Franco

Thank you for sharing. Is it possible to see a close up of the boshi on both sides? Thanks in advance.

Has anyone stopped to consider that this textured background on the subject tsuba is actually intended to be an ishimei and not nanako? p.s. one reason for collecting quality pieces is that all of the elements are clear and well defined, unambiguous.

The key to making a decision will come down to understanding the outcome vs cost. Typically, a collector will go through these considerations before making a purchase and not in hindsight. Be that as it may; If the mei is shoshin, then a polish could be rationalized depending. A new polish would mean having a new shirasaya and habaki made, and that is the proper way to store a newly polished blade. You can have the saya maker make a tsunagi for the mounts. Being suriage this sword may only achieve hozon origami, both of which will affect resale value, a consideration. So, it may come down to what this sword means to you personally in deciding how much you're willing to spend on restoration. Regardless, if you keep it as is keep it oiled and keep a close watch on it to make certain the rust does not progress.

Gettin' there. Appreciate the sharing, thanks.

The reason Japanese recommend to begin learning and studying the best swords possible (and Japanese sword furniture as well), is so that when we see "bad" swords and Japanese sword furniture it hurts your eyes. Now let's see, where did I leave those eye drops?

https://shibuiswords.com/unsignedTsuba.htm

Tail leans towards Ho-o/Phoenix. Take them to a jeweler and have them tested. My guess is that they are not gold and are a cast set of menuki. Often it is difficult to tell without looking at the backs of menuki to tell the difference between leaf and solid. In this case I'm betting neither.

The question of origin is not in dispute. Further, mounts do not confirm the sword just as the mei does not confirm the sword! As I recall, unless things have changed, at both the first shinsa I attended and at the second shinsa that I worked at, all swords had to be stripped down of all mounts including habaki before being submitted and judged. Mounts don't confirm the sword! Showato??? Brian, did you forget to take your meds this morning? After carefully looking over these images once again, my guess is that this sword is an elaborate copy. There is nothing in the images that suggests otherwise. Despite the fact that this sword is out of polish, it appears that this sword never received a "proper polish." The burden of proof is with the sword. Hopefully this turns out to be a traditionally made Japanese sword and I am wrong, but it will be the sword itself that confirms that fact. Experienced collectors do their homework in advance.

Based on what evidence! It is irresponsible to mislead someone into thinking/believing that they have a true nihonto (made from tamahagane, hand forged, water quenched) without evidence that that is in fact so. Welcome. There are a number of polishers available here in the States that you can contact. Shigekazu "Jimmy" Hayashi/San Francisco, Woody Hall/ Las Vegas?, Ted Tenold - ted@legacyswords.com, Bob Benson/ Bushido swords Hawaii, as well as Takeo Seki/BC in Canada to name a few. Polishers can also be found in attendance at Japanese sword shows. Also, Shinsa are held here in the U.S. periodically, so unless there is some urgency sending the sword to Japan is a choice. Check this forum; Sword Shows, Events, Community News and Legislation Issues for show/shinsa announcements. Good luck.

You are not wrong. This sword could be shown to a polisher who will be able to determine if it is a genuine nihonto or just an elaborate copy. If genuine, a window could then be opened to reveal its workmanship. This with the understanding that the sword could still fail to pass shinsa. Yes, this sword is collectible. But a collectible "what" still has to be answered.

Antique, yes. Hand forged from tamahagane and water quenched still to be determined.

Sugu-based, midare-based, these words have meaning. They prepare you for what you are about to see.

Yes, my faux pas, sorry. This sword is collectible and has collector value. In terms of restoration the decision typically comes down to value vs cost. To determine value and in order to justify the cost of restoration collectors often submit their swords (and koshirae) to a shinsa for certification as a first step. Based upon the results, it then can (objectively) be determined how to proceed (full restoration, partial restoration). If nothing else, you will be in a much better position to fully understand what it is that you have.

I've seen nihonto with both worn down (due to polish) hi and horimono with TH origami.

