FlorianB

Sil, another serious advice: both the aesthetics of a Japanese blade and the decisive hints to it's maker could only be revealed in polished condition. I'm afraid, that Your blade hasn't the proper condition now to tell more than general ideas and speculations even with better photos. However, polishing is very expensive, but money is wasted if the blade turns out (in worst case) worthless. It is not my intention to discourage You but try to get in personal contact with collectors and show this blade to someone who is experienced (REALLY experienced) and could advise You if further investments should be made. And maybe this person could tell You more about the origin, holding this blade in his hands. FlorianB

Eric, of course You’re right. The comparision between the pictures of the enlarged blade and the persian blade does not work properly. By the way: moto-kasane 0,6 cm. Florian

Hector, nice try, but namazu-hada or sumigane made by Aoe is a completly different hada. Look at some pictures on the Usagiya site You mentioned: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword14.html Florian B

Thanks for Your responses. First, I'm aware of the fact, that the blade was altered. Because the lower hole is the original, accompanied by some higaki yasurime in the lower third of nakago, I think, the original length must be about 20 cm. The blade must have been broader, too. Why not Mino? Well, the existence of dark steel, the nie-deki hamon without any togari (although a great amount of activities), pointed boshi, bo-utsuri - all these speak in my opinion against Mino. I assumed this blade may be Sue-Naminohira (ok, the bo-utsuri doesn't fit). However - these are my personal considerations. Finally, I do not doubt NBTHK-papers in general but in this special case I think because of the dating there's someone quick at hand with a Sue-Mino-attribution. Further studies are needed... Florian B.

Maybe You get a better idea of this blade (and the proportion of the enlarged kitae above) by an additional complete view with measurements: Florian B.

Hello everybody, I'm new to the NMB (though not new to the Nihonto). As You can see on the picture below (poor quality, but I think You'll get the point) there's a small blade displaying all over a very remarkable but exceptional kitae. Obviously two steels of different carbon content are assembled and welded together. In addition there’s an itame-nagare hada. I was told the kitae resembles to western Wootz steel. However, it’s a Muromachi blade with a Hozon-paper attributing the dirk to Sue-Mino (although I dare to doubt the Mino origin...). Because of the small size, alteration and repeated polishing it seems obvious there’s no core steel. Can anybody help me with some information about such a kitae and/or similar examples? Florian B.