our wedding waki

peri_pheral

peri_pheral

Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
278
Hello-
Wanted to share images of the wakizashi we had shipped from Japan to cut our wedding cake with. Yes, my wife was supportive of the idea from the beginning and helped to pick out the sword :cool: . I really don't know much about the sword since it was purchased off of ebay, so if anyone can contribute info it would be really appreciated. There is writing under the handle that I tried to capture in the pictures...it is difficult to do with the rusting steel, but it seems like more than just the makers name.

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I hate to be the one to say this, and I hope I'm wrong but, I can almost guarantee you that this piece is a Chinese knock-off. Are you sure this came out of Japan? Do you have a link to the original auction?
 
BTW, congrats on your upcoming wedding and she is definitely a keeper if she is letting you use a wak to cut the cake! She got a sister??? ;)
 
It was almost a year ago that we found and purchased it from ebay. I have a Chinese made Katana that I am reasonably happy with, but I was hoping to get an inheritance type of piece for the wedding. I guess the value will come from sentimetality and not from actual craftsmanship...even though it does seem well made to me. I would not sell it no matter how much it was worth, so I guess it doesn't matter anyways. It really is a pretty nice piece.

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PS...sorry, she has only 3 brothers
 
I can't help you on your wakazashi, but congratulations on your nuptuals.

Jubei
 
To make the kanji more visible I have seen many people use chalk. Signature alone means very little in most cases. Can you show us the entire blade?
 
Congrats on your marriage, but remember what my sensei told me.
Beware of women wielding swords, it can be dangerous to your manhood. :-)

Rich
 
Triton said:
To make the kanji more visible I have seen many people use chalk. Signature alone means very little in most cases. Can you show us the entire blade?
Click to expand...

I tried to capture the shots you mention, but I am not very talented with a camera. It is actually very frustrating trying to take a detailed pic of polished steel...but I tried. Hopefully these offer more detail than the previous ones... THANKS

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Much better! Okay Rich, what do you think? The signature of that Japanese Master Smith or translating to "Beef with noodles? " :)
 
I have just e-mailed our forum translator. The pictures are nice and clear, but another way is to hold the tang over a smoking candle and let some soot deposit. Let the tang cool and carefully stick some Selotape to the tang. Peel it off and stick the tape to a sheet of white paper. The kanji will be shown in white on a black background.

I am sceptical as the peg hole cuts into one of the characters, and the rust looks 'new'.
 
Chinese fake imho. Blade geometry seems off on the kissaki, the hamon seems to be etched and just "feels" wrong, the rust on the nakago is forced, the habaki looks poorly made and sloppy, the tsuba is way too big for a wak (which could happen but is suspect in this case), etc.

But hey, it happens all the time on ebay so don't feel bad. But this one has value now... it served as a token of love on your wedding. It's priceless. Congrats on getting married! If you really want a 100% answer on this then ask the pros here: http://forums.swordforum.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=14
 
I really dont know much of anything, but the blade does seem to be off a bit, especially at the kissaki, which to me doesnt look like a waki's at all. The hamon doesnt look real in the picture. Idk much about the nakago or the mei, but with the the mekugi-ana cutting into the character like that I dont think thats real either. Either way, it still looks nice, and now has sentimental value, so im not going to say much against it....I just wouldnt recommend cutting anything other than cake with it...:D congrats btw
 
Thanks to everyone for the input and best wishes. This was a fun thread for me, but I guess deep down I suspected what most of you do. Of course, there is no amount of money that I will place on the memories, so this one stays on my sword stand no matter what else shares space with it.

Bill
 
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