Sansei Posted June 1 Report Posted June 1 All, My cousin in Japan passed away in 2024. His daughter found 5 old swords at the home. She needs help with the swords. She says that she would like to keep the best one in the family and have it polished. Apparently, all the swords have rust damage to some extent. I will be visiting her in a couple of weeks. This is the photo that she sent to me. I offered to help her. Does anyone know a collector or polisher in the Hiroshima/Kure CIty area who would be able to examine the swords in person and give her advice on what to do? Thanks in advance. Quote
Brian Posted June 1 Report Posted June 1 The first thing you need to do is see if they are registered and licensed in Japan. If not, you have a whole other set of problems to deal with. If not, this video is very informative. 2 1 Quote
Sansei Posted June 1 Author Report Posted June 1 53 minutes ago, Brian said: The first thing you need to do is see if they are registered and licensed in Japan. If not, you have a whole other set of problems to deal with. If not, this video is very informative Thanks Brian. When she found them she was required by law to take them to police. She found out that one was already registered. Then she went ahead and registered the rest. She says that because of the cost she is not sure about restoring them. I told her to be patient about making decisions until she gets some help. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted June 1 Report Posted June 1 It is a good idea to ask a polisher first for an assessment. Information on local craftsmen would be available at the NBTHK Sword Museum or any other specialized museum. 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted June 1 Report Posted June 1 We could tell you more with photos of the nakago (tang). Hard to say anything with that single shot. From left to right, #1 &3 might be military, or civil blades with military refit. Need more photos, though. Quote
Sansei Posted June 1 Author Report Posted June 1 1 minute ago, Bruce Pennington said: We could tell you more with photos of the nakago (tang). Hard to say anything with that single shot. From left to right, #1 &3 might be military, or civil blades with military refit. Need more photos, though. I may have to show her how to take proper photos Bruce. If she wants to keep or sell them this is just the beginning of a long process imo. 1 Quote
Sansei Posted June 3 Author Report Posted June 3 On 6/1/2026 at 3:49 PM, Bruce Pennington said: We could tell you more with photos of the nakago (tang). Hard to say anything with that single shot. From left to right, #1 &3 might be military, or civil blades with military refit. Need more photos, though. Bruce, you are right about #1 #3. She said that when she took the swords for inspection and obtain the torokusho they had difficulty removing the tsuka. It was apparently jammed in and the mekugi was broken. So instead of having her handle the swords which are in such poor condition and risk a serious injury, I recommended that she contact a dealer in Osaka that buys unwanted swords. She can send the swords to them for inspection and evaluation. Better to be safe than sorry. 2 Quote
GreyVR Posted June 8 Report Posted June 8 " She says that she would like to keep the best one in the family " She should keep them all until she can identify their relationship to her family. It would be very to find out the one she sold was the one her ancestor had at Sekigahara and the one she kept was the one her great uncle bought at auction. I know that kind of information is hard to come by if your family didn't record it.... but some digging may reveal it. --- Hey, (you,) you reading this! Go create a notebook of your treasures for your heirs! Do it now! 2 Quote
Sansei Posted June 8 Author Report Posted June 8 4 hours ago, GreyVR said: " She says that she would like to keep the best one in the family " She should keep them all until she can identify their relationship to her family. It would be very to find out the one she sold was the one her ancestor had at Sekigahara and the one she kept was the one her great uncle bought at auction. I know that kind of information is hard to come by if your family didn't record it.... but some digging may reveal it. George that’s very true. She needs to first of all find someone to provide an accurate evaluation of each sword. I have some information about one of her ancestors that I plan to show her on Saturday. Right now she doesn’t have enough info to make an informed decision. This will take some time and effort on her part 1 Quote
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