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Matt mentioned “武久” (Takehisa), Bruce! Possibly a smith from “愛知県” (Aichi-ken)…?!

Hi Piers, also “sumitategaku” with opposite “sakura” could be a possibility….?!

Hmm, tough one! A quick search brought up nothing similar. Obviously not in my books….

Graham, why do you post this twice?

Bevor you sell it to Simon, let's try me approach your questions First, it's a quite nice me-no-shita-men. The chin part reminds me of some Mito works, but I need to do a little homework first..... Will come back to this asap!

I took the easy road for a rough overview, sry guys. I’m also sure that it still contains a lot of errors, but I couldn’t resist…. Mr. Katsujiro Matsumoto, 3-125 Hamada-cho, Inaoka City Telephone No. 205 West Mr. Matsumoto is known as one of the leading sword lovers in western Japan. He is known as one of the leading sword lovers in western Japan. When he was in the United States, he went to the New York Museum and was asked if he was Japanese or a commoner, to which he replied that he did not know anything about swords. When I told him that Japanese people had a great admiration for Japanese swords since childhood, he became very proud and explained in detail everything from Masamune's tenets to their use in the weapons of feudal lords. As soon as he won the war in 1924, he went to study under Hon'aya Mitsuei, and also under Ogura Soemon and Sai Eikan Hattori. He has been entrusted with these tasks by the Okaji temple's prize committee, and has been a devoted teacher. He has been a constant mentor and pitcher for his fellow swordsmiths, taking care of them in every way possible. He was delighted when swordsmiths such as Tokudanoki and Muto passed the test for the army sword, and was thrilled to learn that they were descendants of old swordsmiths, and attributed their success to the guidance of the spirits of the past. This is the reason for the high spiritual value of the Japanese sword. This is the first time that a Japanese sword has been used in a school. Bruce, it seems that the RJT program wasn’t mentioned in the article.

Let me add “小田” 氏 (Oda/Ota family), Piers! (inverted colors, though)

Piers is correct! To be exact, the first one is “Maru ni Kaga umebachi”. Because of the little sword tips between…..

Have a look here…..

Russell, it’s a family crest (mon). The shape is called “Maru ni sanmai sasa no maru” (a round forming, three petaled bamboo in a circle)….

Nice and old! Thanks for sharing, Alain!

Hi Barry, do you have a picture of the mei? Hirata (平田) would be also possible…. Very good Zunari, BTW! The red suji-bachi could be an earlier Haruta work. Worth a slight restoration, but no hurry like Piers suggested

Thanks Howard, I got the first character (in Japanese though) but as I failed on the second I already assumed it has to be Chinese….🤓

Looked quite easy at first glance, but I’m getting stuck….

....very nice Jiri!

No worries Graham, you are in good company! Dating menpō is very difficult and in most cases, especially when not signed, all one can do is setting a time frame. Something like early/mid/late Edo, for example. Good books about the subject are rare and mostly written in Japanese. “Katchūmen-Mononofu no kasō” by Katsuo Iida could be a recommendation. Some mistakes inside but quite a good book! Back to your mask. Unfortunately I tend to agree with Thomas and Simon here. The model was obviously a so called “Nara-men”. This type was made in large numbers back then (more or less always similar, with recurring features) and goes allegedly back to the Haruta school... There is a lot more to say, but that should be enough for today. Beer is waiting....

That’s true Piers! Yes John, you are right! Sometimes you staring on these kanji and all you can see are strokes... Jiri, can you please post pictures of the menpō?!

Hi Jiri, right side is “中八幡源武保” (Nakahachiman Minamoto Takeyasu). Late Edo period! Left side in a few minutes.... ”七十六才造?” (Made at the age of 76?). Cannot make out the last character and not sure about the 六...but almost....

Could be “井上祐継” (Inoue Suketsugu), with Seki stamp. I’ll leave the rest for the more knowledgeable....

It is “兼房” (Kanefusa)! Probably one of the many from Mino...

Many thanks Gilles 👍

Graham, I wouldn’t say without any value. But it lost some, because of the “modifications”. As you suppose and was already mentioned, all the little adornments on the surface are later additions in order to pimp it up. If you look at the first example Thomas posted (the second is most likely nerikawa), you get an idea how the dō once looked like (except of the color of course). Kind of “Haramaki Hotoke Dō”, so to say.... BTW, the discolorations around the attachments could been also caused by a cleaning attempt. Note, that you can spot this in the corners and edges as well as on the hinges and the holes for the aibiki cords....🤔

Pics of the kabuto please (as usual 😉) Gilles 🙏

Get well soon Jean!

Yes, only the date is left..... If forced I would say “安政元年十月”, but I’m not sure 🤔