter than she could have been. This I will allow. That blade was my entire haul this year and couldn't be happier. I'm not the first to have this happen, nor will I be the last but thank you Chicago Sword Show 2022. Honorable Mentions that I Almost Bought: 1. Signed tanto early 1800s with a Fuji design in hamon...but no sun/moon. 2. Signed Gendaito (Kanesomething?) by a WW2 era smith in shirasaya who made the hada look like soundwaves all the way down the blade. Was told it was an old "forgotten or secret" (i forget the adjective used) technique only done/known by a few smiths. There were more details about the blade but I lost them in the fog. It really was quite beautiful besides its flaws but walked away without it for a few reasons. Picture collage below of seperate sword in shirasaya becoming one with the type 98 koshirae.

I have a soft spot for kanbun shinto blades that also have that type of nakago coming out at an angle. Gives the sori more ooomph! That is a beautiful healthy looking tachi!

"Love and Monsters" has one of the main characters carry around a gunto in a post apocalyptic world full of dangers and monsters. Second movie "Gehenna Where Death Lives" is kind of a found footage horror film about a small group in modern day that go into an old WW2 Japanese bunker to discover its a horrific trap with a cool twist at the end. At some point they run into a Japanese soldier still there and flashbacks to when the Japanese soldiers were also originally trapped there. I'm not positive there's a gunto but I remember a knife or maybe sword scene that would've been some sort of WW2 edged weapon.

Kinda answered my own question via googlin and it lead me back to NMB . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna-musha

Are there any historically recognize/known women smiths and meis?

A Key Cutting Edge Slash Cut Bang Battle Engaged Hagire Heartbreak A Walja Mada Haiku Glad to hear its not hagire.

Ken, yeah it's got some good clusters, have to wait to see it in hand but in full critique mode I do see some areas that may be a little too "hard"ori polished. Posted good and maybe bad pics below.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I appreciate learning what others see, both the good and bad. In the end I went with it because it's something that fills some example gaps I wanted in my collection and I strangely wanted to get behind Naomune. When the sword was made it was still 65 years before Japan got electricity, still attempting to be closed off from Western Civilization and during the last generational breaths of the "old" ways before the outside world irrevocably changed Japan forever. I like that its an example of those just pre-Boshin War era's Samurai swordsmiths (thanks for sharing on that Thomas) , especially one that got into the publishing/writing end, living while the samurai roles were also slowly irrevocably changing. I have always had a strong interest in societies/culture, politics, governments, academics/intellects and my degree is in International Relations with minor in History (which speaks to what pulls at me) so I'm not shocked aspects of a maker like Naomune bleeds into my purchasing decisions. As to the blade itself, I definitely bought what I like. Then again I like a lot of things =|:^) I can love a tachi with naginata-hi and 32" nagasa in shirasaya with mystery writer sayagaki. I will keep the polish as-is and I can already tell you if you bring that blade out to non-nihonto fans it will give an impression. So I have a gateway piece to share with people that will catch an eye more easily like art does. Still with aaalllll that said, the logical side of me really hopes I'm not too far underwater on it =|;^)

John and Chris, Oddly I never thought of that option. I will ask Aoi if they can arrange that and check out costs. In the end though I can still enjoy it as-is and I can feel my nihonto wallet fiercely tightening at the moment.

I'll probably never know what it says but an NMB user in 2010 posted this article on the smith.

Baba, sadly more like 6.2k after all said and done. Personally, I expect something special (to me at least) and of a high quality for that amount with a sprinkle of pizzazz. 6.2k is a number range that average Joe and Janes would think you're crazy for spending on an antique Japanese sword. This one I will say has that bit of pizzazz but what interests me most of all is actually the maker. I love that it was a guy who rose the ranks starting as a cavalryman to some notable prominence under an Uta Daimyo whose history I can research. Kind of feel like it's a special order blade by Naomune for Naomune. Then the aspect where he studied nihonto, hounded swordsmiths for education, learned all he could and then published works on the craft of nihonto and metallurgical theories is really cool to me. No idea how good he was at any of this but he had the heart! There aren't that many surviving works by him and to me a guy like that is the exact kind of guy that would try putting a naginata-hi on a tachi. I wish it wasn't a kesho/hadori polish (will die on the sashikomi polish is better hill), wish the kissaki was bigger but what can you do and some more age would have been nice, but if it had all those it might be out of my budget. Would have felt amazing about the buy if I got it with the toku hozon papers in the 4k range and at 6.2k I feel I paid a "I just want this premium" and have no idea if I'd be able to get what I paid back if need be. That's the collectors gamble and accepted risk.

John, I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I did try but got some 3D confirmation error that I have no idea what it is so waiting on a response. I do sit a bit uneasy with paying 6k for a fun item because ive never gone to this degree before. Nihonto's allure has a way of having cost creep that Ive noticed myself slowly normalize the increasing costs that I wouldnt in other areas of my life. Same as art collecting etc...and all hobbies/passions probably...and it is awesome and brings me intrigue/joys. To somewhat navigate this I follow a rule that I can't buy fun items via debt.

