eternal_newbie

Seems fine to me now, but I have noticed it a couple of times on newly listed pieces that then look crisp a few hours later. Maybe it's a bandwidth thing, or they accidentally uploaded thumbnails/placeholders and then rectified it later.

公益社団法人 (Public Interest Incorporated Association) So the full translation is: 段位記 Dan-rank record 公益社団法人日本空手協会 The Japan Karate Association (a Public Interest Incorporated Association) JKA English website: https://www.jka.or.jp/en/ More information on Public Interest Incorporated Associations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Public_Interest_Incorporated_Associations_(Japan)

平安住雲仙子貞秀作 Heian-jū Unzenshi Sadahide saku 文久三年八月日吉 Bunkyū san-nen hachigatsu (August 1863) Hiyoshi [cut off at this point]

That wasn't my opinion, just explaining what "20c Seki" meant. All I can say is you have a genuine nihonto in koshirae which at least doesn't seem to have any major flaws, so it's worth at least what you paid for it.

For that price I think you did pretty well unless there's a fatal flaw somewhere that we can't see.

Made in Seki in the 20th century (probably the first half)

It's referring to the claying techniques that result in steel that is うるおい (uruoi, also written 潤い) - it looks wet, or moist, due to the distribution of the ji-nie and hada catching the light and mimicking beads of water on a wet surface. It was, and is, a highly sought-after feature and kantei point for many high-class makers in Koto blades, and naturally something that more modern smiths worked hard to recreate.

I may be mistaken but I think the issue is their photography (or post-processing) rather than the polish. You can observe the same weird artifacting in some of the closeup photos of the Norishige they have listed, especially the second-to-last one: https://katanahanbai.com/en/katana/katana-norishige/

Small caveat - "hard steel" (and "soft steel") has a specific meaning for togishi. Whether this meaning is the same as the ones dealers and appraisers use is another matter.

Note the difference between mekugi, the wooden pin/dowel (usually smoked bamboo) that holds the blade in place, and menuki, the metal ornaments on the tsuka (brass in this case but often copper, shakudo or even gold). The mekugi is always what holds the sword and tsuka together; the menuki are typically for adornment only, except in rare cases.

Worthy candidate for the Sold Archive

Example where the nioiguchi is more than an entire kissaki-length outside the yokote: https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-mumei-tametsugu/

Nope, that's a *second* Ayanokoji Sadatoshi (Juyo). The first one (TokuHo) is still there and listed for 3.8mil: https://eirakudo.shop/token/tachikatana/detail/090291

Mine too.

You Someone put a video of it in youtube with more closeups (as well as the other swords in that category): https://youtu.be/VR4hTdhOk24?t=1098