rematron

To my novice eyes it looks like kitae-ware (delaminated area) and it’s a very common forging flaw. These are not considered fatal flaws as they do not affect the usability of the sword. But they are a flaw and any flaw will have an impact on collectibility. Here’s a good quick reference for flaws: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/kizu.htm

Aside from the photo quality I don't see any red flags. For 150 euros, sure why not? Unless of course, that's too much money for you to gamble. I am a beginner though so take that into consideration please.

Wow! Interesting development in the discussion! Those original design books are extremely useful. I wish more were around.

Wow! That's a spicy tamale!

You’re welcome Soren! I’m a novice so I’m shooting from the hip a little. It wasn’t one thing or the other but the combination of things together that made me think Hamano. Also I’m remembering something @Ford Hallamwrote about that school also incorporating mythological subjects in their works.

Both sides for me. The general carving style. The use of gold detail against black. And the thinness and height of the raised rim.

I think another possibility is Hamano school.

A small perpendicular surface crack begs the question "If that's what I can see on the surface, what might be connected underneath and how far does it go? What is hidden?Can I really trust that this blade won't break on me when I need it the most?" A striking force would be closing it but a blocking force could be opening it. So maybe a poorer samurai would keep it if they were forced to. I guess I'm surprised if this isn't considered a fatal flaw (if indeed it's a crack and not a shinae ware). I believe it's perfectly reasonable to think that no smith would consider selling a blade with this flaw to a samurai if it had come out of the forge like that. He'd probably toss it and start over.

And isn't that generally the basis of how the determination of "fatal flaw" is derived from a collector's perspective?

When I blow up the picture it looks like the munegire goes at least a quarter of the way through the mune. Or is that just the photo being misleading? If it is indeed a quarter of the thickness deep and I were a samurai, I’d immediately start looking for a new sword. If you’ve ever watched ‘forged in fire’, blades with flaws like that break often. It’s considered ‘fatal’ in functionality.

This is great information. Thank you all who are contributing.

Thank you, Thomas. A follow up question: Did samurai ever switch the swords they actually wore or was that taboo? Example would be if they have a sword they liked to wear around and then the sword they took to battle etc.

This is a random question I just thought of. Googling it doesn't come up with good results because the answer is: yes, samurai wore TWO swords. Same with searching NMB. My question is: Was it at all heard of for samurai to collect more than the swords they wore? Similar to collecting multiple koshirae? I'm guessing the answer is: "sure, if they could afford it" but I'm just curious as to how common that was if at all.

I’d like to remind everybody that the mei was never directly called fake. It was speculated as a possibility. None of us, especially me, can definitively say one way or the other. People have stated their opinions and by the popularity of the thread, there are a lot of them. The next step is for the sword to be seen in hand by an expert. Whether or not to engage in that process will be up to some future owner, I’m guessing. Nothing else needs to be said. Right?

Good stuff Larry! Say, what's that little critter at the bottom right corner of the top tsuba?

Kampai!

Thanks, I quite liked it myself. I really like how while attacking the members of the forum, you're also calling them bullies. Way to keep your options open.

The only person I see moaning in this post is you.

It's a little bit of a "All Scotch is whiskey but not all whiskey is Scotch" kind of thing?

*fuel continually being fed to the fire that is this post* "Man, is it hot enough in here already?"

Okay, I no longer feel guilty for posting pictures of Chinese fake tsubas...

Excellent! Thank you very much for the information Mauro and Chris. Joly’s interpretation didn’t sit right with me but I hit a dead end with the research.

Years of training and education provided by mentors who learned the same way and reading a ton of books and going to shows. Life long dedication to the art.

There was not an assumption that it was gimei. It was stated as a possibility by experience and knowing the popularity of the smith. So I guess the answer to your second question is: YES. People in Nihonto like to be pleasantly surprised rather than largely disappointed so when viewing poor photos and lack of all other asked for things such as measurements and full comprehensive images of the blade from tip to butt, there will be a fair amount of skepticism as it definitely comes with the territory. Also keep in mind that though you may love the look of that hamon now in 2023 (I do also), it was not necessarily a desirable look for everyone back in the day.

Often it wasn’t about making a name for yourself but putting food on the table. And I wasn’t implying that the smith himself falsified a name on his sword (although I suppose that’s a possibility) but more likely done by someone else at a later date. Also, there are experts all over the world that can accurately evaluate a Nihonto. Getting it papered by a Japanese organization is only going to be useful to make it easier to sell or pass on the provenance to someone else.