Tachi With takeda Heiji mei identification

[Purg]

Hello all,

               An obvious first post, I'm trying to find out more about a nihonto I've owned for about 15 years, bought as an impulse eBay purchase. From recollection, the seller had a lot of antiques, and two swords.

I only recently translated the mei which is Takeda Heiji, from what I can tell, I'm not sure if it was applied later, as looking at the rust, I would expect it would look worse. While there is the obvious Takeda clan, and Heiji era, the only other reference to a Takeda Heiji I could find was a publisher of woodblock prints circa 1884

I'm trying to keep up with all the terms in regards to dimensions, but can obviously provide photos with a tape measure! trying to get lighting right to photo the hada, as I'm not sure if the blade has had a bad polish in its life.

when I first purchased the sword, I wrapped the tang in tape to make it fit better on handle, little did I know that was a mistake! while no file marks evident on the face, they can be seen on the edge.

Basic measurements are a blade of 68cm, and a curve of 2.5cm

Tang approx 25.5cm

Any help would be greatly appreciated 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Jake, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately this a bad Chinese fake, which have been ubiquitous on ebay for decades now.

 

http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

[Purg]

11 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

Hi Jake, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately this a bad Chinese fake, which have been ubiquitous on ebay for decades now.

 

http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

Thanks mate,

                       can I ask, what's the main giveaway? very curious as it's been fascinating learning more.

[Geraint]

Dear Jake.

 

Some of the indicators are:  the flattened shape of the tip/kissaki, the poor shape of the tang/nakago, the mei/signatgure is cut rather than chased. the fittings are low quality, the hilt wrap/tsuka ito all crosses one way.

 

If you want to compare with the real thing to get your eye in then have a look at, say here, https://nihontoart.c...th-3x-certification/

 

All the best.

[Purg]

13 minutes ago, Geraint said:

Dear Jake.

 

Some of the indicators are:  the flattened shape of the tip/kissaki, the poor shape of the tang/nakago, the mei/signatgure is cut rather than chased. the fittings are low quality, the hilt wrap/tsuka ito all crosses one way.

 

If you want to compare with the real thing to get your eye in then have a look at, say here, https://nihontoart.c...th-3x-certification/

 

All the best.

Many thanks, clears up a lot, especially your description on the mei. either way, it's been fun looking into it, makes for the few dollars I payed all those years ago seem worthwhile.

[Alex A]

Also the patina of the nakago looks fake.

 

Mei is on the wrong side for a Tachi.

 

Nut and bolt mekugi peg is a new one, never seen that before.

 

Ps, these always get called fakes but i don't think a lot of them were meant to deceive. Back in the 80s most folks just wanted ornamental wall hangers, these sufficed.

 

In my eyes , many are not good enough to be called fakes.

 

I still have one, kept it for sentimental reasons, blades not even magnetic, must be aluminum or something 

[John C]

2 hours ago, Alex A said:

but i don't think a lot of them were meant to deceive.

I wonder how many of these are movie props, particularly those from Japan.

 

John C.

[Alex A]

I dunno John, guessing very few in the UK. Quite a few stores sold wall hangers back in the 80s.

 

Just thought id take a look, forgot i have a Ninja sword too, thats actually pretty decent made with a 440 Stainless steel blade. Sadly under UK law now then i guess ownership of my first sentimental swords is now a bit dodgy. 
 

I know this site is for real Nihonto but as a  kid barely into his teens, they made a few xmas days very special

 

Ito actually not too bad lol

[Purg]

17 hours ago, Alex A said:

Also the patina of the nakago looks fake.

 

Mei is on the wrong side for a Tachi.

 

Nut and bolt mekugi peg is a new one, never seen that before.

 

Ps, these always get called fakes but i don't think a lot of them were meant to deceive. Back in the 80s most folks just wanted ornamental wall hangers, these sufficed.

 

In my eyes , many are not good enough to be called fakes.

 

I still have one, kept it for sentimental reasons, blades not even magnetic, must be aluminum or something 

Well, I can answer the nut and bolt, that was me, from memory the original bamboo peg split when I knocked it out, from memory it was quite dark on the ends, but this was approx 15 years ago. What made me look closer is I own a couple of cheaper modern katanas, whilst both razor sharp like this particular sword, when playing around cutting some yellow tongue (plastic joiner used in flooring, also great for running wires) the cheaper ones chipped, cheapest close to the tsuba, better one nearer the kissaki, the older one, barely a mark closer the kissaki. It's definitely not alloy, and while I'm no scientist, I've been working with metals for over 20 years, and this was definitely not something made in my lifetime.

Either way, have found it very interesting, who knows, could of just been someone's home project.

Have attached pics of damage to cheaper blades for reference.

[Purg]

Looking closer at the area not effected by when I taped the tang years ago, some file marks are evident 

[Purg]

[Purg]

and one last close up.