Help identifying Gimei Katana

[Misterbovigoren]

First off, my apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section. 

 

Before I read the wonderful advice to spend my first $1000 or so on books, I saw a bare blade for auction on ebay from the seller komonjo (I am now aware this is already a very questionable choice), and from what I could tell, it looked like a good quality blade.

 

The listing said it was signed Yasunobu, and through research I found he was a Smith at the yasukuni shrine. The listing had a short time left on it, so I bid up to something like $860 and won. In person, it is quite beautiful.

 

I purchased a book on sword smiths of the yasukuni shrine, and compared it to the images of his blades, and it looked similar enough for me (at that time) to be content that it was genuine. 

 

Since then, I have purchased a few rusty wakizashi from the same seller and I have been reading like a madman everything I can about nihonto, in an effort to learn more about them, and about the history and craft of nihonto in general. 

 

In this further research I have done, I have become aware of the fact that fakes of prominent smiths are quite common, and even becoming rather convincing. 

 

While reading about the swords forged in the Yasukuni Shrine, I have discovered that they are signed in a way synonymous to the way Tachi were signed, with the smith's name on the outside when the sword is worn with the edge facing downward, the way a Tachi would be worn, with the date of manufacture  being on the opposite side of the nakago. I also read that a small number that were presented to very high caliber clients, such as imperial family members, had their signatures placed in the manner a katana would have, on the opposite side of the nakago as a Tachi. 

 

The sword I purchased appears to have its signature in the manner a katana would be signed. That was my first red flag. The second was that some signatures I found online for yasunobu looked very similar to the one I had, but some looked quite different, and none were on the side a katana would usually show. 

The third red flag I have noticed is that the nakago is nearly pristine, showing hardly any age whatsoever, whereas most of the pictures I have found of yasunobo's work has at least a patina on the nakago. 

 

I will post a link to a few pictures that I have on my phone of the blade I own, but I won't be able to take any specific pictures until I get home from the hospital. 

 

I will also post pictures of Mei from the same Smith that I have found online for comparison.

 

If anyone could help me verify if my hunch is correct about this blade being gimei, it would be greatly appreciated. Any other information or insight about the blade would also be warmly welcomed. 

 

The pictures and video that are mine are the ones that don't look like an online listing, but please let me know if any further clarification is needed on which is which. 

 

Yasunobu Katana https://imgur.com/gallery/ra4kR0x

 

 

[Ron M]

Idk but it having a date is unusual having come from that particular seller who is known for his “questionable” blades. I lean to it looks good and my even be legit but more research is in order. Taking it to someone more seasoned, or even better is a sword club” would be the next step. “In hand” is the only way

 regards 

[Misterbovigoren]

I am currently torn on how I feel about it. The fact that the signature is in the position it would be if it were one of this smith's greatest works, makes me feel as though there is no way I am that lucky 😅 I will see if there are any shows happening near me. I live in southwest Washington state, maybe I will get lucky and one will pop up in Seattle or Portland. Thanks for the reply!

 

-Bo

[PNSSHOGUN]

Completely fake I'm afraid. For reference Yaskuni smiths only signed underneath the mekugi ana when the sword was an Onkashi-To or other special dedication sword. Furthermore, the way the mei is signed, the patination of the Nakago and the overall workmanship are significant departures from standard Yasukuni Tosho work. 

[Misterbovigoren]

Thank you for the information. That was my suspicion as well, I just haven't had any similar swords in-hand to be able to compare it to. 

[Brian]

There was zero chance you were going to get a Yasukunito from him anyways. ZERO chance.
All his stuff has been thoroughly checked to make sure they would not sell or get half decent prices in Japan before selling to the Western market.
Enjoy it as though it's mumei. That signature means nothing.

[Misterbovigoren]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

There was zero chance you were going to get a Yasukunito from him anyways. ZERO chance.
All his stuff has been thoroughly checked to make sure they would not sell or get half decent prices in Japan before selling to the Western market.
Enjoy it as though it's mumei. That signature means nothing.

Thank you for your time and knowledge. I will remember this, and use this as a learning experience to further my studies. I know it isn't much, but I donated $20 to the website as a small token of my appreciation for what you guys do. 

[Bruce Pennington]

9 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

Yaskuni smiths only signed underneath the mekugi ana when the sword was an Onkashi-To or other special dedication sword.

Interesting point, John.  I checked other examples and found them all to be above the ana, as you said

Posting some pics if case the link ever goes down

 

[Misterbovigoren]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Interesting point, John.  I checked other examples and found them all to be above the ana, as you said

Posting some pics if case the link ever goes down

 

Thank you! And yes that was something I can't believe I hadn't noticed until it was pointed out. 

[Misterbovigoren]

On 10/2/2023 at 11:20 PM, Brian said:

There was zero chance you were going to get a Yasukunito from him anyways. ZERO chance.
All his stuff has been thoroughly checked to make sure they would not sell or get half decent prices in Japan before selling to the Western market.
Enjoy it as though it's mumei. That signature means nothing.

Aside from being Gimei, in your opinion, does it still look like a decent sword? I know the pictures  uploaded were limited, but can one tell from these if it is actual tamahagane or traditionally forged? Thank you again for your time. 

 

-Bo

[Bruce Pennington]

Adding photos for the discussion.  I'm not a nihoto expert, so hopefully others will chime in.  Obviously, a clear hada, and I, in my poor experience, don't see the telltale signs of oil quenching.

 

[Misterbovigoren]

Thank you for the input Bruce! So are all Nihonto water quenched rather than oil?

[David Flynn]

Look like a Komonjo sword.  Yes all Nihonto are water quenched.

[Larason2]

This isn't a nihonto, it is a Chinese reproduction. A good quality one, but a Chinese reproduction none the less. The clue is the poor quality yasurime on the nakago, practically no nie, no real hamon, and the fact that the blade looks identical to a large number of other komonjo blades that are known to be Chinese reproductions, produced for the Japanese grey market. If you look closely, they just put a sashikomi polish between the edge and the temper line to hide the fact it's oil quenched. If you like it, I would enjoy it as a finely made reproduction, but it's not a nihonto.

[Misterbovigoren]

1 hour ago, Larason2 said:

This isn't a nihonto, it is a Chinese reproduction. A good quality one, but a Chinese reproduction none the less. The clue is the poor quality yasurime on the nakago, practically no nie, no real hamon, and the fact that the blade looks identical to a large number of other komonjo blades that are known to be Chinese reproductions, produced for the Japanese grey market. If you look closely, they just put a sashikomi polish between the edge and the temper line to hide the fact it's oil quenched. If you like it, I would enjoy it as a finely made reproduction, but it's not a nihonto.

That is hugely informative, thank you for that! I have so much more to learn. I really appreciate everything you guys have done to help me along the way. This is such an awesome community 👏