Interesting! Is the same true of other horimono (should be recut)? I don't believe a polisher is going to go messing with the horimono work (especially of a master), other than perhaps doing finger polish work to bring it out. That is certainly something that should be discussed ahead of time when choosing a polisher. Don't over think things.

Hi should be recut at the time a sword is polished if and when necessary. Too often, for whatever reason, that step is skipped over. Worn down hi are the result. Charged as a flaw, no. Taken into consideration when judging the overall health of the blade, yeah, probably, maybe, perhaps. Desire is the cause of suffering.

Although I cannot recall specific details now, I did run into a very similar sword with virtually the same style mountings some 30 years ago. Only both the mountings and sword were of better overall quality, and the sword had an elaborate lengthy script writing on the nakago. When presenting an oshigata of the nakago and verbally describing the piece to an advanced collector in the club, his thoughts were that this sword was most likely a (pre-war?) presentation piece for some occasion with an honorary mei. The sword itself he didn't believe would be of serious collector quality. The subject sword here, I believe based on the images, would follow along something of those lines. Try looking up; Japanese Phoenix. p.s. due to exceptions, Japanese swords should be evaluated based upon their own merits.

First things first. What are the reasons that we're buying $100 blades caked over in rust? Curiosity? Chance? Opportunity? Temptation? Boredom? Material fix? Did we see something that wasn't there? Did we see something that we recognized? Was any of the decision making based upon real kantei analysis? The answer or answers to these question will probably determine what comes next. An experienced collector will have bought the $100 dollar rusty blade for one or more specific (objective) reasons (other than it was cheap). An experienced collector will be prepared to send the rusty caked over blade as is unless directed to do otherwise directly to the polisher, knowing that it will give the polisher the most material to work with thereby increasing the chances of a successful restoration of the blade. An added perspective based on experience. Desire is the cause of suffering.

Dan, This isn't personal and my comments are targeted knowing that there will be a wide audience including the inexperienced looking for information. 1.Good! Don't! 2. Someone reading the fact that you bought a $100 wakizashi and tried to remove the rust might be encouraged to do the same, don't you think? 3. hmmm. p.s. most of the topics that have come up here in this thread have already been discussed. Put the search feature to use!

Try, try, again. 1. What is being said is that sooner or later someone is going to come along and try their hand at polishing a piece without realizing that the $100 rusty piece was in fact something very special. Nothing more! Which is why amateur polishing cannot be promoted and or supported in a public form. It needs to be further emphasized here that even people with advanced knowledge of nihonto sometimes make serious errors in judgment. Metal once removed is removed. Me. But that's not what this is about. This is about amateur polishing. And actually, Dan, it makes a lot of sense to someone who knows and understands why.

Arrogance is some guy named "Joe" buying a hundred dollar rusty blade on ebay, who doesn't have a clue that the rusty $100 blade he just purchased may actually be a $5,000 blade, or a $50,000 blade, or perhaps even a $100,000 blade, because it's all the same to him after all, who then, without the proper training in the art of kantei, and without any formal training in the art of Japanese sword polishing, goes ahead and puts that blade to stone somehow believing (who knows what, really), that he can save this blade, make it look acceptable again, a blade that might be as thin as 3mm, which leaves absolutely no margin for error in correcting and reshaping the foundation, and then, ooops!, he removes the last bit of metal that was needed to have it properly restored and saved. And if you don't believe that it can happen you would be wrong. In fact it has happened to collectors and even amateur polishers that should have known better. https://www.nihontoc..._Sword_Polisher.html

Tanto - blade length is under 1 shaku Jo Sun Tanto - blade length ~ 8 sun 5 bu - meaning prescribed length Sun Nobi Tanto - blade length over 8 sun 5 bu Sun Zumari Tanto - blade length under 8 sun 5 bu Yamanaka Newsletters (revised) - Vol. II Some of the longer lengths listed by some of the well known tanto makers during the early to mid koto period, seem to run 1 shaku and 1 or 2 sun more, but not longer. https://www.kampaibudokai.org/Script.htm

One possibility ...