reinhard

Torokusho states: a wakizashi (written in hiragana), nagasa (blade length without nakago) is 44cm, sori (curvature) is 1.8cm, 1 mekugi-ana. Signature is: Kanda (no) Ju Kane 囗. (empty box meaning: kanji is illegible) The best known town named Kanda was in Musashi province. The last kanji of the mei is definitely not "tsune" and probably not "sada". reinhard

Definitely not the mei (signature) of famous Horikawa Kunihiro. reinhard

Thanks Tyler, That's good news. Chandler's translation is correct and the style of engraving is in accordance with Nobuhide's work. Good luck and take good care (of the blade and of yourself). reinhard

I'm wondering nobody asked for a picture of the opposite side of the nakago yet. Kurihara Nobuhide always engraved a nengo ("date") on the sashi ura of his long blades. So Tyler, could you please provide us with a pic of the reverse side of the tang? reinhard

What I was saying was: The horimono is WITHIN RANGE of SOME of Kurihara Nobuhide's works. His horimono include a wide variety of subjects and he never executed the same horimono in the exact same style twice. The horimono in question shows many elements of different dragon-horimono he made. All in all the blade is interesting and should not be easily disregarded. reinhard

You don't need to like it. The horimono is in accordance with some of Kurihara Nobuhide's works. reinhard

I agree with Thomas. Most likely a twisted version of "Kane". reinhard

Maybe we can agree on this: The blade in question is of high quality, way above most of the blades discussed here, and shows many features associated with Yamaura-school. Judgement on the basis of pictures/pixels is difficult. Perspective/camera-angle make judgement even more difficult. Let's wait for judgement of true experts, and I don't mean NMB, to narrow the question of the possible maker. reinhard

Hi Yoshi, EMS worked perfectly fine with me and my Japanese associates until some years ago. All of a sudden EMS refused to ship swords to Switzerland, claiming problems with SWISS airlines. That was and is actually not true. Asking SWISS cargo they confirmed that they will transport antique blades without a problem. Asking again in Japan it turned out the problem was more likely to be located at inner Japanese traffic. A blade sent from any place in Japan eventually has to take its way to another airport in Japan before leaving the country. That's where Japanese regulations start to become a problem for EMS. Anyway, the blade in question made its way to Switzerland with Fedex without any problems. reinhard

Supposed the nakago is mumei but in original shape, i.e. the blade was made in "naginata-naoshi-style", you are correct. Supposed the blade was originally made a naginata and was shortened later (naginata-naoshi) you are not. reinhard

Hi Artur, Sorry to tell you, but the tsuba you are showing are not pre-mid Edo period. Designs are stiff and awkward, most of them unprecedented. Execution is amateurish and very poor. All in all they look pretty young. I suggest you study reliable sources about quality tsuba before further acquiring. reinhard

Bonji on blades are often easy to identify, but sometimes they are not as simple as they seem. Just for consideration: reinhard

The famous Hosokawa-Mon is always consisting of nine round luminaries. A bigger one in the middle and eight smaller ones circling around it. Not one more, not one less. reinhard

Who is next? Bizen Nagamitsu? reinhard

You better go to sleep and consider this tomorrow again. reinhard

A beautiful and spectacular blade. Nevertheless I am leaning towards Taira (no) Nobuhide as the maker of this blade as far as one can tell from pixels. Congrats anyway. reinhard

Hi Jack, Your katana looks like ShinShinTo-work to me. Let me explain: It has average katana-length but the nakago was either greatly shortened or otherwise reshaped. Sori is still extremely shallow. This excludes older works of Awataguchi, Rai, Aoe. Let's suppose the sugata fits Kambun-Shinto measurements. Other features do not. Hizen-To was mentioned, but neither sugata nor hada fit the criteria. Hizen-To sugata is strongly curved beyond the usual ShinTo fashion. Hizen's konuka-hada, which tried to emulate Awataguchi's nashiji hada, was unique in its clarity and structure. I can't see it here. Hizen-To were also much appreciated for their beautiful boshi, following the curvature of the kissaki precisely and returning shortly. The boshi on your sword is somewhat fringy and shows a pretty long kaeri. But most of all: The hada of your blade is an extremely tight and crispy ko-itame. In the past conservative polish left this as "muji" or muji-fu". It is a unique feature of many blades made during the 19th century. reinhard

Thank you for your ideas and explanations. Allusion to"konotegashiwa" is a very interesting suggestion that did not come to my mind. Unfortunately the surface of the blade is in bad condition (rust and scratches) hence the hamon is partly obscured. reinhard

Recently I was asked for translating the signature of a mistreated and deteriorated katana in a (partly) mismatched koshirae.. The blade is definitely a genuine nihon-to. Mei on the sashi-omote was easy: a 16 petal kiku-mon followed by the mei: Tamba-no-Kami Yoshimichi. Probably second generation in Kyoto. But: On the sashi-ura there are 2 rows of katakana. I found katakana on nakago unprecedented: Can anybody help me out here and tell me me, what they mean? reinhard

Thanks Brian, I forgot to mention the different qualities of hadori-polish. A skillful polisher carefully roughens the ha to a minimal extent in order to group certain features of the hamon and to whiten the ha. Important features remain visible, for they are necessary to judge the blade properly. This process demands a basic understanding of schools and their characteristica and and advanced skills in polishing. I am aware of the fact that minor polishers are just putting "make-up" on a blade to make it attractive for ignorants. The poor outcome of their work should not be the reason for bashing "hadori-polish". BTW: The result of "hadori-polish" will fade anyway during time. Proper sword-care applying uchiko once in a while will do. reinhard

Another derailed topic. For those interested in the difference of "sashikomi" and "hadori"-polish I recommend "The Craft of the Japanese sword". Read pages 119-121 and READ THEM CAREFULLY! The hadori-step of polishing was invented by polishers of the Hon'ami family in later 19th century and became widely popular. It is still now. Wether one likes it or not, it is still the choice of the owner how his blade is going to be polished. "Sashikomi"-polish is just using a different kind of nugui, turning the ji into darker patterns, but not the ha. No big deal and no "lost craft" involved. Just a matter of fashion and individual preferences. This brings me to another point: Both kinds of polishing-methods are revealing all important features of a blade. If you can't see them, it's your fault. Lighting, experience, your eyes.... basically depending on your individual background. reinhard PS.: Andrew Ickeringill's view on this topic would be of relevance here.

BTW, Kirill was so kind to give you an unmistakeable hint in the header. Opening the pic to sword #3 in a separate tab you could clearly see: dotanu.... not many ways to interprete; don't you think? reinhard

Okan, Telling from the bright color of the rust, the spots on the ha look pretty new. Removal should not be a problem. Try a tool like a spatula made of horn, soft enough to not scratch the steel. The cause for newly building rust eventually lies within the saya. Old shirasaya, depending on how they were used in the past, should eventually be cleaned. Now that would be a job for a professional. reinhard

The tsuba in question was offered in 2004 at DaiTokenIchi by a Japanese dealer as "Hikozo"-tsuba without papers. Many knowledgeable people must have seen it in the meantime. Being still without papers and offered for a price far less than can be expected for a genuine (shodai) Hikozo leaves me with only one conclusion: There's something wrong with it. reinhard