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Hi @Francis Wick I might have made an error and it might be a different "kane" kanji on the blade. I ll see what I can find in Sesko

Hi @Francis Wick Bizen Kanemitsu worked in the Bunmei Does the sword have papers ? Bizen smiths tend to have good, even, consistent mei strokes but this one seems a bit off based on the pic. The hada also looks extremely pronounced in that pic. Might have been acid etched at some point and/or improperly cleaned/polished

Absolutely perfect. Love Satsuma blades and Naminohira is definitely near the top of my bucket list of swords Id like to have in my collection next. I personally have only seen the NBTHK designate a blade as Tachi when it s ubu and/or has a tachi mei

Thank you everyone for such great insight on the topic. I have very little knowledge of Shoshu so every bit of information is greatly appreciated 🙏🙏🙏

I think the pictures are quite good. You can use something called neverdull which is a polishing wad that will remove discoloration and light oxidation on blade in very bad condition like above. NEVER use any abrasives that removes metal. If you find that that there is an intact hamon all throughout the blade then it certainly would be at least worth keeping but that massive loss of steel on either side of the mune above the habaki kills any sort of value and most likely the functional integrity of the blade

Hi @SammyT It has a beautiful Sue Bizen shape . Unfortunately it seems way too far gone. The date on the tang suggests Tenbun ( 1532-1555). Almost looks like a combination of fire and chemical damage the way the steel has eroded away. With a single mekugi ana, it was probably once a beautiful blade that was well cared for

Thank you @flemming for the great bits of insight ! I thought the tachi might have been earlier in the nanbokucho due to it s smaller/ thinner size but that is great to know. The shape does make it look grand but it s actually quite a bit on the smaller side Blade Length: 67.0 cm (26.38 in) Curvature: 1.6 cm (0.63 in) Mekugi Holes: 2 Width at Base (Motohaba): 2.86 cm (1.13 in) Width at Tip (Sakihaba): 2.22 cm (0.87 in) Thickness (Kasane): 0.58 cm (0.23 in) Sword Weight: 655 grams (1.44 lbs) looks to have been a tachi of about 77cm before suriage. One of my favorite part of this blade is that the Sakihaba is quite large compared to it s motohaba which gives it a grand feeling. And with the addition of the O kissaki I can definitely see it being late nanbokucho as well.

Thank you @Tohagi Very excited to have this blade. I wish it still had the trademark sotoba tang but i think toku ho and a long Moritaka signature more than makes up for it. My collecting taste is a bit out of the ordinary and I really love the rustic, functional look and feel of their work. I think most people tend to dislike O-Hada but I think it really brings the rustic conservafive approach these smiths had when done well. And thank you @flemming for the bits of insight. Good knowledge and information is always hard to come by in nihonto so I really appreciate it. Kevin L

Hi @Natichu I have personally only seen it a very few times where a Mortitaka signed blade had a generation attributed on NBTHK. I have however seen them specify the time period here and there i.e Nambokucho And also End of Nanbokucho- Oei era

Thank you @flemming I cannot tell you how much I love that blade. I thought the shape is truly beautiful. It shows it age here and there but the boshi and kissaki is magnificent. Going back to the signed Moritaka blade, here is the whole nakago and machi. I dont believe I see traces of the compound sori. And here are measurements if it help you narrow a time period Blade length: 69.7 cm. Curvature: 2.0cm. Motohaba: 3.2 cm Motokasane: 0.75 cm Sakihaba: 2.32cm Sakikasane: 0.55 cm I alse weighed the blade and it came out to 810 grams. Feels very heavy but also very front heavy.

Thank you for the insight @flemming I did not know about the compound sori . But is this what you mean below ? This is a Ko Kongo Hyoe blade I own and it does have a peculiar curve at the nakago

And now that im looking at it it looks like that light area on the edge side is where the original machi was maybe ? It s strange that it comes out so clearly in a photo but extreemly hard to see in person. The original mekugi ana would be the 2nd one down but it goes over the "Go" character which seems a bit strange for a smith to cut through his mei

Hi @flemming Thank you for joining. I ll take a whole nakago image when I get home but here are some I have from earlier The kissaki looks like it was broken and reshaped at some point so the dimmentions are a little bit off as you can see. I talked to Woody Hall who just polished a Ko Kongo Hyoe blade for me and he said it would be a pretty simple to bring the ko shinogi a little bit and correct it so I plan on sending it over sometime next year. And thank you for the Kongo Hyoe book. Was a good read and definitely enjoyed the samples. -Kevin

Hello . I came across a some reading material and media that mentions the famous Go Yoshihiro. Im still a bit confused since there are no signed works of him that exists and his blades are incredibly rare due to him passing at such an early age. So how do they attribute a blade to him without any signed works to compare to ?? And are there blades that sit in attribution limbo with him also being a very faithful reproducer of Masamune's work ?

Thank you @Tohagi I really enjoy this sword. It shows the typical Kongo Hyoe characteristics with a mixture of mokume, Itame and masame near the HA. Always liked the wild feeling of their hada

Hi @Tohagi The certificate only mentions the mei and not the generation unfortunately. I have read that the Moritaka line all have very similar features and workmanship other than the variation in sugata depending on the era. It is my favorite school by far and Toku Ho for muromachi works seem to be quite rare for this school as well. Would definitely love to narrow down the time period The sword is wide/thick, very heavy and has a very grand feel to it. It must have been magnificent as a 75cm-ish katana in it s original form

Thank you as always @Rivkin I thought this was an early/mid muromachi but I would love it if it was the Tenbun Moritaka since I believe he was very prolific. Probably no way to find out unfortunately without a nengo

Thank you for the tip @PNSSHOGUN Been trying to find a good one with a similar signature but I do recall seeing ubu Moritaka swords where their longer mei looked unusually low on the tang or more centered. Maybe someone here has a sample image with a " Kongo Hyoe Moritaka " or "Kongo Hyoe Minamoto Moritaka"

Hi @Rawa I tried looking very hard but they all look eaqually old. The patina under the futasuji bi actually looks very old as does the mei

Hi @Rawa I just purchased it from him last week. Arrived yesterday

Good Afternoon Just got a new blade I ve been looking for and was curious if there s a reasonable way to tell how much machiokuri was done based on the Hi placement ( Futasuji - bi in this case ) and mei placement. Tokubetsu Hozon Katana Mei : Kongohyoe Moritaka Saku Blade length: 69.7 cm. Sori: 2.0 cm. Motohaba: 3.2 cm. Motokasane: 0.75 cm. Sakihaba: 2.32 cm. Sakikasane: 0.55 cm. Additionaly , any suggestion and discussion as to what time period it may be would be greatly appreciated. My inital thought based on the katana mei was muromachi but the nagago and mei looks older Thank you Kevin L

Axel Woody Hall is a Hawaii based Togishi who apprenticed under Robert Benson. Robert Benson apprenticed under Living National Treasure Kokei Ono and has the distinction of being the 1st foreign polisher to win an NBTHK award. Woody Hall has also won an NBTHK award

Just sharing another great work by Woody Hall on a TokuHo Ko-Kongo Hyoe blade This blade was important to me and I was very skeptical if this would be worth a shiage with how rough it came from Aoi but he has again exceeded all expectaions above an beyond. Cannot recommend him enough to anyone on the fence about restoring their blade. Pretty wild what a great togishi can do with minimal work.

Hi Hoshi Just posted this a few days ago and it lookslike it might fit your 2nd criteria. https://www.ebay.com/itm/136668151875

Thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏 much appraciated