loiner1965

was a prison stephen as far as i know but will do a search......many thanks

just browsing and came across this mei....now i know emura used to sign and let prisoners sign his work as did nagamitsu......but first time ive seen 4 prisoners do it or so ive just read.....any views please

this is where your experience counts as i would have said the blade is genuine but the mei is just rubbish kanji.....thank you for your much learned replies......happy new year to all

another.....thats why i was stumped

not sure about this mei translation.....any help please

just a couple of nicks but has the same temper line....just a bit short in the nagasa at 23 1/2 inches thats all

http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/naga.htm sorry rich i posted the wrong pic....yes it is nagamitsu but i was unsure of the first kanji due to my inexperience....just been reading the above link of the above smith

cannot make out the 1st kanji but the later is mitsu ......i think

lol.......we british just call it a wheel nut :D

not sure if thats good or bad news henry

if you decide not to polish it and to throw away then i love to have it and restore it if the price is right.....i hate seeing swords in this condition ,

................certainly fits the crime

the tanto would make a nice study piece to beginers like me as its worthless in the monetary side but valuable in its history and learning features....is he in the uk shan

trying to decipher mei on the net but this suppose to be saku kane zane.....is it grass scipt or just another variation please

thats the one many thanks jacques

sends shivers down your spine when you read stories like this

years ago i found a website which showed tachis of enormous sizes i will try and find it again

http://tsuba.jyuluck-do.com/ChoshuTsuba.html looks in the same style imho

a friend of mine who has a Omi Daijo Tadahiro wakizashi which i am trying to buy from him :D tried to polish it himself with a grinder and i thought ruined it...emailed him last night as he is a great chap and asked how badly damaged is it.....he said he never used a grinder but a wire wheel but it slipped off the blade so he tried it on the tang but fortunately with minimal damage....i do not think he will sell but told him to leave it alone from now on.....you can expect this from a person not knowing nihonto but not a dealer or collector

I also see them for there beauty as i think almost all collectors do. I am merely pointing out the shocking treatment this blade recieved a few weeks ago. Its about originality to a degree with me and i like my blades to be either original or historically altered with compassion. Grinded to fit a Tsuka is beyond my understanding. The problem is that i do like it and regardless of its damages i am trying to think of a way to keep it (as once i have something in my possesion ,i find it hard to return it) Problem is its going to cost me a mounted Kantesune (Gimei) But Echizen Seki school 1880 Tanto in full polish. Ah decisions decisions......... i Need to think about it. regards shan you should return it shan.....in my post i meant i would not hesitate in buying a tanto in that condition but your case is different as you agreed a trade for an undamaged blade and it was damaged after........the seller acted stupidly....its common sense to remove wood rather than metal

you see them like i do ian for their beauty and not for value....my kiyomitsu as a serious flaw which devalues it when i got it polished but i still clean and oil it as if it was a national treasure as its still a part of japans history,

thats just barbaric....gutted for you shan

thats a sword and half......brilliant

yes its iron as its magnetic.....its jut got a dark brown patina to it so to the untrained i suppose they would say bronze.........i remember steve smith or ian bottomley told me that it is iron. you chaps on here are so knowledgeble on these matters that i feel so uneducated in this hobby

cheers for all replies....although faded i shall try and write what it says...... in 1920 the Japanese goverment needed to make laws for the poor law. and penal system and sent two representatives to study the laws in germany,france and britain amongst other places they visited herts reformatory where the rev a w duke was chaplain. and on leaving they presented to him this bronze casting...they said it was part of an ancient sword of a Japanese warrior... sorry for implying it was from a great warrior as i not read the note in years and just wrote from memory