Greetings, Hoping to be able to learn what this sayagaki says as far as the photo quality allows. Thank anyone in advance for your learned assistance!

Surfson, I cant read the sayagaki at all so have no clue. Was hoping someone could clue me in on what it says for reasons like you mentioned. If it doesn't match that's odd at best. Turned the sayagaki pics the right way up, added all the sections to one photo and sharpened them as best I can to hopefully help anyone that can read it.

Jake, yeah not sure what's going on down there. You can see on one of the pics below the end of the nakago is cut at an angle for some reason...can't imagine why.

Jussi, Thank you, that info was wonderful and loved seeing some other examples of his blades. I actually think its quite cool that he got into the art/technique of swordmaking to the point of publishing works. Thank you very much! Marco, Yeah, this is literally the first tachi I've seen with a naginata-hi ever. It's an odd pairing. David, I never knew that. Thank you for sharing that. I just looked up all the toku hozon blades they have currently and they all use that "blade is polished" verbiage. Does he polish himself or just have a "guy" for it? Shogun, Been looking for quite a while and besides one Gray had at the last Chicago Sword Show (and I wish I bought it) and one on eBay with kizu-ware I dont remember running across many naginata-hi blades. I did haggle and the price would be less than listed and weirdly the dollar is really powerful right now into yen. Good time to buy. I will keep researching and try to further find more price comparisons for naginata-hi and other late edo toku hozons blades before I move forward.

It is signed with a tachi mei, so I think my calling it a katana above is incorrect. So if the maker went for a tachi shape that makes a proportionally smaller kissaki make more sense. I do aesthetically prefer katana proportions over tachi.

Closest I've got, but it looks like bamboo/grasses rather than pines....so only meets 50% of the criteria. Horimono and tsuba have a tiger.

Greetings all, So I'm negotiating on this blade to see if it's something I will purchase and wanted to ask opinions. It would be my biggest purchase yet and looking for perspectives so I don't make a bad choice. I defer to the compendium of collectors. Been on a quest for an o-kissaki blade with naginata-hi and this mostly hits all my check boxes and a 32" nagasa doesn't hurt. I'm unable to read the toku hozon papers or the sayagaki but from the description I believe it's saying that a daimyo or person of esteem worked to make the blade along with a sword smith in 1813. Is this a "cool" factor on market or something that could be a negative? Also do the papers actually mention co-attributions to any specific smith or just the name of the guy who worked on it alongside a swordsmith? Perhaps there is mention of a smith on the sayagaki? Or perhaps he made it himself just under supervision? Lastly anyone heard of something published named "Token Gikai"? Attached below are the photos of the blade and here is the description: *the sayagaki photos show in my gallery as upright but can't seem to get them to post that way. Katana in Shirasaya (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token) Signature :　Numata Naomune Bunka 9 8 Gatsu Explanation: This sword was made in Bunka 9th August. (We divide 4 sections for each sword as Saijyo saku, Jyo-jyo saku Jyo saku, and regular saku) This sword belongs to Jyo Jyo Saku ranking. The blade was polished. Habaki:　copper single Habaki. Blade length: 83.3 cm or 32.8 inches. Sori :2.6cm or 1.024 inches. Mekugi : 2 Width at the hamachi : 3.4 cm or 1.34inches. Width at the Kissaki: 2.6 cm or 1.024 inches. Kasane : 0,88 cm or 0.346 inches. The weight of the sword:1105 grams. Era : Edo period Bunk era. 1813. Shape: The blade is very long and wide and thick with deep sori and also long kissaki, Jigane: Koitame had and Mokume had mixed with jinie attach Hamon: Nie deck Gunome midair and Togari Gunome Midare with Ashi work. In Hamon, many Sunagashi and Kinsuji work active temper line. Special feature: Numata Naomune was working at Higo who was very healthy Taimyo 6000 koku and loved Japanese sword, He decided to work under the Suishinshi Masahide and published (Token Gikiai) probably the sword was made by different high-ranking swordsmen which is Nagusami Uchi.The sword was engraved Tachi Mei, some daimyo made sword by himself as called Nagusme chi. Some Daimyo tried to make Japaanese swords like Mito Rekko and Ichige Tokurin. This sword is almost same as Nagusame chi. The sword is named as Tachimei is qute few. and also Nakago style is almost Motohira style. The nakago line is small reached different place like Motohira and masayuki. From Aoi Art : At glance, the blade looks like Masao and Naokatsu Soden Bizen high ranking sword.　according to the sayagaki, he was working as Hosokawa family’s chief retainer. I think he loved swords and decided to make himself with his sword makers NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token Aoi Art estimation paper: whole Oshigata