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Post by frenchie90 on Jun 25, 2024 9:13:02 GMT
Hello Dear Forum Members, I come seeking to understand what this sword is, it was found in an appartment of someone who seemed to collect anything and everything. Postcards, pins, paintings, literally hundreds of books stacked on top of each other. Literally nothing is known about the origine of this sword right now, I posted some images and a translation of Chat GPT. Supposedly a Reddit user said "Kanekuni" crafted this sword? Another user on reddit said "The visible Kanji: 兼國作 "
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Post by treeslicer on Jun 25, 2024 14:39:04 GMT
Hello Dear Forum Members, I come seeking to understand what this sword is, it was found in an appartment of someone who seemed to collect anything and everything. Postcards, pins, paintings, literally hundreds of books stacked on top of each other. Literally nothing is known about the origine of this sword right now, I posted some images and a translation of Chat GPT. Supposedly a Reddit user said "Kanekuni" crafted this sword? Another user on reddit said "The visible Kanji: 兼國作 " Welcome to the forum.
The mei is definitely 兼國作, which is "kanekuni saku". or " made [by] Kanekuni". Unfortunately, there were a large number of swordsmiths who signed "Kanekuni" working in a variety of locations in Japan, from the Muromachi period (1400's to 1500's) forward to modern times. The rust [which should NEVER be removed from a nakago!!!!!] on the nakago (tang) suggests a date of at least mid-Edo period (circa early 1700's). To make any real determination about the sword's provenance and value, we need GOOD (sharp) photos of the ENTIRE BLADE.
IMHO, from what can already be seen, the sword is a nihonto (an authentic Japanese sword), and therefore worth at least several hundred dollars.
MORE PHOTOS PLEASE.
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Post by mrstabby on Jun 25, 2024 19:22:06 GMT
Kind of looks like one of those where the owner didn't know what it was. Something that was used for opening letters for ages not something from a collection - And please tell me it only looks like it was pulled through an electric knife sharpener on the pictures. Unless it's really unique it's likely not worth restoring, gonna cost more to get it done than it will gain in worth. Natural sunlight works best for better pictures, flash photos won't come out right and most inside light sources are too dim to get nice pictures.
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Post by treeslicer on Jun 25, 2024 21:28:41 GMT
Kind of looks like one of those where the owner didn't know what it was. Something that was used for opening letters for ages not something from a collection - And please tell me it only looks like it was pulled through an electric knife sharpener on the pictures. Unless it's really unique it's likely not worth restoring, gonna cost more to get it done than it will gain in worth. Natural sunlight works best for better pictures, flash photos won't come out right and most inside light sources are too dim to get nice pictures. Yo, Stabby! You are badly confused by the awful pictures. ![:D](//storage.forums.net/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) The wakizashi blade is NOT pictured except for its nakago. The blade shown is that of the kogatana to the wakizashi.
This is a good example of why posting little itsy-bitsy detail pictures when asking for sword info is a terrible practice.
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 25, 2024 21:53:18 GMT
I was super confused when I first saw this thread on my phone, because I was convinced it was a very weirdly-shaped wakizashi. Having since seen it on a proper computer, it's as treeslicer says: That's the kogatana.
Definitely need better photos of the whole sword to make any informed judgements of its quality.
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Post by mrstabby on Jun 26, 2024 6:32:21 GMT
Kind of looks like one of those where the owner didn't know what it was. Something that was used for opening letters for ages not something from a collection - And please tell me it only looks like it was pulled through an electric knife sharpener on the pictures. Unless it's really unique it's likely not worth restoring, gonna cost more to get it done than it will gain in worth. Natural sunlight works best for better pictures, flash photos won't come out right and most inside light sources are too dim to get nice pictures. Yo, Stabby! You are badly confused by the awful pictures. ![:D](//storage.forums.net/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) The wakizashi blade is NOT pictured except for its nakago. The blade shown is that of the kogatana to the wakizashi.
This is a good example of why posting little itsy-bitsy detail pictures when asking for sword info is a terrible practice.
Ah, yes, that makes sense, sorry. Looked too big for a knife though - wide angle lenses at low resolution make things weird. I should DEFINATELY have noticed the missing Tsuba though, also a good example how mistakes happen when you rush.
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Post by frenchie90 on Jun 26, 2024 19:46:17 GMT
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 26, 2024 20:36:44 GMT
With those proportions I would call this a tanto, rather than a wakizashi, but the distinction is fuzzy at best.
That aside, it looks pretty old and almost definitely an authentic, period piece, but I can't speak to the signature and will leave that to the more educated among us.
It's in pretty bad shape, and looking at how small the machi already are, I'm not sure it could take a new polish. Decent piece as-is, anyway.
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Post by treeslicer on Jun 26, 2024 23:42:37 GMT
Hello, Here's more photos and I am sorry for the wait, truth be said, my close friend found it and I am trying to help him out as he does not speak english but I do. Helps a lot to know english when you want a more broad audience to see what you want to be reviewed hehe Thanks for the photos. Please measure the nagasa (sharpened part of the blade), from the munemachi (notch on the back of the blade which touches the habaki) to the kissaki (sharp tip). If the nagasa is less than one shaku (11.9 inches or 30.3 cm) long, then it is a tanto, if longer than one shaku, but less than two, it's a wakizashi (katana are 2 or more shaKu long).
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Post by frenchie90 on Jun 27, 2024 8:56:35 GMT
Hello, Here's more photos and I am sorry for the wait, truth be said, my close friend found it and I am trying to help him out as he does not speak english but I do. Helps a lot to know english when you want a more broad audience to see what you want to be reviewed hehe Thanks for the photos. Please measure the nagasa (sharpened part of the blade), from the munemachi (notch on the back of the blade which touches the habaki) to the kissaki (sharp tip). If the nagasa is less than one shaku (11.9 inches or 30.3 cm) long, then it is a tanto, if longer than one shaku, but less than two, it's a wakizashi (katana are 2 or more shaKu long). 31,5cm
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Post by mrstabby on Jun 27, 2024 9:02:55 GMT
Thanks for the photos. Please measure the nagasa (sharpened part of the blade), from the munemachi (notch on the back of the blade which touches the habaki) to the kissaki (sharp tip). If the nagasa is less than one shaku (11.9 inches or 30.3 cm) long, then it is a tanto, if longer than one shaku, but less than two, it's a wakizashi (katana are 2 or more shaKu long). 31,5cm Heh
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Post by treeslicer on Jun 27, 2024 11:31:43 GMT
Thanks for the photos. Please measure the nagasa (sharpened part of the blade), from the munemachi (notch on the back of the blade which touches the habaki) to the kissaki (sharp tip). If the nagasa is less than one shaku (11.9 inches or 30.3 cm) long, then it is a tanto, if longer than one shaku, but less than two, it's a wakizashi (katana are 2 or more shaKu long). 31,5cm To appreciate the enormity of your error, please read this article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaku_%28unit%29
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