Aivar1988 Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 Hi people! I recently bought a katana sword and I want to find some info abot it. The tang was signed but I don't understand what it says. I bought this sword from a local antique shop. He sayd he bought it from Germany at a military fair. I cleaned the tang a bit to see the kanji radicals more clearly. It was all covered in rust. I only cleaned the area where the radicals are. I didn't touch nothing else. The main thing i'm concerned about is that the blade isn't sharp like a shinken should be. That and the serial number which makes it a mass-produced blade in my opinion. If you have some spare time then you could visit this site: http://web.zone.ee/oldkatana I have some closeup pics there. Read the "Katana README" first. After some research I found out that on the one side of the tang says "first year of Shouwa". But the other side and the tsuba are still a untranslated.. all the info i have right now is in the katana readme. I found this article http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html and there is a exact tsuba under fake tsubas. I hope i get some help from here couse i don't know where to go with my problem anymore. Quote
sencho Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 Hi, Firstly never touch the nakano (tang) of the blade, or clean it like you have. Luckily, but unfortunately for you, the cleaning of the tang is of no consequence, as it looks like you have bought a cheap chinese fake. Either that or it is a mass produced gunto that has been butchered and put into a rather off putting fantasy scabbard; but I would go with a Chinese fake. Sorry for the bad news... remember not to clean the tang when you do find genuine nihonto. Cheers PS... by the way... the site you linked to is extremely good.... hold the fake blade that you have and scroll down to the kissaki section.... now decide which you have... fake or real... Quote
mdiddy Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 Hey, To answer your questions from the README.txt: 1. Not sure what the translation is but doesn't matter 2. You have a cheap copy; the hamon is etched, no/poor hada, crude workmanship, bad fittings 3. Put it in a closet and buy some books that will allow you to identify these before purchasing in the future Best of luck! Matt Quote
Jean Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 Firstly never touch the nakano Hi Sencho, change of location? :lol: :lol: Quote
sencho Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 Jean.. :? Hmmmm... Brain Fart more like.... Been working far too hard lately, and two days ago was doing business with someone from Nakano... I feel myself getting older by the day! Cheers Quote
Dick Tait Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 I bought this sword from a local antique shop. I don't know where to go with my problem anymore. I think you should go back to the antique shop and get your money back! Good luck with your next sword. Quote
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