Okan

Second theory, maybe this was modified to use on an Ainu blade? Their nakago are pretty thin.

It’s locked but seriously, owner probably didn’t want this to be on another katana so hammered it down from the middle instead of top and bottom..no way there was a katana that thin.as you said it would break instantly..strange for sure.

Thank you very much for the detailed answer Steve. I can't help but wonder the history of it...On the sayagaki it says the sword was referenced in "Higo toso Roku" but nearly impossible to find it(at least here in the Netherlands) so I couldn't check if it was true or not..(I believe I sent you the sayagaki translation last month or so) Anyways I'll probably won't be able to trace it back so nothing else to do but enjoy it Thank you again!!

Well early Meiji swords still counts as shinshinto so..

Hey Nick..Very hard to guess in this polish and with cleaned nakago but I would say(guess) late Shinshinto in Kanbun style...

Thank you, again, Steve! That is weird....someone was really sure this sword was Kanenage..So it was in a Nobunaga koshirae..attributed to Kanenaga..registered as Kanenaga..Papered as Shikkake after 60 years(was Shinsa right?)..I wonder for how long previous owners thought this was a Kanenaga.. Who knows..

I'm sorry but I had to do it. - and very nice blade!

Thank you Steve. Sword is mid-to-high so like you've said it might be a good idea to send it. I'll look into it thanks a lot.

Well I've been wondering what it can be but I think it gibberish. Kunishige was in Hirado which was a port city open for Dutch and Chinese...so he was probably influenced from them hence most of his work have either latin letters or dragons..or both...So he probably found a Latin book and tried to copy the letters..Attaching a pic of tsuba which might be a set.

Hi, This is a difficult situation..I'm attaching two pictures of two Hirado Kunishige mei...second one has a different writing style of 平 . I've been trying to find another one with same style but couldn't. Usually I would say Gimei but workmanship is so good..maybe a student? What might be the situation here?

Would you be so kind to help me translate this.. ..Thanks a lot!

Second Kanji you mean 与? It is Yo.

Can we see the whole blade in one shot so we can see its shape..And also a close shot of kissaki(tip. of the sword)

Yeah, based on sori it's Kanbun. But it's hard to say more in its current condition. And i don't think it's a Tegai.

Can you take pictures of the blade please. From these ones i can say it's a civilian blade used in ww2..have some nice fittings and a nanban tsuba with dragons perhaps?

And also, Auction houses lower the estimation prices so you can hope to win and join the auction...nearly all of them does this which I can understand and the end of the day this is their business and how they make money..This sword will be sold around 2 to 2.5k due to its newly made koshirae and nice-"ish" fittings..

Hi Lee, Pictures doesn't show condition of the blade..tsuba is ok, kozuka is nice..estimation looks correct. but I would pass..

Dear @Bruce Pennington, I would expect you to understand what I was trying to do here..First of all, I wasn't calling "s**t' to the swords he's sharing but the way he does that...He's using the board like ebay forum asking questions such as: Is this good smith, is this good sword, is this great hamon..is this sword worth 2k..should I polish this sword etc..He's looking for excellent swords in 2k range yet he's constantly asking questions about out of polish ones...For nearly 2 years! Me and some others always adviced him to buy books..read articles..watch documentaries etc..Obviously, answering his questions doesn't help him to learn about Nihonto. He needs to have his own thoughts about particular swords yet he's expecting board members to decide for him. Of course he should ask questions where he's stuck or can't decide between 2 swords etc... but I don't think his intention is to learn but hunting cheaper swords with the intention of finding treasure. I see nothing wrong with this but he needs to understand what makes a good sword by himself..Also, you need to have some basic knowledge to ask the right questions. Sharing screenshots from ebay and asking if it's good or bad doesn't qualify. One of my purpose in this board is to help others as so many people here helped me in my first days of collecting, including you. So when I see a person here asking these type of questions after 2 years of collecting, I sense that there is a problem and try to help him..And the reason that he becomes aggressive explains he doesn't even want to learn.. I want to believe that you know me enough that I would never be disrespectful to you or anything like that..I just needed to explain my intentions here. ps: And yes I won't be clicking his posts anymore.

Dear Steve, You've been constantly asking about "s**t" swords here. I believe you are buying and selling through ebay? And what I think is you don't want to get your hands dirty and expecting us to do your job. So instead of asking about them, why don't you listen our advice and try to learn a bit? Read books..find a mentor who's willing to help you..Read some articles..Watch some documentaries..It's been more than a year you've been doing this and you still didn't learn anything...Last time I've made a comment about this you became aggressive. I'm not trying to insult you or anything like that just trying to help you so you can decide on your own instead of depending on others. I'm hoping to see you contribute in the forum instead of constantly asking mei translations or is this a good smith type questions..

I thought these documentaries would help some beginners so I've made a list: In love with the Samurai Sword(Polishing Documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKj3VCnX38 NKH: The Art of Discipline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYega7KQa2s NHK: The Art of the Japanese Sword https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCYZSqEKmq0 Budo(rare) Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ6HJf70fzQ Budo History of Japanese Sword https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqqRrDG-NPs A visit to female Japanese Sword Dealer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCEQNzqgpyw Nat Geo. Forging a Katana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE_4zHNcieM Way of the Swordsmith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXfvmGU8cs Secret World of the Swordsmiths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxwWf-MfZVk Sword Making(Portland Art Museum) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WkWNDDrQO4 Nigen Kokuho(with cutting test) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Vvs1nK-w4 Tsukamaki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9a6dFGM-ks Modern Smiths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0glduW4-EPY Katana Kaji(Post WWII Documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7z9pkQnz_0 Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UxL1AxztNg Hattori Masanaga(Tsuba documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ibRhcEevc

Dear George, I love your obsession and enthusiasm with your sword but I agree with @Jacques D. None of us here can attribute your sword to a specific school by looking at the pictures you've taken. Sometimes people see what they really want to see..When I look at your pictures I can see that it's a very nice sword, definitely koto, a little out of polish..Does it look like a Yamato blade..yes sure..But also looks like Yamashiro..and why not Bungo Takada? None of us here are professional appraisers..Even we were, we could be mistaken.. Let me give you an example: Here is a Kanenaga blade appraised by the famous Hitoshi Hayashida..He's also one of the official ww2 sword appraisers..(also sayagaki was written by him in 1950s) So the fancy sayagaki says in short: Kanenaga from Yamato Province This blade is ōsuriage and mumei Blade length ~ 62.3 cm Is mounted in a Nobunaga-koshirae This sword is referenced in the Higo Tōsō Roku. The scabbard is of the same dimensions as the scabbard of the sword that is a heirloom of the family of Marquess Hosokawa. Does it look like a Kanenaga?.yes it does..Also, how could Hayashida-san have made a mistake as he was looking at the blade up close and also a master of Kantei..But he did.. ..in 2017, NBTHK appraised the sword as Yamato Shikkake, with Tokubetsu Hozon Token. Hayashida-san was close but not right.. at the end of the day we are all humans right..what if NBTHK was wrong? Enjoy your lovely sword!.. Okan

Early Tenbo(Saotome) with ufos?(Matsukawa)

Just a guess but might be representation of sacred objects: Yasakani no Magatama (sacred jewelery) Yata no Kagami (sacred mirror) and Rising sun(or eclipse) I might be wrong so don't take for granted.

Maybe maybe not

Very nice...Mino-ish Goto? One on the picture looks close..