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It definitely looks like the crack was caused by whatever made this indent. A dealer will call it kirikomi but more than likely it happened due to improper handling during/after world war II. It s a perfect type of blade for iai/practice tho imho

Unsightly but definitely not a fatal flaw. It s on the very outter edge of the unhardened steel so it would take a massive effort to cause the sword to fail from this. And it wouldnt be considred a forge crack imho since forge cracks are caused by grain opening due to poor forging and will run parallel to the grain. This crack clearly happened after

Ah that ubu hokke was such a nice piece . Id but it in a heartbeat but didnt have $$ at the time

The characters look extremely off. And the sugata should be more sakizori. Not a lot of detail to be seen in the pic but I would bet my money on Shinshinto gimei

Techinically the ana can be oval/elongated and it wont compromise the security of the fit AS LONG AS the bottom of the tang fits tight and properly to the tsuka. The mekugi applies pressure downwards into the tsuka. Of course the mekugi needs to be tight and properly positioned to the bottom part of the ana

@Sukaira Oh i wish but my budget is about half of that currently 😆 dream blade tho

@Jussi Ekholm Speaking of Hoju , what do you think of this ?? https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/Q-124.html Dont think i ve ever seen anything like this

And is sayagaki ever forged/faked ? I ve never personally came accross one but like all things valuable id assume there have been attempts

I dont think I ve ever seen masculinity or nobility used as a motohaba description when translated to english. And I do not see anything out of place when refined is used to describe a feature of a sword

I was quite confused as to why the starting bid price is so low. Even without the confusion in translation, it s still an ubu signed Ichimonji. Wouldnt this be a near guaranteed Juyo ??

Hi @Lewis B I did notice that one. Very active and attractive blade. This is the one I am currently considering. Theres a lot I love aboug it. Tsukada san did confirm a Tanobe sayagaki can be ordered. I keep going back and forth on pulling the trigger everyday 😄 https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_ja_tachi&katanaA070425.html

Thank you @Mushin 🙏🙏🙏 This is very helpful

Good afternoon I know some dealers can offer to submit blades to Tanobe Sensei for a sayagaki but how does the process go from there ? I am new to the sayagaki world so this would be a 1st. A blade I am currently considering with a dealer did confirm that ordering a sayagaki from Tanobe sensei is possible. The price quoted was reasonable and in line with what I ve read. I know Tanobe Sensei wont just sign anything for a price so wouldnt the dealer confirm with him 1st ? I assume there has to be a good standing relationship between Tanobe Sensei and the dealer for them to offer this. Or does the dealer have a pretty good idea that he will do a sayagaki depending on the blade discussed ? And what is a general time frame for a sayagaki ? Thank you Kindly -Kevin

NBTHK would be a must and length around 70cm give or take. Would prefer to buy from a us based seller before looking at importing from Japan Thank you kindly -Kevin

Technichally speaking yes the kawagane surrounds the shingane in one form or another depending on the construction. Many earlier koto swords do not have shingane at all. But visually it isnt obvious sometimes. There are nuances within the kawagane that makes it hard to distinguish at times. And sometimes in well made swords, the shingane itself is very fine and well forged and hard to distinguish. It s generally accepted that koto blades will have some core steel. It s a sign and testament to age and not a flaw caused by the skill of the smith

Hi @Jnuzzo Yes the darker area is hardened steel. You have to play with the light a bit sometimes for out of polish blades to see it.

The polish is just rough. The boshi is pretty clear in this one photo.

@Lewis B I was just admiring that when they posted. Definitely a unicorn. What is this activity called ? Nijuba ? Or an effect of being very worn down. Looks pretty extreme Never really had a high res look at a Heian blade

Hi @Prewar70 I started out as a Kiyomitsu collector and love their work. Unlike Sukesada, there were not that many recordedSue Bizen Kiyomitsu smiths ( 12 or so from 1500 to 1590 ) Unfortunately for this blade I can comfortable say it is a gimei. The nakago is off and the signature doesnt match sue bizen as well. Specifically the way the "Osa" 長 kanji is written with the rounded stroke is something never done by Kiyomitsu. The hamon pattern is also something you would not see from Kiyomitsu The mekugi ana should be punched not drilled. And the position of the mei relative to the ana is way off for sue bizen as well. The very small and tight hada you see might point to a shinshinto blade but I am not knowledgable in post Koto works. And for future refercence you will see that the Bizen / Bishu signature does not really correlate to quality in Sue Bizen. Esp for Kiyomitsu Best regard -Kevin

@eternal_newbie That Masahiro is magnificent indeed. I also know it s massively out of my price range 🤣. I do have that saved and its always great to see what the original sugata from aome of these old schools look like These were the 2 I was considering potentially https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_ja_tachi&katanaA070425.html https://world-seiyudo.com/product/ska-030126/

Thank you @Rivkin as always for the insight. it s just that I ve never personally seen a Ko Mihara with a Masaie attribution or any other Ko Mihara smith. But Masanobu seems to come up fairly often by comparison so I wasnt sure if he just made a lot of swords or if it was an NBTHK tendancy. Same with Hokke with a nanbokucho smith attribution. I ve seen a few Ichijo but I believe he s more Muromachi. I ve also seen Sukekuni who s supposedly the founder but no mention of Hokke connection. As much as I love Hokke blades, their timeline and lineage has always confused me. With sources saying they came about in the Muromachi and NBTHK attributions saying Hokke - Nanbokucho

Good Afternoon I wanted to get some thougths from someone more knowledgable on the Mihara school Mihara ( specifically Ko Mihara ) and their off shoot Hokke have been one of my favorite schools for a while and been potentially looking to get one soon. One thing I noted was that I see them come up as Ko Mihara or Mihara Masanobu - Nanbokucho to Oei . Never with another smith. I know Masanobu is calssified as one of if not the last Ko Mihara smith but is this bc Masanobu is a generic safe attriution for Ko Mihara that looks like it can be Oei or was he a prolific well established smith with a definitive work style ? And in addition, is there a defining difference in workmanship/ features between Ko Mihara and Hokke. I often cant tell the difference maybe for Hokke having a more stout sugata than Mihara. Thank you kindly -Kevin

And I feel like this sword is well deserving of a sayagaki. The workmanship is top tier for Sue Bizen and this size ( esp with the long nakago ) is unusual even for Eiroku/ Tensho / Momoyama Sukesada

My god what a blade in perfect polish. Hadori could never do this blade justice

Certainly not worthless since it is still an authentic nihonto. And depending on the blade condition/size 260,000 yen is quite resonable esp for a long blade. I wouldnt mind paying that if I loved a blade that I knew was gimei.