Mei translation please

I am in the process of acquiring this, my first nihonto. The seller directed me here to search for more information -- rumor has it this is a shinshinto blade, signed kanemichi but probably a fake signature.

Any help with translation and/or kantei would be appreciated.

sorry, these are the best pictures i have at the moment

thanks

Hi,

The mei reads Iga no kami fujiwara Kinmichi on omote side and nihon kaji Sosho on ura side.

Mishina school. Could be the nidai (second generation)

High resolution pics should be helpful to compare the mei with oshigata.

Hi,

 

The mei reads Iga no kami fujiwara Kinmichi on omote side and nihon kaji Sosho on ura side.

 

Mishina school. Could be the nidai (second generation)

 

 

High resolution pics should be helpful to compare the mei with oshigata.

please forgive my newbie status. what does that mean in english? i assume something like made by kanemichi, and the date on the ura side?

so, it does suggest the kanemichi of the mishina school... interesting.

Hi,

that means that this sword was made by Kin(or kane)michi, belonging to the Fujiwara family and bearing the honorific title of governor of Iga province (Iga no kami) .

Nihon kaji sosho means Master (chief) swordsmith of Japan.

Hi,

 

that means that this sword was made by Kin(or kane)michi, belonging to the Fujiwara family and bearing the honorific title of governor of Iga province (Iga no kami) .

 

Nihon kaji sosho means Master (chief) swordsmith of Japan.

ah, i see. that one is right in nagayama on p. 235.

very interesting, though as i said i'm told this is probably a forged signature and the kiku mon has some atypical features. also, there is mune yaki, which is not tolerated by kanemichi.

any opinions on the mei (forged)?

Hi,

very interesting, though as i said i'm told this is probably a forged signature and the kiku mon has some atypical features. also, there is mune yaki, which is not tolerated by kanemichi.

that's right for the first Kanemichi, he doesn't use kiku mon and the quote "nihon kaji sosho"

The nidai used both, so at first glance the mei seems legit. The picture is too small to compare correctly with oshigata.

now that i've had a little time to search this site for more info, i was intrigued by this post:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2063&hilit=kinmichi+yondai

almost the same kanji (except the penultimate character on the ura side).

and there is this post, which was posted last year by the seller of the sword in question that i have now acquired (though the photos links are no longer operative). so, it looks like you've already chimed in on this blade, and the seller accurately represented what he determined here already.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2161&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=kinmichi

i am just a very beginning nihontophile, but the rust pattern on the nakago did strike me as odd.

anyone care to make any final comments? i can post more pictures when the blade is in my hands if that would be helpful.

more pictures... unfortunately not very good ones...

Hi,

Joe,

I think this blade is gimei, the mei is misplaced, on a shoshin one it starts always under the mekugi-ana and is not close to the mune.

I will post an oshigata to morrow.

any speculations on the gimei based on the rest of the blade?

i was told it's probably a shinshinto (now that i've held it, it is indeed quite thick and heavy with little fumbari) blade. as i understand it, the signature if real would be from the 2nd generation kanemichi meaning some 200 years earlier. so, was this signed by the shinshinto smith, signed by someone else later, and/or was the blade a copy of a real kanemichi? so many possibilities!

thanks

joe

Hi,

As promised, an oshigata of a representative blade made by nidai Kinmichi.

Concerning the thickness, Kinmichi usually made blade with a relatively thick kasane.

Hi,

 

As promised, an oshigata of a representative blade made by nidai Kinmichi.

 

 

 

Concerning the thickness, Kinmichi usually made blade with a relatively thick kasane.

hmmm... and this one is a different nidai kinmichi? with a signature that starts above the ana, but an ura kiku mon?

http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/oshigata% ... 20s11.html

any final guesses about my blade? can someone point me to a good article about signature forgeries and the various reasons this might have been done on this sword?

thanks

joe

Hi,

Joe,

I think the oshigata you link is a sandai one (or yondai). Nihon kaji sosho 日本鍜冶惣匠 is engraved with the ji 宗 (for so) and this one was used by the sandai and the yondai. The nidai used the ji 惣 (for the same so). the center of the kikumon seems different too.

Ps i wonder which is really correct, this one 日本鍜冶惣匠, or this one 日本鍜冶宗匠? personally, i would lean to the second.