sabiji

Usually this is my "favorite sport". But this time I gave up. Maybe someone has more experience ... I cannot assign the first two Kanji to any Nengo I know. Then comes the 9th (year), then Kinoe Inu, then the Kanji for year, then?, Month ?? Thank you in advance!

I would like to learn. I'm sure I'm wrong, but to me the insert does not look nunome, but very flat hirazogan. At the edges to the mon, the material of the tsuba seems slightly raised. In Tony's enlarged pictures (thanks for that), you can see a fine groove even on the left Mon at the missing part at 12 o'clock. And why shouldn't stencils have been used earlier for efficient work? Such tsuba were certainly not unique, but were produced in small series. For me, the tsuba seems quite normal as a work from the Bakumatsu or early Meiji.

This special version of the Uchigatana would be the Katate-Uchigatana.

...or, what I rather believe, they were removed on purpose. On the Omote it would have been outside, more visible Mon. Probably it was also no Aoi Mon, what was removed...

I don't think you should be too meticulous about many terms to pigeonhole them. An Uchigatana stands for me historically seen for a companion sword/secondary sword, which is at least longer than a classical Tanto, in order to correspond to the Kanji "Uchi". This would make our classic katana just as much an uchigatana as the wakizashi - completely independent of the quality of the blade or the rank of the wearer.

There is also good news from my side. Yesterday I finally held my shipment in my hands after two and a half months. The package looked pretty battered, but the contents had remained intact. What never worked for me in the past, this time the tracking of the US Postal Service was reliable. Quite the opposite of DHL. A little over 2 months the shipment needed until obviously an airport was found, from where the package could go to Germany. Dear guys in the States: You really have good and interesting stuff. But I am now really afraid to buy something from you. From Japan it has (so far) always worked without problems.

I am not a metallurgist, or a swordsmith, but I do not believe that Sai-Ha leads to such pronounced re-curvature. If I were to harden this blade again, would I have a half-circle? As long as an edge is hard, the martensitic structure will occupy the appropriate space. It is a tensional structure. This structure dissolves when the blade is exposed to high heat again. Accordingly, the bend should relax again - at least to a certain degree. In addition, I think that a swordsmith would correct the shape before rehardening, if necessary, to obtain an appropriate sori of the finished blade.

No, it is "only" a tsuba. The tracking does not move. As the recipient, I cannot make an inquiry request. The sender is absolutely trustworthy and does what is in his power. In addition, the US Postal Service, as well as DHL, says that due to the tense situation and longer shipping times, you should refrain from requesting an investigation.

I wanted to ask about your experiences regarding the duration of shipments abroad lately. I have been waiting for a shipment from the USA to me in Germany for 8 weeks. Shipments from Japan have also reached me within a week in December 2020. I did some research and read that the US postal service was extremely overloaded in December. Is that still the case? I know due to the pandemic you have to expect longer shipping times. But 8 weeks (air freight) is extreme. I actually don't think the shipment will reach me anymore. However, a small package from Italy reached my daughter this week, which was mailed on December 30. There is not even a customs clearance between Germany and Italy.

I think the shape fits perfectly for a Katateuchi of the Muromachi. But what is it exactly? I see too little for that. Seems to have masame in the Shinogiji. Could be Sue Bizen, Could also be Odawara-Soshu, possibly also direction Wakasa- Soshu -> Fuyuhiro.

Pffffhhh, I don't know. From the feeling I would tend to the late Shinshinto, so in the Bakumatsu. Well, and from what I can see it looks Soshu-esque. Since the Soshu style came late in the Bizen influenced Shinshinto period through the Naotane and Kiyomaro schools, I would guess the sword to be in that environment.

Why? It looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, why then necessarily confirm that it is a duck. Better invest the money in the next piece.

I think Sandai or Yondai

You have my fullest agreement, Christian. Many here have obviously also already been born as experts. No one started small and had to trust what the seller told him. Even if hardly anyone here can imagine it, there are definitely people who do not know Japanese and English, who do not trust themselves to make a purchase on the other side of the world, who do not know how to get the purchase through customs. When I started in 1990 there was no internet, literature mainly in Japanese. If you could not see swords in person, you had to rely on photos and descriptions. My first purchase in Japan had to be made via postal money order. The postal worker had no idea how to do it. It took a week for the payment to arrive in Japan. Today, many things are so much better. There is plenty of literature, the Internet, forums, and any housewife with a credit card can buy anything in the world with one click. And although so much knowledge is so readily available, many are too lazy to study it. Whether here in the forum or on Facebook, there are constantly new topics like "please information ..." and bad photos to go with it. It is also so much easier this way than to do research yourself. I am convinced that the buyer was not an expert. Perhaps a martial artist who wanted to fulfill the dream of a historical original and has long saved up for it. Clearly, from your point of view, the dealer did everything right if he made such a profit. But personally, I would never buy anything from this dealer again.

No, every sword is at best what you get in the market if you have to sell it again! @Kirill: a sword that originally cost 70K, and later increased in sales value, must have had a certain quality and level. People who spend that money on a blade like this should know what they are doing. Collectors who are currently bidding up for the Muramasa from 1.45 million yen to 2.0 million yen at Aoi must also know what they are doing. Even if I cannot understand that, because a name and not quality is offered here. But if someone pays 15K for an unsigned, suriage Shinto Takada, I'm convinced they don't know what they did. And that's what this scene suffers from. How many times have I seen someone proudly present a sword for which they paid insane money. And then you don't know how to gently teach him that he was basically betrayed. That the sword is nowhere near the market value. And then there is bad blood, hardened fronts and certain people to be avoided ...

If he even actually sold it for the prices. What I find hard to believe. But whether or not, I would be more than embarrassed. He didn't even bother to remove the spelling mistakes from Tsuruta's text. And that he has the copy right of Tsuruta, I don't believe that either.

Tanto in Sanmai-Konstruction. Looks quite natural. Image is from USAGIYA.

I have just discovered the topic. May I throw in another aspect? The construction of blades. Because this can also create effects, which inside the hamon look like monster-kinsuji (Here I bet strongly that this is the case with the pictures from answer 13, Picture of Aoi). The very first image reminds me of the effect in Awataguchi Tadatsuna. Here very long kinsuji cut off the ashi "halfway". A kantei point, which most likely goes back to the construction of the blade. Another example, which is located "further up". I own a Kinju. With it, you often find the effect that so-called "monster kinsuji" cut off the tops of the gunome, so that they look like "put on". An effect in the interaction of cutting steel, side steel and hamon. As I said, it is a possibility. But if you see particularly long, conspicuous "kinsuji", which also strongly influence the hamon, you should not exclude construction-related "hataraki".

Efu ju Namitoshi: Namitoshi

Not water wheel, but kikusui...😉

Sugita Yoshiaki should also not be forgotten when it comes to Utsuri.

I don't think machiokuri. The Fumbari Mune-sided is pronounced. But the Nakago actually appears proportionally a tiny bit compact and the Nakagojiri unusually sharp for this smith. But I can be wrong.

The small sign on the Kabutogane of the big sword could be read as "Ishima" (Katakana).

The blade has the greatest strength in shinogi. The principle continues at the kissaki in the ko-shinogi. Therefore the mune at this point expands to the strength of the Ko-Shinogi. Therefore, the indications of the Kasane can be misleading in some schools and styles. My Nidai Shigekuni in Yamato-Den style has 5 mm Moto-Kasane on the Mune and 7 mm on the Shinogi and shows exactly this effect on the Kissaki.

It is what I mean (maybe a bit exaggerated on the picture): high Shinogi