Lareon

Hi Patrice, usually you can get it off without tools even when stuck. remove the wooden peg from the handle, its a small bamboo rod, make sure you can see light through it once removed. If you cant just check to see if it is in there or just the metal of the sword. once thats done, i usually put a little bit of choji oil around the opening of the handle and also into the hole. leave this for a while to soak in. there is a retaining clip that you release by holding down the small button on the handle, make sure this is pressed. I usually then wrap a towel around the hand guard and press it against the edge of a table, the force of this usually loosens the handle and any rust connections. take is slowly. obviously be careful of the blade while you do all this. another method i use is the rubber hammer method (i dont usually use a rubber hammer) i usually hold the sword blade vertical and put a towel onto the table i then tap / knock the handguard down onto the table / towel) i do this quite a lot and usually it moves a few mm here and there until it starts to come loose i find these methods are the best at not damaging the blade or fittings, it's easy to scratch them

It's in Japan at the moment so don't have it at hand tot take better photos but one of my blades has a couple of kirikomi. It's being polished at the moment but i wanted to them to leave it in as part of its story

Its 100% hand finished. Good quality too. The koshirae is a full set of waves and dragons finished in silver and the tsuba matches well. Even the soft metal to protect the blade on the tsuba is silver. Signature is kiyo sanjin Kyosai

Thank you. I struggled with that left section

I was wondering if someone could help me translate this Tsuba mei? I find the script hard to read. RH: Biyo / Kiyo maybe?? Sanjin ? Mountain people? I assume that is the yama kanji edit: seems Sanjin (hermit) is a pseudonym some artists used LH: can't get this 1: Taka? 2: ???? 3: Saku ? That's my best attempt

here are some poor pictures of the blade i took quickly today. Don't have it in hand so will get more later. Has a nice Mokume hada that isn't picked up well here, a few spots of tobiyaki, gassan.

Apologies, Typo i meant Shosho. had the wrong word in my head.

Hi all, I picked up a beautiful wakizashi not long ago and have just turned my eyes to it's koshirae and fittings. They seem to be edo fittings. The tsuba is very intricately made. I thought it was cast at first but on closer inspection it doesn't seem to be. I can't read the shosho signature very easily though. Tsuba aren't my field at all so any info would be appreciated

Imposing and beautiful blade. Congratulations enjoy!

Hi Ken, A few times i've had brass pins in my teppo that have been deformed and took a fair bit of effort to get out. eventually did it, i usually turn to piers for anything related to teppo to, It's not my main field of collecting but somehow without realising it, i've bought 5 this year, so i've got no excuse.

Julian, to myself the sword is part of your family history now and you are the owner of it, this is a fascinating part of your grandfathers past and I would suggest not returning it to Japan, I have heard many times the Japanese do not wish to have the swords back and there is usually an exodus of swords from Japan rather than into it. the sword may not have been unwanted, but after the war, swords were taken from Japan, especially to the USA en masse. keep it as a legacy, learn more about it and your grandfathers service history. I think for many of us, things like this are what started our hobby in collecting and preserving these swords.

Hi Don, to many of us here, it is obviously a fake even from the photos you have sent. just seeing the material of the sword we can tell that it is a modern reproduction. There are many glaring signs that the sword is not a real Japanese sword. i know you feel that people didn't look at it before saying it wasn't real but it honestly doesn't need anymore looking. i would like to say, no one s**t on you immediatly, but gave you direct feedback that the sword wasn't real. a lot of us have been there, i've bought a fake before by accident, luckily i could return it. unfortunately for yourself it seems someone has told you it was a bring back from ww2 but sadly that isn't the case.

i love etymoloy and the etymology of the characters is so interesting, pictoral origins and how they combine.

We are of the same age and the same plan haha