Another gunto mei translation

[Eiichi]

Hello,

 

I'm new to the forum, and I have a gunto that my Grandfather brought back after WWII. I did a bit of research by reading Fuller and Gregory's Military Swords Of Japan and I got a lot of useful information, but not enough to know the back round of my particular sword. I had my Grandmother read the mei on the nakago, and she was able to read it in Japanese, but not translate it into English. I'm nisei, and I don't speak much Japanese. The nakago has a showa stamp at the top portion and a unidentified stamp at the bottom portion. The mei reads:

No

Myo

Seki

Ten

Shu

Saku

First 2 characters

3rd and 4th characters

5th and 6th characters

unidentified stamp at the bottom of the nakago

Please excuse my poor pictures.

 

Thank you in advance for your replies!

[John A Stuart]

Pretty close, Noshu Seki Amahide Saku. John

[Eiichi]

Pretty close, Noshu Seki Amahide Saku. John

 

 

Hello John,

 

What is the translation in English, and do you know what the stamp means as well?

 

Made by Amahide?

[John A Stuart]

Yes, made by Amahide of the town of Seki in Noshu (Mino) province. Flaming ball kokuin. John

[Eiichi]

Yes, made by Amahide of the town of Seki in Noshu (Mino) province. Flaming ball kokuin. John

 

 

Thank you, John. I appreciate your quick response.

[David Flynn]

Amahide ran a sword factory. His swords were signed by either his son, Fukumoto Kanemune(this sword) or Ido Hidetoshi. This sword would be classed as a Showato/gunto (mass produced).

[Toryu2020]

Eiichi -

Interesting piece, would be nice to see the blade and fittings - not surprising your grandmother may not be familiar with some of the conventions of reading sword signatures - at the cost of presuming here and perhaps giving offense to her I would offer the following;

 

濃州関天秀作

Which I would render; Noshu Seki Amahide Saku or "Amahide of Seki in Mino made this"

Note the Shu is presented in more cursive style and so could look to some like Myo

The character Ama can also be read as Ten so shes on the right track

Hide may also be read as shu so again her reading is correct unless you know that this is the swordsmiths name.

 

The stamp is a flaming jewel as posted by John, and this stamp and it's theme was covered here recently you should be able to find it archived

 

Begging pardon from Grandma...

-tom

[Eiichi]

Here are pictures of the rest of the sword and some of the things that came with it.

 

 

The last three photos show the box it was shipped in and the sword bag it was stored in. I also have 3 tags the sword came with. They appear to be rail destination cards and baggage claim cards. The baggage claim card reads: "Grandmas translation"

Mr. Nakayama Toshiro

1401 Tamachi Mishima City

Shizuoka Ken Japan

[loiner1965]

Yes, made by Amahide of the town of Seki in Noshu (Mino) province. Flaming ball kokuin. John

i have a katana with the same flaming ball kao but by his son fukomoto kanemune

[Roger Wildcat]

loiner,

 

Is it possible that Amahide made your blade but was signed by Fokomoto hince the fireball kao?

[Toryu2020]

Eiichi -

looks to be in terrific shape, the koshirae and handle too, with the company grade officers tassel. One point of confusion is that the Bag, The box and the card do not agree. You have three names; Matsuoka, Nakayama and what looks like Tashiro Masao on the bag. It may be that these things were all put together before being sent to your grandfather. I wonder is there any info on the sword written on the bag or box that would tie it to any one of these names?

 

Regardless, you have a fine legacy there, how nice that you have the chance to research and preserve it...

-tom

[Eiichi]

Eiichi -

looks to be in terrific shape, the koshirae and handle too, with the company grade officers tassel. One point of confusion is that the Bag, The box and the card do not agree. You have three names; Matsuoka, Nakayama and what looks like Tashiro Masao on the bag. It may be that these things were all put together before being sent to your grandfather. I wonder is there any info on the sword written on the bag or box that would tie it to any one of these names?

 

Regardless, you have a fine legacy there, how nice that you have the chance to research and preserve it...

-tom

Tom,

 

Yes, I found it strange that the name on the bag has the name Tashiro Masao, but on the box it says Matsuoka, and the rail card has the name Nakayama Toshiro. It would be interesting to investigate those names, and if I'm lucky, I could find out who this sword originally belonged to.

 

On a side note, despite this sword being a showato and not a true gendaito or nihonto, I would eventually like to have it polished. It has a lot of sentimental value, and I would like to pass it down in the family. Are there any good sword polishers that would entertain the idea of polishing a showato blade?

[David Flynn]

Try Fred Lohman: http://www.Japanese-swords.com/