I disassembled this katana and need help reading the maker’s mark
imgur.com/gallery/DUUlb0s
imgur.comPosted May 2, 2020, 10:35 PM UTC
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imgur.comClose up is the third pic. My brother bought this sword as part of a lot of several of them on eBay probably 15 or 20 years ago and gave me this one. If I remember correctly it was supposed to be a WWII gunto (doubtful but whatever) and I decided to refinish the wood parts and clean everything. Didn’t expect it to have an etched maker’s mark in the tang. Any translators or sword historians have any thoughts?
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is a Chinese made forgery. It is rusted and "antiqued" to trick people into spending their hard earned money.
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I don’t really care one way or the other because I got it for free. How can you tell that it’s a forgery?
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Hard to explain thoroughly besides every piece is fairly crude. Here is a good page by the Japanese Sword Society of the United States. You'll find good descriptions and photographed examples of real and fake Nihonto.
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Fascinating!
Well, at least I don’t have to worry about ruining it while I amateurishly refurbish it. I’m just going to hang it on my wall as “art”. The important story for me is that it was a gift from my brother and I cleaned it up with my own hands.
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It says "Koharu Ryoko". Most likely the maker of the sword.
Neat!