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Hello fellow NMB members! In anticipation of several events and change-ups in my inventory of nihonto, I am putting these out here for sale. Prices are negotiable, I am open to fair offers, and even partial trades where indicated. If you want more pictures of a particular item, I will do my best to accommodate! Shipping/insurance will be discussed but generally CONUS will be the simplest and quickest to receive. Shipping will be USPS for CONUS and the rates are usually no more than $100 with full insurance. All swords will be 'mummified' in bubble-wrap, cardboard.. whatever I deem necessary to make sure it gets to you in the same condition that I sent it out. Out-of-country sales will depend on your local laws. All sales are final. Please use your best judgement. I'll oblige and do my best to deliver satisfactory photos and excellent shipping. None of these blades are papered, most are considered projects. They are in the condition that they were received in by me, with only gentle application of choji. They all have potential to be restored fully and will be free of fatal flaws as far as possible within my experience. Polishing, like on any project, can reveal flaws after the fact. For those, I am not responsible. If you have an opinion on a sword or believe something is in error, please DM me and I will correct it. I am not an expert, nor will I ever be. If it is about the quality of my photographs, I will do my best to get you more if that is your interest. I apologize for my usual rough-shod photography skills; there is not much I can do about that... short of getting a professional setup or a new phone; but the photos should be enough to get you an idea of sugata and condition. Again, more are available via DMs. If it is just commentary about the quality of said photos, then keep it to yourself s'il vous plait! Lastly, each sale will net the NMB a $50 donation to help our beloved NMB with its planned upgrades. To reserve a piece for purchase, please put a reply here in this thread and/or then DM me directly. First come, first served! FINALLY, without further ado: 1. 28" katana in shirasaya. Signed "Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro", would need a polish to fully appreciate. Signature is unlikely to be first generation, more likely second or third or gimei. Notare hamon, unknown hada. Appears suriage. I predicate my opinion on the mei based on the fact that it is missing the classic long osaka-yakidashi of the first generation; instead only possessing a short one that disappears into the nakago. However, I have been known to be wrong. Will consider partial trade up to $1k in value. Asking price is $2500. 2. 19" wakizashi in substitute saya. Signed "Bizen no Kami Osafune Naga[xxxx]" with the rest having been cut off. Likely to be Bizen Nagamitsu since the work seems most appropriate for him. Sleepy old polish with lots of beautiful activity visible still. Pre-1530. Haven't had a chance to do deep research on this one to narrow it down. Has a fukure/ware flaw in the spine. Suriage. No partial trade on this one. Asking price is $1800. 3. 27" katana in partially restored gunto mounts. Mumei, but likely to be Yamato. Needs a polish as previous owner acid-polished it. Gold-plate habaki, silver mon on tsuka. Blade is likely to be late 1500/early 1600's. Several pits that are unlikely to come out with a polish but still a fine blade. Ubu. Paper stock saya. Partial trade up to $500. Asking price is $2200. 4. 23.25" o-suriage early to mid Kamakura tachi in assembled mounts. Mumei. Likely to be Bizen den. Circa 1200's. Decent assembled mounts with gold-trimmed Omori fuchigashira and Namban tsuba. This is a greatly o-suriaged blade, likely having been cut down somewhere in the Muromachi period. The boshi on this one is a little thin, but still present. In recent polish. The opinions on this piece come straight from my polisher; before that, I thought it a late Muromachi/early Edo boy's blade. A rare piece to be sure. No partial trade on this one. Asking price is $3450. 5. 24.5" katana in remnants of WWII leather-cased mounts. Signed "Kunihiro". Almost certainly a gimei since nearly ANY Kunihiro is a big big name smith, with most of them working late Kamakura. The biggest name Kunihiro worked in the 1600's strangely. There is a remote possibility it is one of them, but the placement of the mei leads me to believe it is gimei. However, it is still an older blade that is likely to be late Kamakura/Muromachi. Suriage with 2 mekugi-ana. Notare hamon. Could use a polish to revive the masame hada. Has kirikomi. Nice tsuba. Partial trade up to $700. Asking price is $2200. 6. 26" katana of WWII origin. Mumei, no stamps. It is my opinion that this blade is Showato, but it does show some signs of hand-forging including a very thick particle line in the hamon. It is in a somewhat amateur-ish polish with some warping of the geometry but would make for a very fine wall hanger. A good piece to find mounts for. It is a very interesting styled gunome. Paper stock saya. No Partial trade on this one. Asking price is $1000. 7. 17" wakizashi in American-made saya. Signed "Nobukuni" - the particulars of this signature, particularly the kanji used purport it to be one of the Oei Nobukuni, which if believed to be true would make for a very nice restoration project. Two meguki-ana. It does have a Soshu-esque hamon in it and a sugata that suggests an old blade. However, there are a few areas of damage to the edge and an S-bend in the blade. Ergo... the low price on this one. No partial trade on this one. Asking price is $700. 8. 11.25" tanto in restored mounts. Mumei. Kanmuri-otoshi shape, which along with the nakago, suggests the Nambokucho era. 2 mekugi-ana. BEAUTIFUL mounts which suggest that the habaki is not original. The saya is a striped alternating shiny and matte black lacquer with horn accents. Gorgeous hand-painted red wooden grain pattern tsuka. Why they would paint the wood grain as opposed to use real wood or a veneer? Your guess is as good as mine. Rare shape would make for a fun project. Unknown school since hada is not visible. Hamon appears to be a very straight and well-executed suguha. No partial trade on this one. Asking price is $1500. 9. 26" katana of WWII origin. Mumei, no stamps. No mounts but habaki and paper tube saya. Unlike #6, this one is clearly a gendaito. It has evident particle activity in both the hamon and hada scattered about. The gunome pattern is much more orderly and well-arranged. There is no evidence of the characteristic dark shadows that one would see in showato. The blade has a nice gold-plate habaki. Condition is solid but with several nail catchers and a solid patina covering the whole blade. A Mino-Seki blade with the appropriate yasurime. Strangely two mekugi-ana, with the top one showing a rough burr that would make it unlikely to be used; my theory being that this blade was ordered for one set of mounts and then changed before final fitting to another mount set. No partial trade on this one. Asking price is $1300. (Limit hit, will upload #9 below!) Thanks for looking! ~Chris

