Translation of a sword signature

[Acoyauh]

Hello,
This sword is being offered, really cheap. I do not expect it to be nihonto, of course, but I would like to try and figure out its manufacture to see if it's worth getting it for practice. I'm aware that some (bad) China swords carve Japanese-looking gibberish to pass them as nihonto or whatever, but there are also some decent forges that make good swords and sign their swords' nakago. Just want to see which species this one is...

Thank you!

In case photo does not display, its direct link is http://shinnihonto.mx/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/bohi01.jpg

 

[Toritoribe]

That's a laughably terribly made fake of 摂津守源忠行 Settsu no kami Minamoto no Tadayuki.

 

[Acoyauh]

Hello Totoribe, and thanks again for your help.
So it is the "bad" kind of forge... I need something for my kids to start togishi-ing on, but I refuse to buy this kind of stuff, even if it's just for murdering them...

 

[Majestic]

Impossible to say from just looking at the nakago. We would need to see the sword itself to get a better idea. However, it looks like a brand new nakago, and not an antique at all. A bigger problem is the idea of your kids using a real sword to practice polishing (if I understand you correctly). Sword-polishing is an art that takes years to learn under apprenticeship of a skilled polisher. It is important to know the history of swords, the composition, the shape, the type of sword and hamon the smith intended to make, etc...I cringe at the thought of an amateur buying an authentic Japanese antique and giving it to another amateur to practice polishing. The potential for ruining a piece of history is too great.

 

[Acoyauh]

Hello again, Majestic
I have been restoring antiques for 20+ years, and I do know the togishi art well enough to bring back a nearly ruined sword - that's mostly what I do. I pick up a few blades that were "sharpened" like a kitchen knife, lines almost obliterated, especially the yokote, find the original shape under the mess and bring it back.
I also do my best to study the art of kantei, but not speaking (or reading) Japanese is a big drawback, not to mention not being immersed in the culture/history. As limited as my general culture is, I can work on a sword to revive it recovering the original shape while removing the absolute minimum of material. One thing that is very new to me is the incredible fakes market I see in sites like eBay, so I'm studying China made stuff almost as hard as my kantei.

As for my kids, yes, I get that a lot =) having them surrounded by swords makes most people cringe. As a responsible adult parent I must make sure they are well prepared for the zombie apocalypse soon to come and be armed to the teeth >=). Seriously though, they currently help mostly with koshirae cleanup and restoration, metal "neutralization" and cleanup, leather, cloth, etc. and the eldest can polish European swords like a pro. I want her to start screwing up wallhanger katana blades like daddy did to start her on the actual Japanese polish. Oaxaca, Mexico makes excellent steel, horribly shaped swords that I used to learn, but those are never marketed as nihonto...

Next sword I finish (a Muromachi uchigatana this time) I will post a photo-sequence of the process for you. Just so you can sleep at ease =D

 

[mdchachi]

As for my kids, yes, I get that a lot =) having them surrounded by swords makes most people cringe.

As long as you keep plenty of firearms around to balance out the swords than it should be fine.