Corsairisen

I asked for opinions, no grudges for anyone saying what think is correct. I have received some comments that have been beyond what I had previous knowledge of, some I didn’t expect and/or agree with, and most of them somewhere in between the two. Comments and opinions on polish vs. temper. Some on-site, and some pm’s, correcting the spelliing…even on the English 🙂. And lots of info on tempering forgeries. Will say that having the sword in hand and a one to one discussion, v. pics and descriptions sent to multiple people, would definitely make things easier. Which I think is something I underestimated on forums. Thank you all for the responses, they have been appreciated.

Please note there is not a boho / fuller on this blade. Image has a reflection that deceives into looking like there is one, sword is filed flat of both sides

thank you for the help! It is appreciated. And won’t beat a dead horse! I kinda thought I should take somewhere in person but live in Kansas which isn’t the Japanese sword capital. My company does a fair amount travel to Japan, but wouldn’t take this one even if I could get it through customs. Doubt I would take any since the internet works. 🙂 .

Hey Chris, I appreciate the offer. Truth is, I have a couple authentic Japanese swords that are very nice. And a couple of more that are authentic but pretty average, and a WWII gunto which is certainly oil quenched & poor quality. Also spent a fair amount of time in museums, other’s collections, and reading related literature (many years of interest in the subject) That is part of the reason I’m so confused on this one. It shows many of the qualities I expect to find and kinda have a hard time imagining someone made this as a forgery. Though , it may also be more outrageous that it is a 1600, or so, tachi sword. Maybe the pics and description doesn’t show it, though! That said, the thing I find most odd is the lack of complete finishing on the polish so it would be completely flat (without some wave) along the length. Since they went to the effort of getting such things as shortening and then adding a differential patination on the nakago from where it looks like it was modified and where habaki rested be for and after mod (I think if you look closely you will see this). So why leave this in a rough condition? Especially if it is a forgery where a huge amount of effort was done, and an electric grinder or sanding belt would quickly solve the most obvious indication of lower than expected quality and so much time would have been spent on other finer points to fool the buyer. IMHO, it is a strange one…which is why I am here!

Kisumu =Kizu. Really don’t like spellcheck.

Sorry, forgot to mention I see one kisumu on the blade. It is about a millimeter in width, and maybe a a couple of microns deep. Looks much bigger in photo due to magnification. Not sure what magnification. I used the objective lens from a broken pair of binoculars.

Magnified view of the hamon and showing slight concave indent (on both sides of blade) right before the kissaki. Meant to add these last week but has been Esperanto busy at work and home. Thank to everyone, again, for any info you can offer! Hope you all have a good Holiday and New Year!

Can’t really see it here, but just below the curvature at the very tip of the sword There is a concave dimpling on both sides of blade. Looks like it was made for potentially improving ability to penetrate when used with a stabbing motion

