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The shape looks very Ko Mihara to me as well. Although the hamon looks a bit on the wide side but this is of course just rough eyeballing with much of the detail not visible. Love that Tsuka tho !

Always love when a Sue Bizen sword sneaks in bc I know it must be a magnificent Zokumei Sukesada sample to make it that high to Juyo

Thank you @Hector I kinda had the same feeling as well so this one will be a hard pass

Been a photographer for 10 years and only recently tried to take pictures of Nihonto for Lloyd Flemmings book. I think this is one of if not the most extreem case of how light affects what gets captured. White LED vs plain incandescant bulb Same blade, about the the same spot, about the same light position and brightness. No enhancement or sharpening LED seems to hide much of the ko hada present. This is also very noticable on hand as well.

My bad @Lewis B should be fixed now

Hello Been looking for a tsuka here and there and came across this one. I only know enough to spot blatant fakes so I was wondering if anyone could definitively say if this was was authentic or not. The ito wrap looks authentic ( albeit not very well done ) but the fuchi / kashira looks kinda suspect Thank you in advance Kevin

Would love to hear from the experienced, knowledgeable soshu den members what you think made the NBTHK lean Den Masamune over other attributions. It certainly must have been big decision @Rivkin @Tsuku @Hoshi @eternal_newbie @Gakusee @Lewis B and anyone I missed

just saw this on Aoi https://www.aoijapan.com/katanamumei-attributed-to-den-masamune-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token-consignment-sale/ very thin and lots of ware but still cool to see anything related to Masamune / Den Masamune come up

Amazing quality photos . Thank you for posting this @Lewis B

100% and well said @Alex A

Very intersting piece @CSM101 ! Havent seen that one yet from all the sue bizen I looked through over the last few years. Reminds me of the magnicicent Kiyomitsu sword I currently own https://eirakudo.shop/token/wakizashi/detail/319916 I took a shot and emailed Mr Sesko about it and he was very generous to respond to me His #1 reason is what I would assume happened to this Sukesada

You are most welcome @PEF87 ! And yes the link to the listing will be great. Cant seem to open the imgur link

Hi @PEF87 What an awesome idea for a gift ! It would depend on what he plans to do with a the sword. A modern blade would definitely be the way to go if he plans on iaito and tameshigiri. If this is something for artistic and historical appreciation , then you can definitely find something he d love for around $4000 usd. The condition in that price range will vary depending on the smith and time period. I personally love muromachi blades and decent ones can definitely be had around that range. Id love to provide you with some links to listings. There are also shinto ( year 1600 + ) And shinshinto ( year 1770 + ) but I am not very familiar with those timelines. Generally , In my personal opinion, shinto and shinshinto swords will be in better condition but lacks historical and artistic appeal for me. This is of course grossly simplified description for ease of understanding and you ll soon see that there are endless pathways and considerations to take as a buyer / collector Happy to help if you have any questions

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