Lewis B

I thought choji oil was just scented mineral oil and therefore a petroleum byproduct. Tsubaki oil (camellia) I think is a better option. Personally I'm not sure oiling a blade really does that much if the owner is careful to wipe the blade every time it's placed in the saya. I know a collector in Germany who owns multiple Juyo papered Koto swords and has never used oil as part of the routine maintenance and care. I think oiling a blade only makes sense in very humid climates, when living close to the ocean (salt) and when shipping blades especially if air travel is involved.

In case anyone is nearby or can make the trip to attend. Should be a good exhibition.

All that sword does is make you appreciate the quality of the real thing.

I would recommend buying a larger bottle and immediately aliquot into smaller sample bottles (cheap and readily available from drugstores and Amazon). Keep the air volume above the liquid to a minimum and if you have it flush the container with an inert gas. Those compressed gases canisters for preserving bottles of spirits are very good. If you have access, wrap parafilm or other sealing tape around the lid. The contents will not degrade. Discard the in-service container say every 3-6 months. depending how often you open it.

I think you're doing the blade an injustice with a Sue Koto Mino attribution. The blades I have seen from that period have jihada that are far less refined with inferior activity. Of course I could be wrong but I would not rule out an earlier production.

With the sword being massively shortened and still retaining a motokisane of 5.9mm suggests at tachi length this would have been a beast of a blade in its original form. I would consider this a wide Shinogi typical of Yamato. I measured my motokisane last night at 7.1mm tapering down to 4.2mm at the sakikasane (nagaso 70.6cm). Yamato would be top of my list. Tegai or Shikkake. Not enough Masame for Hosho and Taima/Senjuin are very easy to distinguish from the other 3 Yamato schools. Obviously the interpretations of a true novice.

Don't worry, you're not first to raise the possibility of tsukare utsuri. I showed the video to a well known Togishi and he suggested that TU could be an explanation for the effect. He also said it could be an artifact from the polishing. He really needs to see the sword in hand to give a proper assessment though. The fact there is very little reference material on this feature is fascinating in of itself. Scouring online photos I only see it on blades from the late Kamakura/Nambokucho era's. One explanation was that it was intended by the swordsmiths to provide additional strength along the JI.

I don't believe this is tsukare utsuri. Firstly the Hada looks unchanged from Hamon to shinogi-ji and the foggy effect is consistent both sides along the entire length of the blade. In hand it looks like a fine layer of smaller nie particles. Secondly, Tanobe wrote the sayagaki last year, meeting the dealer and his English colleague in person. He would not have signed it had he thought the blade possessed such a major defect. On the contrary, he was very complimentary, suggesting in his opinion, it had juyo potential. Blade has not been polished since he examined it according to the dealer. I am getting a macro lens and proper lighting to take detailed pics of the blade following a post by @ Brano, who IMHO takes some of the best photos I've seen on NMB.

You might want to doublecheck your FX rate and pricing. eg 420 Euro is around $450. Or perhaps you meant $420 (395 Euro) and then it makes sense.

So much kirikomi

The seller is legit. Whats troublesome is the lack of NBTHK papers. Could be a consignment sale I suppose. Nice blade, at least in the photos, nonetheless.

As a novice collector, I have to applaud sellers who put more effort than just slap a price tag (if lucky) on the blades they're selling at a show. It's one of the reasons I sorely miss Darcy Brockbank and his Yuhindo and Nihonto.ca sites.

The chase is half the fun, isn't it? Having seen a couple of Ko Uda (a Juyo and Hozon) in hand last week and listened to a nice lecture on the School I would say your blade isn't Ko Uda, maybe a later generation? Tegai is definitely a contender too. Here is a video of the Hozon Ko Uda https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Stjtws8aD/

Happy.

Your blade is more like Yamato Shikkake than mine, which is papered for that den. The masame above the Hamon, which is absent for my blade, is a regularly cited feature. Would be interested to hear what others think.

The Hamon on this example is less exuberant (gunome) and more notare as exhibited on my blade https://nihonto.com/shizu-saburo-kaneuji-志津三郎兼氏/

Nagasa: 70.6cm Motohaba: 3.03cm Motokasane: 6.8mm Sakihaba: 2.2cm Sakikasane: 4.8mm

No long swords?

This was the Koshirae that accompanied the Yamato Shikkake. Tensho build. New black urushi Saya, Hozon papered Tsuba, Dark green doe and ray skin Tsukamaki. Nice quality menuki that appear to be a pair of Phoenix. Just learned how to tie the Sageo (took a long 30 mins to figure out the second half). And there is a quite unusual Bashin. Appears to be silver judging be the weight and tarnish. The wave motif matches nicely with the design on the Tsuba. Overall a wonderful simple companion piece for the Shikkake.

And UK have only recently finished paying for the privilege. Final bill $35billion (todays money). Thanks buddy.

Absolutely not, but I'm a novice collector so have a VERY low tolerance for questionable swords. There is a good chance I will buy a baddun someday I just prefer not to make mistakes at the start of my journey.

Sadly all too true. V&A Toshiba room was a total disappointment. 2 swords with very poor lighting. The best was this Osafune Bizen Morimitsu from the early Muromachi era (~1400). Far better to attend the Utrecht Japan Art Expo, local clubs or private individuals.