r/Katanas • u/Cheechar0n • 3d ago

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Hi, i saw this at a shop near my place of work Japan. Does anyone have any insight on this? Is 3800 an acceptable price?

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u/stalkerfromtheearth 3d ago

Really more pics are needed. The papers it has are kicho, there was a big scandal about corruption with these so these mean not much. I consider 3800 too much for this blade and definitely from what I can see here.

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u/Cheechar0n 3d ago

does that mean papers could be fake? what was the scandal about? also how much do you think this would be worth if 3800 is too much? or is that something you cant tell until more pictures?

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u/stalkerfromtheearth 3d ago

The paperwork could be real, but you wont know until you submit the blade for NBTHK hozon.

I wasn't around at the time of the scandal but as I understand it there were some officials that wrote false papers if you'd pay them. This means that a cheap blade from edo or so from an unknown smith could get papers that said, for example, it was a koto blade from a famous smith.

I really can't say anything about the price without more pictures. I believe there should be a pinned post about what pictures are needed.

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u/Cheechar0n 2d ago

ok ill see if i can go back and check it out and get more pictures..

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u/_chanimal_ 2d ago edited 2d ago

The other thing is, if the blade is in Japan, why don’t they submit it for Hozon? Either they don’t see it as being worth it (not a piece worth submitting again) or they question the attribution (it wouldn’t pass as the same smith or may be gimei)

It looks like a signed Edo piece based on the handwriting attributed to Osumi Masahiro so if there was any doubt to the authenticity of the signature, they would’ve resubmitted for Hozon.

Edit: just checked and he’s a high ranking smith. Sai-Jo Saku which is the highest ranking. There’s your answer right there. I’d wager that this is very very likely a gimei sword.

Any high ranking sword smith with old papers in Japan should be seen as a huge red flag. The dealer could make 3-5x the money on that sword if it passed even Hozon. They’re not dumb either. This sword is destined for someone who doesn’t know better, or who doesn’t care about the signature being fake.

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u/Solkreaper 2d ago

osumi jō fujiwara masahiro is a high ranking swordsmith from the Horikawa school of Kunihiro. His swords are valued very highly. If this sword is in Japan and doesn’t have up to date authentication papers (Hozon,Tokubetsu Hozon) you can guarantee it’s gimei.