Dear Pete and Stan!
Thanks a lot for for your answers and help. I'm sorry, but had no chance to answer earlier.
Mr. Stan, you're absolutely right: meis are made at differet times, wiht different tools and different people. A surface of nakago was cleaned before drawing Kanji.
As you asked, I give some more photos of this sword.
I'm sorry for quality, but I'm not a good photographer and haven't proper equipment for photos. Therefore I give the some comments: It is katana. The whole length - 35.4", length of nagasa - 24.4"
Hamon type is close to hiro-suguba.
Nagasa have a little kizu in hamon area, probably you can see it on photos.
I shall wait impatiently for your opinion on this sword.
Best Regards, Oliver.
P.S. If for any reasons you will think, that it is a fake, please, let me know: to know truth it is better, than looks like a fool.
Hōju continued...
Hi Oliver,
It's definitely not a fake in a sense of being a genuine Japanese sword produced using traditional methods. Whether the signature ('Hōju') is genuine or not needs to be determined by a proper examination in person. No picture can help.
Looking at the nakago, it was most definitely shortened (suriage) with 'Hōju' being the original signature, and the date added presumably by the person who shortened it. It used to be a long blade (nagasa of around 28-29 inches). The blade surface looks worn out with very little niku left and shinogi line is very close to mune, but it's perfectly explainable for it's age. From what I can gather from the photos, the steel colour looks like Koto.
Now coming back to age and smith, there were many Hōju between Kamakura and Muromachi. First of all you should look at the overall shape of the blade to get an idea of the era.
Unfortunately I don't have any examples of Hōju blades to compare it with.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Stan
my comment
...And I would add that considering the damage to the HA (chips), plus that it is already "tired" as Stan said, it cannot (or should not) be polished again. So, it is what it is, and will likely stay that way.
Pete