Nihonto Club

I'm just guessing; don't have any hard facts:
I doubt that the location of the nagasa is important, given that it is a hand-written document. Also, if it was important, and someone were trying to fake the papers, why would they make such an obvious mistake?

Other advice (this I'm sure of):
Don't expect to actually learn very much from studying papers (kanteishou, ninteishou, etc.). NBTHK papers typically include almost no useful info to a collector. It's just the NBTHK saying "we think this blade is legit, and this is how important we think it is (hozon, tokubetsu hozon, etc.)". If the blade is signed, it just confirms that the signature is not false (gimei). If it's unsigned (mumei), it will tell you what school it is from (maybe useful, if you don't already know).

The most important reason to get papers for a blade that you already own is to increase its resale value. As a buyer, papers can increase your confidence that you're paying a fair price (not paying too much for a gimei).

For example, I have a small blade (aikuchi) signed "[Bizen] Yasumitsu". It is almost certainly gimei (about 90% of Yasumitsu-signed blades are gimei). But being gimei doesn't make it a poor-quality blade. It is still an important piece of history from hundreds of years ago. I paid a "gimei price" for it years ago.

So, my advice to a newer collector is to NOT buy any blade where there is a risk of it being fake. Stay away from any big-name blade, or any smith name that is known to be commonly gimei. Stay away from any blade that is 'expensive'.

My "best advice ever": Go for a moderately-priced good-quality mumei (unsigned) blade that does NOT have papers. You will learn a lot by studying it, and not have to worry about it being "fake" in some way. The hardest part is determining the "good quality" part (you don't want to buy a blade that was made in China last year, for example). In your situation, I would NOT buy from eBay, but rather go to one of the established collectors' sites.

My other "best advice ever": When buying your first blade, hook up with an experienced collector who can help you choose. You want to hear him say "this is a solid blade from the XX time period, with no obvious problems, the polish is good enough that you can see the important features, and the price is fair". That's the blade you want. Don't worry about signatures and papers and such.

Pete

Thanks for your answer. I agree, it would be a very carless mistake to make. While hunting for other examples that placement among other things I have found that while its seems to be odd, it doesn't, as you said, seem to mean anything.

I'm looking, saving and holding out for the real thing. I have two swords, a traditionally made a katana from WWII and a edo period wakizashi, unsigned but still a prize possession of mine. I'm hope to soon make another purchase. Papered or not, it's the art that went into making the sword as well as a fascination for the history that surounds it that fascinates me. If there is a signature it would be nice to know that is is authentic. My ability to differentiate between real and gi-mei is way too low. Ebay offers a great opportunity to see/learn to recognize many levels of fakes.

Ken