Gents, Due to other planned Nihonto related purchases, I am offering a Moritsugu Norisada gendaito katana with an Aikuchi koshirae. This katana was made in June 1941 and still has its original WW2 polish. The Aikuchi koshirae comes with solid silver fittings and a silver habaki. The koshirae was made the same year as the blade. The overall condition of the current polish is excellent. There are minor rust spots on the surface, but this doesn’t affect the overall quality of the blade. The ubuha is still intact. The mei reads „Chikuzen Fukuoka Ju Moritsugu Norisada Saku Kore“ “A lucky day in June 1941“ The measurements are: Nagasa: 68,5cm Motohaba: 3,48cm Sakihaba: 2,37cm Motokasane: 0,72cm Sakikasane: 0,53cm Sori: 1,7cm Nakago: 21cm Kissaki Nagasa: 5,2cm The katana has a big gunome / choji hamon with long ashi. The itame hada is bright and shows several other activities within. The gendai tosho Moritsugu Norisada is featured in Slough‘s gendaito book on pages 137 and 138. Besides he is rated as a jo-jo saku tosho. This particular sword was purchased last year from Eric Molinier aka owazamono. My asking price is 3200€ obo plus fees and shipping The payment should be done with paypal or with bankwire. I will use UPS as courier and can ship worldwide. The sword stays currently in Germany.

I do believe I have one of his swords as well, except no sanding and I do have a need/want to sell how much would something like this be worth and where around Seattle should I take it

Type :Tanto Ubu : Mei :: Morishige Era/Age : Showa (1985) Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Shirasaya Hamon Type : Suguha Flaws : Light kizu Sword Location : USA Will ship to : USA, International at buyers risk Payment Methods Accepted : PayPal, Zelle Price and Currency : $850 USD Other Info and Full Description : Offering a very interesting special order shinsakuto Tanto for sale. This Tanto was created by smith Morishige in August, 1985 responding to a request made by a Mr. Yanagi Gado. The blade features a Suguha hamon with a very misty nioi-guchi. Looking at the folds in the blade is almost like looking at waves rippling in the ocean. The habaki is solid silver as well, weighing a hefty 20.6 grams. The Mei is intricately carved and covers almost all of the Nakago in writing. I’ve attached a translation below. Please see the imgur album for more pictures https://imgur.com/a/LGxmuoV 東海道清水住人、盛重作 – A resident of Tokaido Shimizu, Morishige made. 応好 柳雅堂氏 – Responding to the order from Mr. Yanagi Gado 家運長久 – Good future for the family 昭和六十乙丑年八月日 – Showa 60 Kinoto-Ushi year (1985), 8th month Blade is in polish and overall excellent condition other than light kizu as depicted. Small ding on the shirasaya (also depicted). Asking $850 shipped

Hello, need help with this Mei I think it's Showa 3. I've had it in my collection for some years and need some help determining what the Mei is. Thanks

New swords just added. Click on the link to take a look: https://stcroixblades.com/product-category/Japanese-swords/ If you have any questions, need more photos, etc., just let me know. --Matthew Brice St. Croix Blades

This sword came to me in bad shape. Cleaned up pretty well. Hilt built, furnished, and silk-wrapped through Fred Lohman. Horse-themed furniture. Paul Chen guard plus Lohman horse-themed guard. Chinese saya with use scars plus replica saya fittings, not pictued, also Chinese. Used lovingly for Sugawara Sogo Budo practice. Pictures upon request, of course. Asking $1000.00 plus shipping and insurance.

