mtexter

Hi Everyone, I've finally gotten around to putting up a thread to show more details on the 4th and final complete blade that my grandpa brought back. Pretty gorgeous looking blade in my opinion, nice hamon, and seems to be in good polish! Lots of little scratches but it's easy to see features through them. I'm curious about the paint on the other side of the nakago from the mei, if anyone could translate those. Take a look and let me know what you think! I believe we had a translation of the mei already: Gotō Hiromasa 後藤廣正 Pics are here: https://imgur.com/a/MxCiizH but i'll put some in this thread so they survive long-term.

I just started playing this game yesterday. The soundtrack and scenery are incredible, and there is some incredible attention to detail in regards to the main character's equipment. I suppose I'll take this to the Izakaya

I don't have a good way to display anything yet, but I intend to make a wall-mounted rack like yours Mike. I love the torii on top, beautiful! What kind of wood is it made of? I love the idea of framed pictures of the naked blades. I am curious if there's a name for that style of photography, I see it on all the vendor sites and here of course.

Man I've been on this forum long enough to know better! Shame on me, every pic I've taken with a tape measure in is showing overall length, not the nagasa. Shucks.

Thanks guys, this is great info. This piece is likely going to my younger brother, and I'll definitely pass all of this along. (We had 4 complete nihonto to divvy up between 4 cousins, and it's looking like their sizes/lengths will match up with us in age order, roughly anyway) I agree with you Bob, my grandpa brought back some incredible things, we're extremely grateful!

Todd, welcome to the NMB! It looks like you were able to get the tsuba/seppa/habaki combo to move somewhat, it's not in its traditional place by the machi. I'd suggest to keep going at the red rust with the minimum force/abrasion. Then give it a whack with a rubber mallet and it might come loose. Best practice here is to use a block of wood between mallet and whatever needs moving, just in case. Curious if there are any markings on the fittings, but I'd be surprised. Good luck!

Hi All, This is one of the 4 complete blades from my grandpa's WWII cache. Some interesting things look to have been done to it some time ago. In its condition, I'm curious if anyone could tell me much about it. I love the fuchi, kashira, and saya though. Definitely looks old, but I have no real guess as to how old. More pics are here: https://imgur.com/a/pW8GHoZ Thanks for looking!

I showed this to my wife tonight... turns out she thought the fuchi was made of plastic and the saya was made with glitter. I didn't know how to prove her wrong on the latter point (but the fuchi was obviously made of copper or somesuch). How did they get these shiny/speckled lacquers before glitter existed?

I hadn't noticed it until the other day, but the habaki and seppa seem to be made of copper but are wrapped in a sort of gold foil, was this a common practice? How concerned should I be about the fact that it's beginning to peel off? In its current state of polish I can't discern anything within the kissaki, and barely see a hint of hamon, but need to try with different lighting

Thank you Geraint, that is very helpful! Great to know the ito is not original. I must have been butchering my Nihonto terminology, definitely not a tachi, and probably never was. The only reason I think it was shortened is there are two mekugi ana and the bottom of the nakago has a different shape than I'm used to seeing (at least in my limited experience). Also the 2nd kanji is almost touching the end of the nakago, and part of my mind thought that since there were only 2 kanji in the mei at all, there must have been more at some point. But not necessarily Anyway, I love this sword and someday I will definitely send it for restoration, at least for a proper polish, followed by an origami attempt. This may be a one-piece collection for me for awhile, but given the potential quality, that is ok! I will try to get some good shots or a sketch of the hamon within the kissaki

Interesting Bruce, I might just have to look around and see if I can't find some original parts to make it whole again. Thanks for lending your knowledge!

Here's a link to the rest of the pictures on the Type 95, for anyone wanting to see more details: https://imgur.com/a/N7EkjFo

Hi Everyone, So this is one of the 4 complete nihonto from Grandpa's WWII cache, but this one is quite obviously pre-war. I have now taken what I hope are enough pictures to identify / appreciate it further. Please look and enjoy, and let me know if it's worth sending off for a polish / refitting! It seems to be in great shape, but it looks like my grandpa may have gone at it with a buffing wheel or something, hard to say for sure. The ito is disintegrating, literally crumbling to powder and leaving some residue on my hand every time I pick it up, and about a 3cm piece has already broken off. Some of the rayskin / same is missing too, but for a potentially VERY old blade, I can't fault it too much. I don't have the complete story of how my grandpa got it (the story I've been told is that he grabbed it from a pile that was destined for a bonfire), but I'm grateful he brought it back and kept it in relatively good condition. My (very preliminary) research suggests that there were many smiths signing kuniyuki, and there may have been more to this mei at some point, but it looks like I have a suriage blade on my hands. Unfortunately due to the condition of the polish I can't see much in the way of features, but someone with more experienced eyes might have better luck. It's got an incredible curve though, maybe a torii sori / naka sori? The kashira is of course the first thing that caught my eye a couple of months ago, which is why I have it as my avatar Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, and feel free to put any of the imgur pictures you like here too. Thanks! Link to the full album: https://imgur.com/a/rLVsD7L

It's a match! 213182 on both koiguchi and blade

There is indeed a habaki, seems to fit perfectly so I have every reason to think it's original to the blade. Pics soon