DarrylDkrs

Thank you, Brian! Am I correct when I assume that the wording "an excellent piece" is a more subjective part of the sayagaki? Also: i tried to find out what the title "Settsu no kami" means. Any insights on that?

Thank You so much Steve, so, is that Sayagaki contributing anything to the sword? What can we deduct from that brief description? At least now we know whether 2nd or 3rd Generation 😁.

Quite a long time ago.... the sword still is in Japan... story too long to tell, I'm afraid. But now with Sayagaki. Can anyone assist with translating? Google photo translation already gave up😂.

Hi guys, I am an absolute newbie to Nihonto. I have no experience how fast ancient blades start to rust, but i know how fast modern steels start to pack up oxidation. And i guess old blades won't be that different and this is a major concern for me in regard of my recent purchase. After my winning bid on Catawiki the Japanese Seller (btw: who is listed as a private seller on Catawiki, but i just found out, that he is a professional seller with several accounts on Catawiki and other Platforms, as well as running a own website) told me, that EMS is not possible to my destination. I checked on that and it turns out that EMS indeed seems to reject all swords that can't be sent via a direct connection. Seller told me, he has to send via Ground-Shipping which will take 3 to 6 Months 😱. Is it really Ground-Shipping? I can't imagine any route from Japan to Europe on Ground that would be suitable for sending a sword without it getting lost. Most probably it will be via Ship.... But how is any blade going to survive such a long trip on a salty ship? I am seriously considering to cancel the order. Is there any experience on how long a blade can survive without beeing oiled periodically ? Does anyone know a carrier from Japan to Germany that transports swords in an acceptable time-frame?

@SteveM As far as i see it the only thing that we can see is, that especially on the last Kanji "Yuki" there is a clear visible difference: the little "Hook" to the left at the southern end of the vertical line. I have now seen 3 of the Meis with this "Hook" (2 commercial sellers and the one i bought) and only one foto with a Mei that does not show this "Hook". So one might conclude: if 3rd Generation is obviously quite rare then maybe the one without the "Hook" on the Yuki could be the 3rd Generation? What i find very remarkable is that both 2nd and 3rd Generation worked only 4 respectively 5 Years??? Can this be correct? How can you become "Settsu no kami" (which was an honourable title for a quite good blacksmith?) when you only work so few years? @Geraint he's 17 and he will have 1 year for him to show being trustworthy enough to handle this nihonto alone (needs to be 18 in Germany to own it legally). During that year we will handle the blade together and i hope that he understands, what was (and will be) necessary to have this blade survive almost 400 years in such a condition. But I am sure he will dive in as expected, since he already made his first own knife last year together with me (see Photo). He knows how a modern blade is made, he underwent all the struggles. I think he can capture how much more of an Art it is to make a blade from IronSand, make your own Tamahagane, select the different kinds of steel, stack them and then forge them without burning the carbon and especially: forge the blade not cut or grind it. And he already made the experience what happens if the blade is left in the leather sheath for a long time....

Thank You so much @SteveMfor that info. So - if it's not Gimei - it's most probably 3rd Generation, correct? Is there any way to find out? You see, I'm totally lost with the Kanji. I could have sworn that the name on the Tsuba would be almost identical to the one on the sword. I bought a book for my son from Markus Sesko. Since we are German i took the German Version of "Leitfaden zum Japanischen Schwert". All the other books were either not available or far too expensive right now.

Thank You for the Links. Most of the stuff i already found. My Problem is now that i can't distinct between the different meis. I figured out that it must be either: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TAD335 (1684-1688) https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TAD337 (1711-1716) Here I have an ad where they say it's 2nd Generation. The last Kanji (Yuki) looks more similar to the one i have. But to be honest I'm a bit overwhelmed by the Kanji: https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-settsu-kami-minamoto-tadayuki-2nd-generation　/ I found another one here, but no distinction made here which generation: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-2079019 I have just a few pictures of mei to compare and i could only find one here (see below), which is assigned to TAD335 (2nd Generation) All in all I'm totally confused.

Dear fellows, I am an absolute newbie. Since my son is a real Nihonto-Lover, i thought it would be a great idea to give him something to maybe start a passion with. So I did something stupid and bought a Wakizashi......via the internet....OMG....I know, probably not the brightest idea. Til it arrives, I have some time to prepare, find out something about the blade, get some literature for him to start and hopefully attach him to his first sword with the proper knowledge. During my search I found this rather old thread and i hope You don't mind i join in (if it's a problem maybe Admin can move it as an own thread?). I found several SETTSU NO KAMI MINAMOTO NO TADAYUKI (as stated above). Now i have Problems to determine which Generation it is and if it's real at all. Concerning Gimei or not i heavily relied on the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Origami and the fact that it was sold by a Japan-Based commercial seller. Tsuba and blade seem to be from one Blacksmith as far as i could decipher the Kanji. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for Your help.