Hello gents, I traded recently one of my swords for a splendid Kurihara Akihide katana, which was also introduced recently in the thread high class gunto by its previous owner. The sword was made in February 1945 and comes with the original shingunto koshirae. The mounts are in minty condition and look amazing. Everything works perfectly and is as good as it can be. The katana was recently polished by David Hofhine. Here are the measurements: Nagasa: 66,67cm Motohaba: 3,3cm Sakihaba: 2,31cm Motokasane:0,71cm The blade resides currently in Germany and can be shipped internationally. Payment should be done with bankwire or PayPal. The parcel can be shipped with DHL premium international, Fedex, or UPS. My asking price is 6300€ obo plus shipping and fees. Here is the link to the mentioned thread:https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18610-show-us-your-high-class-gunto/page/21/

This is a daisho by Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa with a beautiful paired eggshell lacquer koshirae. I’ve never seen a koshirae made to this level of quality, and some to whom I have shown the daisho think that the koshirae of a higher quality than the blades themselves (which says quite a lot). The handles are twist-wrapped with leather. Both blades also have kozuka. Both blades were made in 1971. The blades+koshirae come with additional kantei papers from Mitsuo Shibata. The dai is tremendously long, coming in at over 2.5 shaku. Both blades are in good condition, and have nice horimono. Daisho Type: Katana + Wakizashi Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei: Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa Papers: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, Mitsuo Shibata kantei Era/Age : Gendaito Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Matching daisho koshirae Katana (Dai) Weight: 999 g Nagasa/Blade Length : 76.5 cm Sori : 1.8 cm Mekugi-ana: 1 Width at base: 3.2 cm Width at tip: 2.4 cm Thickness: 0.6 cm Wakizashi (Sho) Weight: 548 g Nagasa/Blade Length : 48.4 cm Sori : 1.2 cm Mekugi-ana: 1 Width at base: 2.8 cm Width at tip: 2.4 cm Thickness: 0.6 cm More Information: This is a daisho with a beautiful paired eggshell lacquer koshirae. I’ve never seen a koshirae made to this level of quality, and some to whom I have shown the daisho think that the koshirae of a higher quality than the blades themselves (which says quite a lot). The handles are twist-wrapped with leather. Both blades also have kozuka. The blades+koshirae come with additional kantei papers from Mitsuo Shibata. The dai is tremendously long, coming in at over 2.5 shaku. Both blades are in good condition, and have nice horimono. Smith Details: Known Signatures: Shigemasa (繁政) Shigemasa (繁正) - initial signature Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa (酒井一貫斎繁正) Tōtō Jōhoku ni oite Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa kinsaku (東都於城北酒井一貫斎繁正謹作) Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa (酒井一貫斎繁政) Sakai Shigemasa hori-dōsaku (酒井繁政彫同作) Civilian Name - Sakai Hiroshi (酒井寛) He was born on August 19th 1905 as third son of Sakai Yasujirō (酒井安次郎), the younger brother of Miyaguchi Shigetoshi (宮口繁寿), in Shizuoka. In 1925 he started his apprenticeship as a swordsmith under Kasama Shigetsugu (笠間繁継) and became independent in 1932. During World War II he worked for the forges “Nihontō-tanrenkai” (日本刀鍛錬会) and “Ōkura-Nihontō-tanrenjo” (大倉日本刀鍛錬所). During this period, he forged ten tantō for Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku (山本五十六, 1884-1943). He died 1995 at the age of 91. Like his master Shigetsugu, he was an excellent horimono carver. Kantei Details: The additional kantei papers come from Mitsuo Shibata, who was a student of Fujishiro-sensei and of Japan’s foremost sword appraisers. He was a member of many Japanese sword appraisal organizations, including the Sword Appraisal Committee for the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and the NBTHK. Sword Location : Seattle, WA Will ship to : US (can discuss for overseas) Payment Methods Accepted : Bank Wire (open to discussion) Price and Currency : $15,500 USD

