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Wakizashi Identification


Hastur

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Hello I recently purchased this wakizashi and was wondering if anyone could translate the identification paper and provide any observation on condition or if there are any serious flaws as this will be the first to start of my collection. Thank you

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Hi, Hastur is it,,

If by ID paper you mean the one in your 1st photo, that is the registration paper from the government and it will tell you nothing useful, only the the sword was registered.

There are a few problems in the grain here and there but perhaps most troubling is what appears to be a crack in the nakago.  If this is a crack it would be considered a fatal flaw because in use you would expect the sword to break, and this would severely degrade the value.

Grey

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hmm I asked the seller if there were any cracks in the sword and they said there were not, is there a possibility that it may be something else if not I may have to return it. I'll post better pictures tomorrow to see if we can confirm it.

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A crack will appear on both sides, whereas a forging flaw will appear on one side only.  If you look at the two pictures of the nakago, the crack appears on both sides, at approximately the same location. It's pretty cut-and-dry. If I were you, I would return this sword.

 

Hoanh 

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Hello Hastur,

Maybe some more pics for a better look, although it does look likely to be a crack that goes through the Nakago on a bit of an angle. I hope the seller is understanding. All the best.

 

Greg

 

Ps. Please sign all posts with 1st name after all posts so we can address you politely.

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Alright I have requested a return of the item, there was some rust spots on it anyways since they didn't bother to oil it -_- Thank you for all of your help! and if you can direct me to wakizashi that are of around 300 usd to use my return on(era doesnt matter) that would be wonderful!

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Hi Brad,

 

Good decision on the return. You may have trouble finding a waki for that price thats decent enough to enjoy unless your lucky. I would suggest saving as much as possible and get something you will be happy with. It is a hard thing to do when you are keen to get your 1st Nihonto but well worth the effort. All the best.

 

Greg

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I saw this on ebay. The seller has quite alot of cheaper wakizashi. Bit unfair on the seller, as he put clear pics showing this defect on the listing.

 

If you ended up getting this item for $300 then that is a very fair price imo even with the crack in the nakago. It is still better than most collectors very first purchase of Nihonto (mine was a fake type 95 NCO sword for about the same amount!), and the flaw would not be visable when the blade is mounted, and as you wont hopefully be cutting with the sword it shouldn't be a problem.

 

What can you really expect for $300? It is still a decent item for early study, and it shouldnt be too difficult to sell it on for the same amount. It will cost you a chunk of that amount just in posting the item back.

 

I am an amateur compared to others on this forum, but imo if $300 is the budget then you wont get better than this, certainly not with the lottery that is ebay. Any item at this price range will almost certainly have flaws. 

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I see your guys point but I asked the seller beforehand if there were any cracks in the blade or Tang beforehand and he assured there was none, hence why I jumped on it. In hindsight I should have shown it to more experienced eyes first.

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If you consider there is a lesson to be learned here, then in reality its a cheap lesson.

$300 out, a blade in (which is not a bad example) for study purposes.

A flaw in the nakago can be forgiven at that money.

Sit back enjoy the examination of the blade.

Me I think you have luckily come out, bruised, but not scarred.

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I apologize if it comes off as wanting a flawless piece for a low pice, I am looking for a begginers study piece and really any flaw is fine with me as long as it's not a Crack, I guess I have seen too many horror stories from a previous sword forum of snapped blades and injuries while handling and cracks have a tendency to grow rapidly. My budget is not that low that was merely what the bid ended at and I should have taken that as a sign that something was off. I have discussed with the seller and payed for the shipping costs and miscellaneous fees to be fair to him. In future I will be sure to seek advice from this forum (was recommended by a fellow actually) when I make my next attempt to purchase one (really aiming for the longer wakizashi). Thank you for your help and advice.

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Spend some time "watching" on eBay. You see deals pop up time to time, but buying sight unseen is risky. Fortune favors the bold! I saw a really nice blade in koshirae the other day from a seller named koushuya, with amazingly consistent itame in the ji while having also consistent masame in the ha, and an impressive Hamon. This was priced $599 and it got snapped up fast (new owner please post pictures if you are reading this!) Daimyou54eb has a nice looking walk up now for $399 + shipping (these folks take non-flattering photos which is nice to see the blade looked worse in pictures than hand). Let me know if you don't see it: bright consistent itame with thick bright nioi and masame in the ha. Looks like a decent one to me, but o suriage. Good luck and wait till your gut says go, but it safer to keep low expectations from eBay. One will turn up here but I'm always broke from eBay spending.

 

Sword shows have good deals, or a club is full of folks with blades that may give you a decent deal. It's amazing how cheap some of these blades are in the Japanese market, and the club folks may have access to this market. It may be asking a lot for a dealer to pick you up a $300 study piece, register/unregistered, blah blah, but what are friends for anyway?

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