Modern gimei seems to be on the rise in Japanese auctions.

[Hector]

As some of you know, I spend a lot of of my retirement time In Japan looking at the auction sites like Yahoo.

Everyone, except the most woefully uninformed, knows that a decent level maker without current papers will be sporting a fake signature. However, I'm starting to see a pattern where it looks like nakago are often being reworked before the blades are put on the market.

 

The first example below clearly shows overworked yasurime but you can still see traces of the original signature under the new Kanji.

On the second, the signature goes into the fuller in a way that I've never seen before.

 

Best,

Hector

[eternal_newbie]

Yes, it's become increasingly prevalent, and not just for historical smiths. I've seen a few gimei of Ningen Kokuho and Mukansa smiths as well. This sort of thing is a big factor behind the push to make the NBSK the shinsakuto equivalent of NBTHK certification, especially with some Chinese forges now at a point where they're able to produce stuff more or less on par with entry-level Japanese shinsakuto.

[Hector]

I didn't realise mukansa were also being targeted but I suppose it makes sense if someone with a chisel is trying to make a quick buck. 😳

 

On my Yahoo travels today, I also came across a Kiyomaru and a Chikuzen no Sa.
Must be my lucky day! 😬
 

 

Edited February 12 by Hector
(Typo)

[Lewis B]

Those are pretty egregious examples. The second one is comical. One also needs to be very careful with papers. A couple of years ago there were 2 'Juyo' blades by Go Yoshihiro and Awataguchi Kuniyasu with altered nakago and hamon to match the NBTHK oshigata from stolen papers. More recently this fake Sadamune.

 

It's a minefield out there. 

 

 

[eternal_newbie]

21 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

A couple of years ago there were 2 'Juyo' blades by Go Yoshihiro and Awataguchi Kuniyasu with altered nakago and hamon to match the NBTHK oshigata from stolen papers.

 

Another common one is putting blades into shirasaya with legit sayagaki (using a file rasp to ensure the sayagaki fits the new occupant).

 

Regarding mukansa blades - Ono Yoshimitsu swords can easily sell for the price of a Juyo, and there's no shortage of cheap-ish gendaito and shinsakuto with Bizen-style hamon that one could pass off as his work to the unwary.

[Nobody]

22 hours ago, Hector said:

As some of you know, I spend a lot of of my retirement time In Japan looking at the auction sites like Yahoo.

Everyone, except the most woefully uninformed, knows that a decent level maker without current papers will be sporting a fake signature. However, I'm starting to see a pattern where it looks like nakago are often being reworked before the blades are put on the market.

 

The first example below clearly shows overworked yasurime but you can still see traces of the original signature under the new Kanji.

On the second, the signature goes into the fuller in a way that I've never seen before.

 

Best,

Hector

 

 

Now the auction just ended, and the tanto was sold for 180,000 JPY.

 

The problem of the blade is much worse than gimei. Its registration paper is a forgery. That means that the blade is not registered and the blade itself is illegal. I guess that the blade was illegally made in Japan or illegally imported to Japan.

 

The mei on its omote-side is 伯州住延秀 – Hakushu ju Nobuhide. I can read the erased signature under the date on its ura-side. The old signature is also 伯州住延秀 (Hakushu ju Nobuhide). Again I guess that the faker originally intended to make an illegal blade with the mei of 伯州住延秀 (Hakushu ju Nobuhide), but he made a mistake and chiseled the mei on its ura-side at first, and then redone the nakago.

[Brian]

Brilliant detective work as always Moriyama san 

[Hector]

On 2/13/2026 at 2:52 PM, Nobody said:

 

Now the auction just ended, and the tanto was sold for 180,000 JPY.

 

The problem of the blade is much worse than gimei. Its registration paper is a forgery. That means that the blade is not registered and the blade itself is illegal. I guess that the blade was illegally made in Japan or illegally imported to Japan.

 

The mei on its omote-side is 伯州住延秀 – Hakushu ju Nobuhide. I can read the erased signature under the date on its ura-side. The old signature is also 伯州住延秀 (Hakushu ju Nobuhide). Again I guess that the faker originally intended to make an illegal blade with the mei of 伯州住延秀 (Hakushu ju Nobuhide), but he made a mistake and chiseled the mei on its ura-side at first, and then redone the nakago.

 

That's incredible and shocking, Moriyama-san. 
Is Hakushu ju Nobuhiro so famous that he would even warrant being copied?

 

Best,

Hector

Edited February 18 by Hector

[eternal_newbie]

17 minutes ago, Hector said:

Is Hakushu ju Nobuhiro so famous that he would even warrant being copied?

 

Moriyama-san's guess that the blade is illegally made (i.e. not by a registered smith, or an "under-the-table" blade to get around the monthly restriction on the number of blades a smith can produce) or imported would probably explain this; use a somewhat unknown/average smith's name who works in roughly the same style the blade is done in - that way, nobody's too motivated to check the mei for accuracy or that the work matches the smith's oeuvre.

 

A gimei Ono Yoshimitsu would be far more likely to attract suspicion than a gimei Nobuhide.

[Hector]

4 minutes ago, eternal_newbie said:

 

Moriyama-san's guess that the blade is illegally made (i.e. not by a registered smith, or an "under-the-table" blade to get around the monthly restriction on the number of blades a smith can produce) or imported would probably explain this; use a somewhat unknown/average smith's name who works in roughly the same style the blade is done in - that way, nobody's too motivated to check the mei for accuracy or that the work matches the smith's oeuvre.

 

A gimei Ono Yoshimitsu would be far more likely to attract suspicion than a gimei Nobuhide.

Thanks Rohan.

 

That is even more worrying for me personally as I almost exclusively look at unknown/average smiths due to budgetary restraints. 
 

Best,

Hector

[eternal_newbie]

Just now, Hector said:

That is even more worrying for me personally as I almost exclusively look at unknown/average smiths due to budgetary restraints. 

 

Aye - and the cost of living's not getting any better. Looking for gendai/shinsakuto blades with NBSK certification may help somewhat, I believe they also have several less-renowned smiths under their umbrella alongside the bigger names. You could try looking up some of the NBSK competition results and see which names earned some of the bronze/silver prizes or were newly accepted.