Hello, I believe what I have here is a WW2 Japanese Samurai Sword. I am new to Japanese Swords and know there is a lot around them, especially these WW2 era swords. I have posted a picture of the signature and a picture of the tang/blade, handle, and sheath. I think it is in rough shape but still find it cool. I posted a picture on Reddit and the tang was translated to: “豊後住國茂作 = made by Kunishige, resident of Bungo”. There are no stamps on the other side but what remains is old green paint the faintly resembles 31. Could anyone shed some light onto what the type of sword is, who the maker is, and if the blade is traditionally made and how old. I really want to know if the sword was made specifically for WW2 or if it is an older blade that was brought to war. I would be greatly appreciative! thanks, Ben P.S. I can post more pictures if needed

My Masatsugu gunto arrived today - I got it from a fellow NMB member to whom I am most grateful. The leather clad saya came with a matching tsuka cover. I very much doubted that the sarute was original to the koshirae, but now that I see it with my own eyes, I am beginning to have second thoughts.

Hello NMB, I just made this account recently and am posting for the first time, but I have observed the forums from afar for some time. I already know preservation is the objective here so I am looking for a nihonto that is both young (preferably post-WWII) and doesn't have any artistic value (no NBTHK/NTHK papers) to do tameshigiri with. If I were to catastrophically mess up a cut, I don't want to ruin a historical/culturally important sword. This will also be my first one, so I think having a gendaito with no significant value can be a good way to experience handling and caring for a nihonto. I have already found a site called e-sword and another called samuraishokai, they both have swords that fit what I am looking for. Can anyone tell me about these sites? I saw in another thread that e-sword is a trusted seller. It would also be great if someone could point to other sites that sell gendaito like the ones I'm looking for, the more options the better. https://e-nihontou.c.../list?category_id=21 https://www.samuraishokai.jp/index.html Thank you, Connor

https://www.ebay.com/itm/355506420160 I'm currently selling this Gendaito I bought a while ago. Price is negotiable. Gendaito Katana, Signed Yoshichika (may 1944). This is a Gendaito made in May 1944 by Yoshichika: the fittings are combination of traditional koshirae and Gunto koshirae, this is an arsenal sword. The tsukaito is lacquered silk and fits loosely, The tsuka has some rattle Yoshichika was known for using unorthodox materials for his blades, this one appears to be made from a modern steel as opposed to Tamehagane, which isn't unusual for swords of this era, but is definitely made through traditional methods. The hamon is VERY light and difficult to see unless under very specific lighting due to the polish variation, but it is definitely there with a suguha hamon. The koshirae are an interesting mix of Traditional Edo Era style fittings with elements of Imperial Japanese Gunto fittings: Primarily with Gunto style Menuki and Kashira. Additionally, and interestingly, the Menkui are placed in the tachi-style top right bottom left configuration, seen often on arsenal swords and gunto. Additionally, the Naval Knot on the tsuka is the right hand side. All of this points to the sword being worn tachi/gunto style with the blade facing down, yet the sword is fit with a standard Uchigatana style saya to be worn with an Obi, facing up. The saya is a standard black lacquer with Buffalo Horn fittings on the bottom and top for stability. No major cracks or forging flaws. The blade is healthy and heavy without much Sori. STAND NOT INCLUDED Please forward me any questions Nagasa 27 inches Tsuka 10 inches Will be shipped with a free sword bag and the original registration license. The blade will be be oiled before shipment.

Hey guys, Posting this for a friend who is not tech savvy. He wants to know who this smith is. He believes it to be a gendai smith by the name of Okano Mitsuhiro. I attempted to look them up and found nothing. Anyone got a lead on this smith or has he discovered one that's fallen out of the meikan? Also, what kamon is that? It appears to be cast into the piece, rather than attached like a usual one. 27" nagasa with an attractive sanbonsugi hamon. Very minty Type 98 mounts. Thanks!

Lots for the translator here, anyone have a good reading for this name?

Just out of export jail and transferred safely to my care, a katana signed by Hizen Kuni Masatsugu, real name Taguchi Kiichi. He was an accepted army swordsmith and was rated a “one million yen smith” at Toko Taikan. NBTHK Hozon papers issued 2021. Based on mei location, overall length and the period it was produced, I believe this sword to be a former gunto. It is around 64cm nagasa with 1.5cm sori. Hamon is a well done, regularly thick suguha and jigane is well packed. It is well polished. What really grabbed my eye though is the koshirae, a meticulously made false hiking stick. Shikomizue were often made with wakizashi, yari, sharpened farming implements or chains as the concealed weapon and were mostly made when it was necessary to conceal one’s weapon. It’s interesting to see a gendaito with such koshirae. I wonder if it was made to scratch a particular itch in the previous owner’s collection, or perhaps for some other reason.

