? on recently acquired Japanese swords

[koto]

Originally Posted by knife7knut

Are there certain features that make this so obvious? I am far from knowledgeable in relation to Japanese edged weapons but have a considerable collection of Western pocket and fixed blade knives;many of them quite old and can usually tell the difference between a genuinely old knife and a simulated one.
I ask this because I am always wanting to learn more.

Actually nothing smell right there -- the shape of the whole thing, the wrap, the shape and the fittings of / on the handle, the workmanship of the tsuba, the detail of the scabbard, the kogatana, the forging grian of the blade...... Don't learn anything from these two. They are not the right things. Buy a real Nihonto and it will tell you a lot!