Mark

Group...... Has anyone commented on the recent history of this sword? When i saw the post i thought i recognized the sword. I remember seeing it in the Koza (Shinshinto vol. page 317 of the translation by AFU). I did not see anyone mention this so i will add the reference. The article calls the blade a katana but from the pictures of the tang it looks like a taanto and in it seems a match to the pictures of the sword for sale. The artice says this blade was badly damaged by rust, there are before and after pictures of the tang, it was polished and the size greatly reduced, the information mentions the importance of the experiment as it shows how well made Kiyomaro's swords are (as they can survive after such restoation). So if i am correct and this is the same sword then my opinon is--- that it will not make Juyo (at present), as it has been greatly changed from its original shape (and is Shinshinto)-- i doubt anyone knowing this would submit it, but on the potentialy positive price side it is a published sword with interesting recent history.

i think Fujiwara Masahiro saku

Grey the sword looks interesting, i have never seen one with chrome mounts. I noticed you are planning on selling it. I hate to see it go on eBay before list members have a chance. What did you want for it?

I have seen him doing sayagaki at the sword shows, i sat next to him in Tampa i think. If the blade has shirasaya the easy thing to do would be ask in advance and bring it to a sword show where he will be, he could do a sayagaki and sign that and you would be all set.

It may be he did not engrave a signature as there is a limit on how many swords he can make. he travels to the US quite often. Your best chance may be to get him to sign it while he is here, that way he avoids the trouble with regulations in Japan (presuming you are in the US)

the tassel is blue and brown so that tells the rank, the owner was a LT or captain. I see Seki Kane___ not sure about the last kanji

I have seen that type of red painted inscription before. the first kanji are numbers. I think it is an "inventory number" used at an arsenal or castle to keep track of weapons

I hope you enjoy your sword for what it is. I have the same thing. The first sword i owned was my grandfathers, he brought it back from WWII. I had it restored, polished etc. It is a Show sword (with Showa stamp). Economicaly it cost more to restore it than its monitary value, but it did not matter to me as it has sentimental value. An intersting note is - that sword lead me to start learning about swords, 20 years later i own several swords, some 700 years old, I am a director of the Japanese Sword Society of the U.S. So that one sword was the spark that got me going. I encourage you to learn about the sword and carefully care for it, i would not be discouraged that it is not a family sword, or that it is just a "Showa sword". Mark Jones p.s. I still own, and enjoy my grandfathers sword

It looks nice a nice Higo mounted sword. maybe a boys sword or retired samurai's sword..... hard to see the mei but if i had to "guess" i would say Bizen Kuni Osafune Ju Nin, if so maybe the other side says Yokoyama Sukesada Mark

looks like No Shu Seki Ju Yukimune...... from the way it is written my guess would be Showato mark

The shape of the blade (somewhat straight and tapering with smaller tip) suggest it may be Kanbun era, circa 1660's, there were a lot of very long swords made then that have since been shortened. The Koshirae looks like Higo style. Mark Jones

Ted and Koichi Moriyama thanks for all the help, i appreciate it! Now i will have to find someone who has a copy of his reference books and see if by chance my sword is one he included in his oshigata. mark

Looks like a clear Yoshimitsu to me. Not sure which one as there are many. It is signed katana mei so i would think Muramachi at earliest Mark

Can anyone help me with translating the name of the person who wrote a sayagaki on a sword of mine. The sayagaki is dated 12/8/1937, i think i make out Kawaguchi, but can't read the last 2 kanji. I seem to remember a couple of authors of sword reference books by the name Kawaguchi, maybe it is one of them? any help appreciated. If you wish to send me a personal message, as well as posting here, my email is nixe@bright.net Thanks Mark

Seki ju Yoshida Kanekado

could this be a Paul Chen, or similar sword? the width of the nakago looks strange when compared with the blade width (reminds me of Hankei ). The blade looks better than a modern Chinese copy but some of the "martial arts" practical swords i have seen have temper and reasonable shape. Mark Jones

I did not mean to imply they were unfair, it may be that the quality of what was submitted was low (there was a shinsa 6 months ago). I think they are strict but the "pinks" i saw were understandable, a couple of things i had seen before shinsa and i thought they were gimei. mark

Re: Shinsa. There were so many "pinks" thay actaully ran out of pink paper, thay had to use blue, which i guess is appropriate as you are blue if you get pinked. mark Jones

Hi Barry, Get well soon...... first one looks like Kotetsu (did not look it up but that is what i think), my guess is the other side is a cutting test Mark Jones

Darcy thanks, i enjoyed the oportunity to participate Mark Jones

Kantei by photos is very difficult, it is hard to get a "feel" for weight of the blade etc. At first look i thought the shape looked early Shinto, but the Hi extend into the nakago (probably would end near the machi if ubu) and the temper continues past the machi: so i guess it may be suriage. If suriage the shape could be very late Kamakura or early to mid Nambukcho. The temper/hada look interesting, lots of nie and activity so maybe Soshu or related. The hada looks like it has patterns i would assosiate with Etchu Norishige or Hasabe. I do not think i have ever seen this sword in hand, i do not remember seeing it in pictures, but i do recall you had a Hasabe katana on your website, So i hope it is not cheating but as i know you had one that would affect my guess. So i guess Hasabe, if not then another early 14th century Shoshu maker. If more of the nakago were shown and it looked ubu then i would say a skilled Shinto smith copying Soshu. I look forward to learning from my mistakes when the answer is posted, anyone is welcome to "have at" my answer - it is all educational. Mark Jones

I agree it is a Chinese reproduction. So the signature is spurious, but just for education i would read it as Uda Tamitsu (or Damitsu), no maker i know of by that name Mark Jones

one of the pictures seems to show a signature. can you post a close up of the tang?

is it signed? looks like the work of the Showa smith Amahide

length approximatly 26.5" or 67.25cm