St. Croix Blades currently has 50 Japanese swords, tosogu, etc. in its eBay Store listed. You don't have to have an eBay account to purchase. I will pull any item that you wish to buy. Prices are often negotiable. Trades can even be an option (I'll be converting your trade items into cash by reselling them, so the value of your trade items needs to be higher than the negotiated purchase price--I need to take time to photograph and list any trade items, wait for their sale, then ship, etc.). Contact me here to let me know what you would like to negotiate on. https://www.ebay.com...&LH_SpecificSeller=1 Thank you! --Matthew Brice St. Croix Blades

Two new sword listings on St. Croix Blades site: 1. RARE ~1935 date Type 94 Two Hanger Army Gendai by Masayuki. 1 in 1000 swords approximately are Type 94's. It's a rare one! harder to find crab claw hamon. stamped signature. Fine gendai sword. $3500 https://stcroixblade...2-hanger-rare-mount/ 2. RARE Red Sharkskin Saya Army Sword. Old family blade by Ueno no Kami Fujiwara Sukekane, 1688-1704 A.D. $3800 https://stcroixblade...signed-samurai-rare/

I have been lurking in this forum for some time, but rarely post anything. I apologize for that. Please also move this thread to the appropriate sub-forum, should it not be. I have been trying to "authentify" a gendaitō/shinsakutō that is supposed to be made by the honorable swordsmith Sō Tsutomu (宗勉), who unfortunately passed away in 2015. It seems that he specialized in replicating Kiyomaro clan's style, but this blade does not seem to match this description. It appears to be rather a wise and disciplined suguha and a rather short blade length, among others. I had the unfounded impression that NMB is rather old blade-orientated (?), therefore hesitated to ask here. The sword is no longer in Japan and is not in my possession. It is not for commercial gain nor for item sales as it already has been sold. I am rather new to nihontō and still need guidance from experienced people. May I ask the collective wisdom here for some expertise on that particular blade? Sincere thanks in advance. Yoshi

I offer a very beautiful yasukuni to made by the famous tosho Kotani Yasunori in March 1943. This especially long katana comes in shirasaya and the original matching numbers shingunto koshirae. This yasukunito has a good wartime polish, so every activity is clearly visible. Anyway I recommend a new quality polish to reveal the supreme beauty of the Yasunori entirely. The shingunto koshirae is in excellent to near mint condition. The locking mechanism works well. Here are the measurements of the katana: Nagasa: 69,85cm Overall: 91,44cm Motohaba: 3,175cm Sakihaba: 2,1cm Kasane: 0,63cm Sori: 1,9cm This katana was purchased from Ed Marshall. With his permission I post here the link to the former listing. There are detailed pictures and further information about this special smith. The asking price is 6250€ or best offer. The sword is currently in Germany and can be shipped worldwide with DHL premium international. As payment method I prefer paypal friends and family or bank transaction. https://yakiba.com/yasunori-kotani/

https://stcroixblade...hop/Japanese-swords/ Layaway is available on stcroixblades.com. Put down a deposit to lock in the sale price even if you don't have the full funds right now. Let me know if you have any questions. --Matthew Brice St. Croix Blades

I have a nice Emura for sale. This gendaito has a pronounced hada produced by forging with tamahagane. Nice sword. $3500 See a few photos below. MANY more photos can be seen on the website. Here is the link: https://stcroixblade...hop/Japanese-swords/ Let me know if you have questions. --Matthew Brice www.StCroixBlades.com

Hello all, I’m a new member and this shall be my inaugural post. After some saving and as a university graduation present to myself, I have acquired a tantō signed “保則 (Yasunori)” and attributed to gendai smith Motomura Yasuhiro by Mr. Tsuruta of Aoi Art. The blade is in decent condition and original polish, I had a shirasaya and tsunagi made for it while I awaited the export permit. Currently, I have the koshirae in a sword bag in a wooden drawer of my china cabinet and the tantō in shirasaya in a sword bag, cutting edge facing up, in a watertight box with foam internal structuring. Are these acceptable storage practices? Additionally how frequently should I oil the blade to keep it preserved? I have been removing the old oil with alcohol and applying new oil once to twice a week (once weekly and when I unsheathe it) for the three weeks that I’ve had it, since I live in a very humid environment. Is this acceptable? I have attached images both for storage reference and to show the tantō. Thank you in advance ,James O.

Here is the link to St. Croix Blades: https://stcroixblades.com/shop/Japanese-swords/ --Matt