EGB

Just found another one of these. This one at least has a better description of the history of this particular koshirae. “The koshirae for this blade is wonderful. This is an issaku handachi koshirae made by Koryusai Nobuyoshi, for a Samurai of the Hattori clan. Nobuyoshi was active around 1850. The fuchi and tsuba both are signed by Koryusai Nobuyoshi. The kuruma (cart wheel) kamon of the Hattori clan is present on the fuchi, kashira and ko-jiri. So we have a rare example of a complete and original issaku koshirae that we can date based on the makers active period and we know what family owned the blade based on the mon. This koshirae and blade have a combined empirical importance that is so elusive to obtain - the true origin of a blades complete koshirae and therefore a true fact window for the history of the blade.”

Thank you both, Edward

Hello I just happened across this waki in an antique store. It’s not in great shape, and I am by no means an expert but it has a two piece habaki, which it sounds like is usually found on swords of quality, and the fittings appear to be nice handachi style, though someone clueless rewrapped the tsuka and it is done all the folds in the same direction like the Chinese fakes. It is also the first shobu zirkuri blade I’ve found in the wild. Unfortunately the blade is in too poor polish to see even if it has a hamon and it is mumei, but it does have the registration card that was supposed to be left in Japan. I’m not familiar with what information this paperwork contains, but was hopeful that it might give some insights into the sword. I am hoping to get some help translating it. Thank you in advance Edward

Thank you for your help, and sorry it has been so long since I responded. First off it has been a pleasant surprise that this blade may be late koto, and thus a bit older than I initially thought. I have been looking through mostly Connoisuer’s at what schools fit the characteristics of this blade and the two that seem to be the closest fit, based on a suguha hamon in nioi deki with a yakisume boshi are sue Tegai and Kanabo. But neither are perfect fits. So I guess my question, as a beginner, is how close it close enough to probably call it one or the other? For example, my sword matches Connoisuer's and online descriptions of Sue Tegai except that the shinogi does not feel high to me, though I don"t have much expierence to go off of and it could have been altered during polishing. I looked up what I could find and found a couple swords that do resemble mine. https://katana-boutique.com/products/s02394-sue-tegai https://www.supeinnihonto.com/product/nihonto-katana-sue-tegai/?srsltid=AfmBOorhCyU6AnfAPflW2v5-MOD54X49C5WghgeMGQlw8C3BZEtYBlPp https://www.honto-nihonto.com/en/sue-tegai I think my sword is a better match for the description of Kanabo swords, it has a shallow sori, feels beefy, etc, but when I have looked at other examples they don't as closely resemble mine to my eyes. https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-Japanese-sword-katana-attributed-to-kanabo-nbthk-hozon-certificate/ https://americanpowderhorns.com/?p=2126 if anyone has swords of either school I'd be fascinated to see. One other thing that confuses me is nagasa. My sword appears to be ubu, and is shorter than all the other later muromachi swords I can find at 66cm. Could this just be normal variation or is it a more definite sign that it is an early shinto blade? is there anyway to tell from the steel whether its koto or shinto? somewhere in the Markus Sesko posts on kantei it said that a sword with burls in the grain on the shinogi-ji is most likely koto, which mine has. I am also curious about the patina on the nakago. If my pictures are good enough, does it give anyone an idea of age? I have tried to improve some photos of it, hope they are helpful. Thank you for your time and replies, Edward

Thanks all for the info and links, looking forward to reading them in more depth. I feel like Ive learned more about identifying hada etc here than anywhere else before After looking at the info on the Sesko page I agree I think you are right, I don't see a turn back either. Ill post some better photos of the nakago tomorrow. Thank you all again, Edward

Here are some attempts at better photos. Hope these help with determining hada. Edward

Thanks all, The photos are much easier for me to see on my screen for some reason. I’ll see if I can change some settings or retake. I see no signs of suriage, the file marks seem to come right up to just below the habaki. Edward

Hello all, This is my first nihonto, which I got from one of the recommended dealers here on NMB. I chose this one because it was one within my small budget and was in good enough polish to be able to see some of the activity in the blade. I am quite happy with it. I've been studying it trying to learn as much about it as I can; age, school and province, etc, but feel like I have kind of hit a wall due to the limited number of swords I've been able to handle. So I wanted to put it out here as a kantei exercise for anyone who wants to take a look at it. Most of what Ive learned about this is from Nakayama's book. Here are the specifications of the blade as best I could figure them out. If it's possible to tell from the photos if I got these right. I was a little stumped on differentiating activities in the blade (ie nie v. nioi) so these are my best guess. nagasa 66.2 cm sori 1 cm kasana 0.7 cm mihaba 2.8 cm kissaki 3.2 cm shinogi-zukuri chu-kissaki, or maybe ko-kissaki iori-mune low shinogi standard nakago (ubu) ha agari kurijiri kiri yasurime o-mokune hada nioi-deki hamon- hiro suguha boshi- komaru Mumei To me it looks to have the typical shallow kanbun shinto sugata, and I think the condition of the nakago points to a similar age. It’s been polished a few times, the hamachi is all but gone. i think it had an interisting life, there is one decent kirikomi on the mune. The seller said that it might be from the shitahara school, and as far as I can tell that seems possible, but I have a hard time differentiating from some other schools that seem to have similar characteristics. I am looking forward to seeing what you all make of it. Edward