Truly appreciate all the responses. Really interesting info from which I learned a lot. If you all would please indulge me, I’ll post some more photos to see what you think and hopefully come to a resolution. Especially since initial post had limited information and photos to work with. The deal with this sword is it in many ways shows such quality in manufacturing, detail, and signs of patination that in a lot of ways it doesn’t make sense unless the blade was modified at some point. While I initially stated this was purchased about 10 years ago, time flies, and when I looked into it found it was acquired closer to 25 to 30 years ago and for not a particularly large amount. I bought it at auction and believe it was for something like $300 USD. However the auction purchase left me with no clue as to the previous history other than some heavily used military mounts. If I look at the mune, it precisely crafted and filed. The blade with regard to period and specs matches Tachi. Mei is on the correct left side for this type of sword. Blade overall is nicely filed and formed. Handling wise, it seems purposely made in weight, balance, and length for cavalry use. Enough weight that it would cut through dense material, yet also well balanced. Original length, before what I believe to be a reduction in length also seems appropriate, with to some extent taking into account people from period would be slightly shorter than contemporary adults of Asian decent. Seems to have a difference in the patina on nakago where it was shortened. Kanji also suggests an archaic use of language and certainly use of characters from the pre-simplified Japanese timeframe. Temper wise, I am pretty positive is of clad and deferentially tempered steel. When I first acquired the sword, the surface had active oxidation on the softer steel yet the edge temper line showed a much harder and denser surface with no oxidation or active rust. The finish / polish on blade is IMHO a little strange, the overall curvature of the surface is nicely done with a matching convex surface on both sides of the cutting edge, but along the length shows a wave where it appears to have been put into use without regard to completely finishing, but was still in a condition where it would serve its intended purpose (hold an edge and cut) and assumed this was a result of being in a time of war and form following function, thus anything that didn’t directly affect use might be omitted. Overall, is attractive and appears to be a well crafted sword that someone spent a huge amount of time in making. Before getting to the pics, I do have a few questions: 1) If the signature is forged, Why not go with a known sword smith? Would they be knowledgeable enough to put the mei on the left side of a Tachi style (assuming the sword is Tachi style) 2) The sword shows a huge amount of work and craftsmanship, how can this be economically viable? 3) Would they really cut-down the blade to deceive? Wouldn’t a sword in pristine cond. be worth more, forgery, or not? 4) Same as above for the “09” stamp. Why not go got a sword that matches the correct period vs. forging one that has been altered and thus reducing value? 5) making fake patinas is typically not easy and one of the most frequently used aspects to discern forgeries, there appears to be two patinas on the nakago, one from the original length and one from post shortening of the length. It just seems like anyone with this much talent could make a more profitable honest living / would they really go to these lengths to forge (pun not intended but appreciated) a sword that is damaged? Anyway, while I have traded in art and antiquities for about 50 some years and thus have a pretty good eye for quality vs. knock-offs and old vs. new. I am, though, not an expert on Japanese swords and welcome any insight you are generous enough to offer. Unfortunately, despite spending a number of hours trying to decrease the pixel count on photos so I could load on one page, I could not find a way to do it with the iteration of IPad I am using. Please excuse the multiple pages of photos…assuming I can get them to load at all😕. Thank you, again, and please let me know if anything is needed from this side of things. Really appreciate the help and hope the info and discussion benefits all involved and/or who have an interest in the topic.

That is interesting and honestly did not know such things existed beyond the really obvious examples! Do people really make folded steel blades for a sword that I remember coming from gunto mounts and swords really were not hugely expensive at the time? Hamon is almost definitely in the steel and looks to have deferential areas of patination from being shortened. That said, I learned a long time ago to not argue with experts on the areas of their expertise! I will though attempt to load more pics over the next couple of days for better view. Thank you/ Appreciate the help!

Hi all, Sincerely, appreciate any help that can be offered, and thank you for taking the time to look at this… I have owned the following sword for about a decade and slowly learned at least something about it, but hoping for help with a more exact ID and the expert knowledge base of the forum. From the length weight, and curvature, am pretty positive it is a Muromachi period, perhaps early to mid. Believe the left handed mei to read as “Kuroki Yoshiro” but am unable to locate the sword-smith in any reference manual, but do get references from AI searches that Yoshiro is equivalent to Yoshishiro. Though I recognize that is a lot to hope for. Additionally I can roughly translate part of the inscription on right side of nakago as “ Hacks exceptionally well” but some of the characters are not consistent with current kanji characters and native speakers of Japanese do not recognize…which I assume also indicates it is an old sword. Nakago has a deep brown to black patina. Sword has good balance but is fairly heavy compared to others I have held…which likely helps with the “excellent hacking”. I also notice a slight depression in width of blade on both side of blade near the tip. Appears to be a smith or polisher designed characteristic to make puncturing of intended surface easier. Sword has a limited polish with a wave that runs through the entirety of the cutting length. Holman is easily visible with large nie and prominent noi haze along cutting edge and tip. Tang has been modified during the WWII period and the number 09 stamped, which I assume makes it a family blade that was converted to service in early wartime and the low number indicating perhaps a degree of uniqueness to the conversion. please see below for pics and please let me know if anything is needed From this side of things. Greatly appreciate any help that can be offered. Thank you. swoed lento: 35’ blade length: 26.5’ curve more pronounced at base weight: 2 lb 1 oz sorry, I am having issue with photo file size. Since I don’t want to retype the entire contents of the hope is to add more photos later today