Samurai swords bare the signature of their maker on their tang. However, the only swords that were signed were those that met the standards of the maker. Therefore, it is possible to have two blades made by the same person and yet have one that is not signed.

The collector must be aware that signature forgeries have been going on since the early days of sword making. Lesser known sword makers would copy the signature of more famous craftmen and chisel it on a sword. The fact that a signature is old does not necessarily mean that it was made by a famous master.

Often times the tang contains incriptions on both sides. One side houses the date of manufacture while the other side contains the name of the maker. If the information was available, the side with the name would also have the title of the maker and the town or school where the blade came from.

Unlike the blade the tang was never polished. As a last step in the sword making process, the master would draw a pattern of lines on the tang and then chisel the inscriptions on it. The collector should never clean the tang of a sword because it contains a great deal of information regarding the age of the blade and authenticity of the signature.

The handguard of the Samurai sword is known as the Tsuba. It is of metal construction. the shape of the Tsuba is either round or rectangular. The main purpose of the Tsuba is to protect the hand of the warrior from the incoming strike of another weapon.

Tsubas can be very plain in design, as they were in most of the mass-produced Samurai swords during WWII or highly ornate. True master pieces, as they are when they are manufactured by artisans.

During WWII most of the swords that were created had a round shape and contained the designed of a chrysanthemum flower, which was the symbol of the Japanese Imperial Army.

There are some individuals that are dedicated to collecting Tsubas exclusively.

The Samurai sword pommel is a metal piece located at the end of the handle. It is the closest part to the body of the warrior when he is holding the sword in a combat stance.

The design of the pommel can be very basic or highly ornamental. In general, the swords that were mass produced during WWII have a very plain pommel. The hand made swords produced before and after WWII tend to have more ornate designs. They are created by true craftsmen who specialize in this art.

The standard pommel for the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII was of a bronze color and had the design of a large chrysanthemum on one side.

During the manufacturing process the blade is covered in a special insulating clay which is then heated to extreme temperatures, then water is poured on the mix. These steps provide a hardened edge with a visual pattern that loosely resembles the pattern in which the clay was applied. A common practice which often followed was that of polishing the hamon to make it stand out more from the rest of the steel.

As a general rule older blades have a narrow and straight and narrow hamon. One of problems experienced when fighting with older blades was that the hamon would chip horizontally following the edge of the blade. The other problem that could occur is that a chip could easily go through a narrow Hamon, requiring extensive polishing to correct the edge. This could easily cut into most of the Hamon.

The Heian period saw the introduction of wider hamons. This is the period where the serrated, toothlike hamons (gunome) were invented. Each tooth projection is known as ashi. This design greatly reduced the chiping problem and confined the maximum size of any lateral breaking to the distance between two ashi. The pattern of the ashi were also used as a signature of particular schools.