Thank you Edward

Hello, I'm wondering exactly what this might be. I came across this gunto in an antique store and it didn't have a mekugi so I was able to take it apart. My first thought after looking at the blade was oil quenched, but it was in not great polish/ had some finger prints on it. Although now I'm not as sure. It is signed Sukehisa, but when I went to research smiths with this name I couldn't find any in the right era. I could also find no stamps on it anywhere. I didn't see a date. Anyway it piqued my interest and I'm wondering if any of you all with far more experience might be able to infer about it. Does not having stamps increase the probability of it being water quenched/traditionally made? If in the end it is oil quenched/machine made what are some probable reasons it might not have been stamped? How do smiths avoid being documented? Is it having a seemingly mysterious origin more or less valuable? Would an undocumented smith be more likely to make traditional or non traditional blades? There are a couple threads on swords signed Sukehisa, but none seemed to match this one. I was hoping that perhaps someone had dug some more info since these were posted. I am also not experienced at comparing mei Translation of Katana Mei Need help identifying mei of 2 Shin Gunto please! Kai-Gunto Translation Help Katsuhisa? I wasn't able to get any good photos of the blade in the shop. It still had a lot of metal on it and the nakago seemed pretty new so I figured it was a wartime sword. As best I could see it had a gunome midare hamon. Couldn't see much else because of the polish. The fittings to my untrained eyes the fittings seemed lower end. But those I did get better pictures of. It has a snap that is part of one of the seppa, no lock. If anyone has any thoughts on it I would be very appreciative. If it turns out to be something interesting I may go back to the shop and try to negotiate the price down. Thank you in advance, Edward

Came across this shingunto in an antique store and was hoping someone here could help me with the mei. Blade looks oil quenched and it had an etched hamon I think but it wasn't in good polish. Couldn't get great pictures in the shop. Couldn't find any stamps. Thanks Edward

Type Type 32 cavalry Saber Era/Age : 1899-1935 Nagasa/Blade Length : ~32 inches/ 82cm Sword Location : Eastern Virginia Will ship to : USA Price and Currency : $475 USD Other Info and Full Description : I have decided to sell this gunto to make room for more nihonto. It is in good shape, with matching serial numbers. At some point it went through a factory refurbishment, and an older serial number on the saya was struck out and replaced with 018996, to match the blade, and a zero was added in front of the serial on the blade. The blade is still quite sharp. I believe it has a (poorly struck) Kokura Arsenal stamp and an inspection stamp and two other stamps that I'm not sure about. The leather finger loop appears to be cut off, perhaps at the time of its refurbishment, though its remains and the rivet are still present. The latch still works well. I believe it is the longer cavalry model. Let me know if you would like to see more pictures. Edward

more picures

I am tying to learn about this type 32 ko I found at an antique store. I don't know too much about Military swords but it seems that these are rarely faked, so I figured that there was a high chance that its genuine at least. I would appreciate your all's help in learning more about it. I have found four stamps on the knuckle bow. I think Ive Identified two of them. One is a Kokura arsenal stamp I think, though it is very poorly struck and really only the outside edges are visible. Another i believe is a Kokura inspection stamp. Did I get that right? can anyone ID the other two stamps? The blade and saya do have matching serial numbers, 18996, but they are weird. On the saya another serial number was crossed out and 018996 was stamped on below, and on the blade it looks like they added a zero in front to make it match. I'm guessing that this was part of some factory refurbishment, any other theories? Could the Serial no. help narrow down when It was made? To me it seems to be in good condition, the latch works perfectly and it is still very sharp. I can see evidence of it being sharpened with a file, which I think I read somewhere on this form was done. The leather loop seems to me like it was cut off to me, but the rivet that held on is there and the remains of the leather are under it. The blade is about 32.5 in long so Im assuming this would be the cavalry style. Thank you in advance, Edward

I should have added these at the beginning, but here are some photos of the rest of it. Im not a professional sword photographer.