Buying opportunity Wakizashi Yoshimichi

[TraditionForever]

TBD

[TraditionForever]

tbd

[TraditionForever]

tbd

[TraditionForever]

tbd

[TraditionForever]

The time should be the mid edo time, around 1700-1750 according to the seller. 

[Lexvdjagt]

Hello Thomas,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I will not speak to the authenticity of the signature of the blade, as my personal interest is in early koto blades. I will also only comment on the blade itself as I personally do not have much experience with fittings.
 

I have found the for sale listing online of this particular blade, and personally would advise against purchasing it. This seller sells many Gimei blades or blades with untrustworthy papers. I would personally refrain from purchasing a blade like this without any papers. The seller states that having the blade papered would cost an additional 1500 USD, which is highly misleading and untrue. The blade has not been polished recently and has many scratches. The blade is overpriced in my opinion compared to the condition.

 

You can easily get a beautiful blade at this price point from this forum, there are many stunning blades with papers in the for sale section (many with beautiful fittings as well).

any questions are welcomed!

 

Greetings,

Lex

[Lewis B]

That wakizashi was originally purchased from a dealer in Andorra quite recently. They have a very poor reputation and their 'certificates of authenticity' are worthless. I would advise you to consider very carefully and certainly ask your friend why they are selling so quickly. As Lex says this dealer sells many gimei blades and is known to remove valuable fittings eg urushi saya, replacing them with cheaper, poorly fitting parts.

[TraditionForever]

My friend said he did bids for two swords and got both but only needs one. He also send me the link from the platform where I got the pictures from. The sellers has a 100% recommendation rate on the platform over years from user all over the world and offered my friend to get a NBHTK certificate if he wants one (regardless 1500 is too much or not). Why do you think his reputation is bad? The documents also looks pretty good in my opinion. 

 

Maybe I should ask the other way: Does anything about the sword look fake to you?

 

[Rayhan]

10 minutes ago, TraditionForever said:

My friend said he did bids for two swords and got both but only needs one. He also send me the link from the platform where I got the pictures from. The sellers has a 100% recommendation rate on the platform over years from user all over the world and offered my friend to get a NBHTK certificate if he wants one (regardless 1500 is too much or not). Why do you think his reputation is bad? The documents also looks pretty good in my opinion. 

 

Maybe I should ask the other way: Does anything about the sword look fake to you?

 

I think your mind is already made up but you're looking for some kind of validation. 

 

If you're buying this for a cheap price (please let us know your purchasing price) then go ahead and do it if it's a deal you've made with a friend. From the perspective of a collector I think we would all like to see better images and clear images of the self made certificate. 

 

Personally if you have been waiting a long time to buy an authentic sword then why go this route? 

[TraditionForever]

Thank you for your advices. 

It's not cheap: The price would be around 2.000. 

 

But I understand your thoughts and your skepticism.

As the seller is already shipping it to my friend I will take a closer look there and post some more pictures made by myself if I have it. 

 

Coming back as soon as I have it. 

Thank you!

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

Thoughts and prayers for your friend

[Lukrez]

Thank you for your private inquiry. However, I’m sharing my response here publicly so that other readers may also benefit from the information in the future.

 

In my view, Supein Nihonto represents a seller type that prioritizes quantity over quality. In a perfect world, one would hope that dealers of antiques — especially in a field as rich and nuanced as Nihontō — are deeply knowledgeable and genuinely passionate about sharing the beauty of this art form with others. Unfortunately, the reality is often different: Many sellers follow a simple business model: buy cheaply in Japan (often the items that no one locally wants) and resell them at a markup to Western buyers who may have little experience and have never even handled a blade in person. That’s not to say you won’t ever find an interesting piece — sometimes you do. But it’s essential to research thoroughly and negotiate a fair price.

 

Ask the seller as many specific questions as possible and try to learn everything you can about the item you’re interested in. Be aware that seller descriptions are frequently inaccurate, vague, or careless. If necessary, don’t hesitate to exercise your right to return the item.

 

Incidentally, that’s part of the reason why many sellers are now shifting their focus to selling Yoroi, as these are often excluded from return policies.