Gerry

Matt, Thanks for sharing the post of the discussion with Chris Bowen, and it was very informative. It's a little unusual that this particular Nobutake blade seems to have a suguha hamon, which is uncharacteristic for Kuniie.

More photos for you.

Hi Bruce, The blade isn't in good shape, and thanks for the interesting link to more information about the RJTs.

Came across a gunto for sale with this signature for the Tokyo 1st Army, with a star stamp. Has anyone seen a similar star stamped tang before?

I've been experiencing an average wait of 6 weeks for my last 6 swords out of Japan since March.

I agree with you on that...kirikomi marks on the mune or shinogi do add to the character of the blade. This sword has quite a few kirikomi marks, but then I'm wondering if unscrupulous sellers add those too since they know it's an attractive quality. https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1124491895

That's a good point, although I how they would prove to the shinsa panel that the chip was from kirikomi. But ouch if the chip was made after the sword got papers! it went for 800,001 yen. Here's another auction for a very nice blade by the same smith, and I'm sure it'll go for much, much higher. https://www.jauce.com/auction/l1145523632

This is an interesting one... A 1st gen Tadayoshi with a big chip almost through the hamon, and yet is has TH papers, and it's going for a pretty high price. https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1145416948# I didn't realize swords with such big chips could get TH.

Correct. You sign up with Jauce, and they bid and handle the product for you all through shipping out the sword to you. The surcharges from Jauce are as follow: 1. 4% Paypal fee when transferring money into your wallent to bid. 2. 8% auction winning fee 3. Shipping fee from seller to Jauce. 4. Shipping fee from Jauce to you. For me in the US, it was about 18,000 yen, inclusive of premium insurance on EMS shipping. 5. 20,000 export customs fee if you're buying a sword. So the total pretty much comes out to about 20+% or so over your bid price.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/c1145956282 This might be an interesting sword to own if someone's up for a polishing project.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/l1144758520 For those interested in getting a a gunto in wakizashi sized koshirae.

Yeah, it's surprisingly beat up considering it's been in Japan, but maybe it's war damage that adds to its character.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/w1143646639 This one might be interesting for collector's interested in guntos with horimono. The BIN price is pretty low.

The young gentleman you met at Aoi Art is probably Mr. Takahashi.

Ah, thanks for sharing Chi Fan, and it's interesting that Mr. Kojima is signing his name as Keiun again now. I have seen some of his blades signed just as "Hiroshi Saku" too. It's odd that for such a good swordsmith, his yasurime seems a little messy.

I went for just over a million JPY.

Thanks for the clarification, Manuel.

Thought I'd resurrect this thread with a question about the smith you mention, the 4th Naohiro. Is he the same 4th Naohiro as this smith? https://www.e-nihont...products/detail/1388

This Minatogawa kai gunto by Masatada is garnering good interest on Yahoo Japan. It's already at 601,000 yen with almost 6 days to go. The tang is quite corroded, and there are some rust spots on the blade, so I'm curious to see how high this will go, and how popular Minatogawa Swords are in Japan. https://www.jauce.co.../o1142757395?allow=1

Hi Geraint, Thanks for sharing the information on how hamon types are sometimes a true combination of multiple styles, and this is quite helpful.

Hi Ray, Thanks for the insight. Ah, I wasn't familiar with the kenuki-gata style of sword. It seems the efu tachi are a prime example of this type of sword. So I guess kenuki-gata swords are never signed?

https://www.jauce.com/auction/1140541496 I've never seen a Japanese sword that doesn't have a nakago. The blade itself looks like one of the modern made ones Komonjo sells on eBay.

Hi Geraint, Honestly, to me, suguha with notare, sounds like an oxymoron. The hamon seems to be much more flamboyant than that.

It looks like someone did a pretty thorough buffing job on the blade, so you can't tell much detail of the temper any longer.