Very Large Katana

[Gary Cain]

A person brought this in to the store today looking for information about it. I told him what I could but could not translate the Kanji. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

That is an 18 inch ruler alongside it.
Gary

[Gary Cain]

The tang

A person brought this in to the store today looking for information about it. I told him what I could but could not translate the Kanji. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

That is an 18 inch ruler alongside it.
Gary

[Gary Cain]

tang 2

The tang

[Gary Cain]

tang 3

tang 2

[Gary Cain]

tang 4

tang 3

[Gary Cain]

tang 5

tang 4

[Gary Cain]

The Tsuba is quite large as well and appears to be plated iron

tang 5

[Gary Cain]

tsuba again

The Tsuba is quite large as well and appears to be plated iron

[Gary Cain]

the Habaki is nicely rendered in silver

tsuba again

[JRO]

I thought it may have been a fake but the tsuba and tang are probably just cleaned

[Bob Coleman]

Absolutely Nothing Wrong With This Sword. It Is Signed By Yasuji, A Swordsmith Of The Satsuma School In Southern Kyushu. It Is Date The 13th Year Of Kansei(1801). It Is Late And I Will Spend Some More Time On Translating The Nakago Tomorrow Unless One Of Our Other Esteemed Members Wishes To Chime In. The Guard And Mounting Are Likely All Contemporary. Unfortunately, Some Fool Polished The Tsuba To Make It Shiny, Removing The Original Patination. I Would Like To See Pictures Of The Entire Mounting As Satsuma Mountings Are Very Distinctive And Would Indicate The Samurai Was From That Area.

[Bob Coleman]

A Further Note On The Tsuba, It Is A Soft Metal Guard And Not Iron. It Is Also Satsuma School Work. The Original Finish Would Have Been Shakudo, A Dark Blue Black Finish. The Finish Can Be Restored But Is Quite Expensive. It's Dirty So Lets Make It Nice And Shiny To Impress Everyone. Does The Nakago Look Cleaned Also Or Is The Finish Unrusted?

[Edokko]

Most likely gimei of Namihira Yasu-uji （波平安氏）but a genuine handmade Japanese sword nevertheless.

[Bob Coleman]

I thought it may have been a fake but the tsuba and tang are probably just cleaned

JRO--
IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A "WHITE" NAKAGO ON AN OLDER JAPANESE SWORD. UNUSUAL, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE. I ONCE OWNED A KAWACHI NO KAMI SUKESADA WAKIZASHI FROM THE LATE 18TH CENTURY THAT WAS STORED IN IT'S ORIGINAL SHIRASAYA, LOOKED LIKE A GENDAITO AND HAD UBUBA. I ALSO HAD A MID 19TH CENTURY BIZEN SUKEKANE BLADE IN COMPARABLE CONDITION. WE ARE ALL HERE TO LEARN. IF THE NAKAGO WAS CLEANED, I WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE KANJI INSCRIPTION WOULD BE AS SHARP AS THEY ARE. WELCOME TO THE FORUM.

[Gary Cain]

Hello Bob,

Many thanks for the help! The Tsuka is here and it has seen many better days as has the saya.

Gary