Mark

date is feb 1942

Grey Doffin had some nice old tsuba listed for sale at reasonable prices, you might check out his posting under the "for sale" section, the title of the post was 12 Tsuba

Some of the list members will be in Chicago. I would be happy to look at it in hand and i am sure other members would offer to do the same

Grey Doffin sells a set of kanji flashcards i found very helpfull when i was starting (still use them)

i read it as 2601 form 660 bc -- so i think 1941 (it seems 2600 = 1940 , at least that is how i remember it)

Made by Hidetoshi in March 1941 (using dating system from the founding of the empire). you can try looking him up on like (you will find info) and if you run into a problem we can help, but it is fun to try and work some out yourself

sword looks like an army officer's sword, the tsuba (guard) is not the standard type, it is a tsuba from a tachi (more cerimonial type). the tang is upside down, but if i stand on my head it looks like the maker says his name is Kanekiyo

Todd you are maybe 4 hours away. When we spoke on the phone i mentioned i would be willing to help

my thinking is: the sword passed Juyo so it is Juyo. Maybe it would not pass now as standards change but the same would be true if the papers were not lost. With Hozon and TH if the papers are lost there is no proof they past shinsa but with Juyo the blade is recorded in the annual Zufu or book published that shows all Juyo from that year. These books are owned by a number of people. If i had a question i would find someone with that volume, look up the blade, then CAREFULLY compare the blade with the one in the book, check the nakago, boshi, hamon (the NBTHK shows these in the book) to verify that the sword is the one published, if so then i would not have a problem, the paper is nice to have or display but the sword is what you are buying and collecting (unless you collect papers)

Kanezane's stamp has 4 clear points and the one i am working on has smooth edges

i have owned a first gen Tadatsuna. you can email me pictures or post them here. if you have trouble ask one of the moderators

Brian Ha-ha... actually the stamp is the other way, he circle is at the bottom

Brian thanks for fixing the picture. it looks better. I am hoping someone on the list may own, or remeber a sword with this stamp that was signed, worth a try

John Thanks for looking!

must be the camera but it is stamped into the steel

A friend bought a sword that is not signed but has a "Hot Stamp". It is a hirazukuri katana with wild gunome/chogi. It is well made and i would guess late shinshinto or gendai. My friend is trying to idendify the maker. Has anyone seen this stamp before? Thanks

i was just going on what i could see ( i realize there are no pictures of the blade). That is why i put such a large range. If the blade is not well made it should still bring close to $1000 on eBay as it is a signed katana in complete mounts, the flashy saya should help on eBay. Even if the blade appears well made the sword does not have a paper, is "out of the woodwork" so not in fresh polish, so i would think $3500 or so is about the max range. Maybe i am wrong, he asked for a value and i said it was a "guess". just trying to be helpful

Wow! 2 Kotetsu (one with cutting test) and a Kiyomaru --- guess i did not need to drive all that way to NYC to see rare swords

how long is the sword? hard to say value without a close look but probably more that $1000 and less than $3500...........just a guess from a picture

That type of tanto usually dates from the late 1800's, most i have seen are unsigned. It is nice to have the kozuka/kogai

looks like BiShu Osafune Norimitsu

i has a loose handle for an NCO sword a while back. As i recall the wood insert was in 2 parts.

it looks like a standard Showa era civilian sword (people were interested in swords during the 1930's when Japan was trying to expand its empire), you could buy swords like this at larger "department" stores. many were later used by army officers. It is probably not totally traditionaly made but i have seen some decent swords with grain that have a Showa stamp so they are partly hand made

Paul not sure exactly what you need. from what i see the parts of the sword are "genuine" but not high quality. So from what i see it is "real and genuine". To say more with out a close examination of the blade is foolish. If it is a few hundered dollars it is probably fine, if the seller wants several hundred or 1k+ you will need clear pictures of the blade and you still run the risk of a hagire if it is not examined in hand best i can do, hope it helps

I agree with ED. The mei looks questionable to me, masanori signed with a fine (sharp thin) chisel, but in your example the kanji are very "chippy" not as smooth as other references. Some of the kanji seem a bit too "squat"...... If it has ben owned by collectors in the past and has no papers i would be conscerned. I think it best to buy it based on the value of the blade, assuming it is mumei, if a seller wants a premuim based on the mei it seems logical that it waould have been papered in the past to vailidate the mei and the associated Premium