Mark

David in my "opinion" the group doing the shinsa in MN are knowlegable (they know way more than i do or will ever know). Papers from Japan may be better but cost a lot more...... I would suggest start with the MN shinsa, see what happens, you can always submit to the shinsa next year in Tampa or to Japan. You may want more than one shinsa opinion

not that familiar with gendai makers as i do not collect them. can you post pictures of the blade, habaki, rest of the nakago and mounts. maybe the whole picture will give more to go on.

yoshida kaneyoshi saku

Sukefusa, he is listed in Fuller & Gregory, a Showa era smith. Hard to say if Gendaito or not, he did make swords with a Showa stamp at times. With the flaw i would say it is best enjoyed as "militaria" the cost etc to try and repair it is proabaly not economical.

David if it looks right for the age and workmanship you should submit it for shinsa. The license just states what is written on the tang, "nothing" about if it is genuine. I have seen a number of "big name" swords with early licenses seems that is the type that were sold to vets during the occupation and after

the sword is a genuine WWII army officer's sword, i do not see a signature on the tang so it may not be signed. It looks like it may be tempered in oil, it is in good condition, you will want to read up on handling and care so you can preserve it

does not look like any Emura i have seen before, there are a lot of examples available to be checked so i would be worried

i am reasonably sure you can import the swords to the US without paying import or any other taxes as long as they are antique, you should have paperwork (in English) verifying age and then you should have no trouble (or cost) on this end

maybe the maker is Fukumoto Kamemune? the silver "mon" was something the owner paid extra to have, it is a nice extra from a militaria collectors point of view

looking at the second side i think i can make out a little, i think it is 5 kanji and probably a plave/name it looks like ___ ___ Ju ___ Nao can anyone offer any suggestions?

I think i saw that sword some time back (maybe couple of years ago), maybe i am the one who helped him

Thank you Morita-san, i can work through the date and now i have the other line. Maybe someone can give me a pointer on the other side. Interesting

I have a wakizashi with a red lacquer writing. It is a bit worn and i can not read it... can anyone make anything from it? maybe there is a date on the right of the first picture, Meiji 22 ?? and a name on the left? the other side is maybe the person doing the writing? Thanks in advance

Rich the seller is a member here (or was ), he has posted before.

it says i have to sign on to see the pictures?

as far as seeing a lot of retempered swords, it could be the "market" - good swords are bought and kept, retempered are passed or bought and then resold, so you get a higher percentage on the market, especially as collectors gain knowledge and try and sell mistakes, same for market in Japan, they try and market the mediocre stuff where they can (outside Japan), and keep the better swords

blade signed katana-mei (so not ko-datchi) and with length it was a short katana or wak when made. shape and length seems to suggest no earlier than Oei, probably circa 1500. The boshi is hard to make out in the pictures and the way the hamon enters the kissaki could suggest it was reshaped. Koshirae looks average. No paper. So the BIN seems very optimistic. You basically have a questionable Koto wak, so unless you see it in hand and like it i see no reason to spend much time on it, not much to learn or be said about it from the pictures. It is real, it is hand made, it is antique, but nothing i see makes me think it is special or anything other than "what you see"

Marcello where are you located? I see you mention PA dealer. I am from Ohio and will be at a small military show this weekend that is in NE Ohio. If you are close i could bring some better swords and spend some time talking with you

what San Diego show is being talked about on the web site? I do not know any shows (sword shows) that take place in San Diego. If there is one it would be good to know about.

i understand the yasuri on main line Gassan blades are unique

from the photo it looks like a porrly polished shinogizukuri blade. maybe it is the picture

poorly written, maybe Kanehiro but i am not sure http://cgi.ebay.com/SIGNED-SAMURAI-KATA ... 43a5e3a7dc

from shape etc (do not think i even know the length - unless i missed it) probably made circa 1800, maybe a bit older, maybe newer. It is not made prior to 1200, not prior to 1300, etc. Where are you located?

from the picture hard to tell if you are seeingthe actual temper pattern or the hadori. If i had to guess i would say it is gunome but has been poorly polished so you see the hadori

there is too little information provided to be sure exactly what smith made it, Nobuyoshi was a name used by dozens of makers. You could submit it to shinsa and the information you recieve should identify the group and time period to help you narrow it down