Mei Or Gimei

[marmal]

hello to all. need some help oaths Mei. is it real or gimei? thanks in advance for any input. 

[marmal]

correction with Mei not oath sorry. 

[SteveM]

兼永　Kanenaga

 

A fairly common swordsmith name. You will have to match this against the authenticated signatures of the many varieties of Kanenaga signatures out there. People more clever than I are able to tell a lot about the sword by looking at the whole sword and close-ups of the blade, tip, the area under the habaki, etc... By looking at the blade, some people can identify likely area and era of origin, and that can help you narrow down which Kanenaga you should be looking for. 

[marmal]

here are a few more pics. hoping to authenticate

[marmal]

兼永　Kanenaga

 

A fairly common swordsmith name. You will have to match this against the authenticated signatures of the many varieties of Kanenaga signatures out there. People more clever than I are able to tell a lot about the sword by looking at the whole sword and close-ups of the blade, tip, the area under the habaki, etc... By looking at the blade, some people can identify likely area and era of origin, and that can help you narrow down which Kanenaga you should be looking for. 

 

hi Steve hope all is well. thank you for. your response. hoping you can guide me in where to find kananaga signatures. to compare with my?really would like to know if its real or fake.  

thanks again 

[SteveM]

Hello Mario,

 

Unfortunately there is no one place where you can go to find examples of all the authentic Kanenaga signatures. The easiest next step for you would be to take your sword to someone who knows swords, or perhaps to a sword show near you, and have a more knowledgeable person give you his advice. Another option is to send it to Japan for authentication (various people offer this service...there may be a link to someone who can do this on the FAQ or Links tab near the top of this page). But I would first have someone look at it to see if it merits sending in for authentication.  

 

Also, you might try taking shots of the entire sword, and post some more in-focus shots of the hamon area. I think what you have posted so far is probably too little for anybody's interest to be piqued. To me, it looks ok so far; meaning it looks like a genuine Japanese sword. Some better shots might spur the other guys to chime in with other opinions. 

[marmal]

hello Steve. happy new year. I will post more pics.  I thank you for your input.