Karusk

Thank you Dave, that actually answers a question i had about my super long masastugu. Its 32 3/8 inch(82cm) and i was curious if it was actually legal at the time it was made( around 1650) He apparently was skirting the maximum length at the time. Im guessing this is good for assuming the blades age and maker(this post) as alot of examples of his work have this.

Thanks Steve. Ill be listing better photos and the paper soon.

Ill work on some better pictures. I did note that one Jaques linked with the flashier hamon did go towards the edge like this, while the other suguha ones went into the rust pattern. I bought this assuming the hamon to be a retemper. I appreciate your input/interest and time. Give me till tomorrow for new photos.

It was sold to me as kneck(thubei?) cut off kiriotoshi. I have all my papers vacum sealed and put away ill have to get it out. Any thoughts on the age of the blade itself? I was assuming it was much older than the kiriotoshi. I cannot find the exact year of the flood that destroyed the owari seki school/province just that it happened. Trying to find that exact listing (that site always sends you to the list and not the actual item) Thank you for your time and input.

Modern hozon paper. I forget the exact date of the kiriotoshi. (1750ish) Thoughts and opinions appreciated. Not for sale. No opinions will be used outside of my own learning and showing off the blade.

This is supposed to be the same guy i think. I also am not 100% on this signature. The examples the guy listed for me all actually seem pretty similar. I think mine seems a little less “clumsy”

Matching from the bottom they all seem very similar until i get to top character. All of these do not have the hanafusa character to compare. He apparently applied this character to his later works after he moved by this bottom link. I bid on this for the hamon and the suguta so i honestly wouldn’t be too disappointed if it turned out to be gimei. Thank you for your effort finding those links. If you could find a later work with the hanafusa to compare id appreciate it. these guys have been discussing about this one since 2016. I think mine matches up alot better. im here to learn and discuss so I appreciate any back and forth.

Its not like someone paid 10gs for it or anything. It sold for 2800 bucks at an auction.

Thank you. Its nice to have a second opinion on that.

A few flaws but nothing fatal. It has an old green paper I believe to be an accurate attribution but not accurate rank. Seller wanted 1500 and let me have it for 1100. My opinion on the paper is it never would have gotten the green paper with the flaws and was a dishonest ranking. Its dated 78 so im pretty sure of that. It is extremely heavy (heavier than the hottuke i just posted which is actually pretty hefty too)just under katana length(1/2”) With the suguha hamon, shape of the nakago, suguta and sori I believe it to be a tadamitsu. Alot of examples i found of other tadamitsu also have the double mekugi-ana about the same distance apart. Like every single one i found, so I believe he actually pinned his nakago like this, and it is not cut down. Without the attribution and just from the suguta and patina of the nakago id place this as a koto blade. Any opinions appreciated. Please leave me alone if your gonna deride me about the green paper. If you think you have an opinion about another maker i would be glad to hear your input. If you have a tadamitsu to compare it to id love to see it. Not for sale. No opinions will be used outside of my own learning and showing of the blade.

I thought the old green papers were the culprits for worry not usually the white ones. Why forge a white paper when you can more money from the green. Also your already committing fraud why stop at just authenticating a fake.

Anyone know if there is a difference between hokke and hottuke? I think the seller may have been spelling wrong as i cant find any information on hottuke. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Not for sale. No opinions will be used outside of my own learning and showing.

I think you’ll all agree the hamon is fantastic. I was hoping if someone knew whether or not he liked to bend the hamon towards the edge, or if I should consider this a very well done retemper. Any information about the smith would be greatly appreciated as well. This one is actively trying to cut me😑. It has fallen straight down out of my hand while i had a firm grip on it. It has also leaped out of my hand towards another katana and i keep them far apart. Thankfully there was only a small damage to the other ones shirasaya. Not for sale. No opinions will be used outside of my own learning and showing it off.

That makes sense, harder than rust softer than steel. Thank you.

Thank you! I wanted it for the shape/blade construction as its a little young for my tastes. Any advice on how/ if i should remove that bit of rust above the habaki? Id like to nip it in the bud before it gets any deeper.

My chikushi ryokai. Its very light i don’t believe it was a childs katana as it appears to have been shortened based on where the yasurime ends. It appears as if they just moved the edge up and didn’t actually cut the nakago. A couple minor openings in the bohi. Solid silver habaki and seppa. Jidai around 1450. It received a paper (JTK) Not for sale. Just showing it off. Any opinions appreciated. No opinions will be used to sell.

My best guess is late meiji/ early showa. Maybe something made for a competition. The edge is not completely sharpened to the nakago. Yasurime is opposed. One sode is downd from edge the other is down from the spine. The hamon calms down towards the tip into a more choji like pattern. Previous owner says the habaki and shirasaya are brand new. Mumei. Not for sale. No opinions will be used to sell.

Thanks. I was honestly expecting to get sent before a firing squad here with that opinion. Most of what i have seen sell on ebay were decent looking blades with flashy hamons and horimono. The one i tried to get that sold for 4k had an extremely nice koshirae and a horimono that had been polished at least once or twice. So i figured it was an old horimono if not an original one. If you like a blade and turn your nose up to it because it was relatively cheap then you lose out. If this shows up for 3k I’ll gladly take it.

Thank you! I intend to show off my collection soon.

@JH LeeThese specifically were done more as a political statement. There is a long history/legend of Muramasa being hated by Tokugawa ieyasu even though he actually collected them and most of his daiymo had them. My point is even gimei has its place in the history and study of nihonto. Someone clearly cared enough for this blade to keep it in such good condition and pay for that lacquered box. (Which honestly i got a thing for boxes and that one does it for me🥵) The polish also looks fresh and i know you all know how expensive that is. IMO whoever picked this up got a decent deal and probably knew exactly what he was paying for( that sweet sweet box🤤)

Alot of muramasa gimei were done in the bakumatsu period. Ive seen a couple obvious gimei murmasa go for a couple thousand dollars on ebay. One the seller was even quite clear about the fact that it was gimei. It sold for around 4k. So someone thought it was worthy of collecting. I did. Ive seen it said a few times here. Its worth what someone will pay for it. Obvious gimei? Yeah. Worthless? No. Its worth 300k yen to someone. That koshirae is probably worth a chunk of yen too. for 3k in that koshirae i think they hit around the actual value of the blade. These gimei were more often done to supply a demand for muramasa blades than to defraud someone in the modern market. I personally think that would be an exceptional talking point. Any opinions on their worthiness to collect? https://www.ebay.com/itm/AY-82-Very-old-Blade-SAGAMINO-KUNI-SADAMUNE-sign-NANBOKUCHYOU-age/324282305398#vi__app-cvip-panel Here is a very old gimei. Someone paid 4600 for it. Like today actually i had checked it yesterday. IMO this gimei was probably done to hide the original maker. Possibly a muramasa. There was another smith(name escapes me) that has alot of gimei done to his work to prevent it from being confiscated because the emperor wanted all of his swords for his own daiymo. The mei is very worn but there are 0 examples of a sadamune signature existing. When i asked koushya was very honest please dont judge him poorly. His collection is impeccable and a good portion of my papered collection came from him. My point is no one is out there ruining blades in modern times. They weren’t doing this to deceive you. They were doing it to deceive someone 170 years ago. Im new here do your worst😑

I actually bought this and joined up to see if i could source any info on him. I.e his life and extended lineage. Also i was wondering if anyone could tell me what the legal sword length was at the time it was made. I believe its jidai is around 1630. Pre 1650 as the file i found on him says he was active up to 1644. Am I mistaken in thinking that he had made an illegal sword? Its 32 3/8 in nagasa. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MAS859