Need translation help please.

Good day all,

I have been trying to read a mei and it has proven to be too difficult for me.The blade is suriage and I think very old.There is some fresh red rust that I will be tending to this weekend along with detailed measurements and better photos.I believe it to be a tachi mei but I can't make out what is on the ura either.There are two blades that I am looking at for a trade (I will bring the other up in another post).

There is also a story about who had these swords which I find hard to believe.These were said to belong to General Yamashita .The fellow had some negatives which were reproduced.I don't know if these photos were published so maybe some one here will have input if they would like to see them.

Much thanks,

Bishu Kuni Kaneyoshi saku

? Toku (possibly the beginning of a date) the rest lost when the blade was shortened.

Pictures seem to show Yamashita....

Hi,

Nice blade!

Maybe the Mei is "Bishu, Kokubunji-ju" (備州　國分寺　住).

Date is being deciphered now.

Of course Morita san is correct. The last kanji visible is ju, not saku...My mistake....

Thanks to the both of you.I was completely lost on this one.Bizen,Bishu and Bingo all have the same kanji and I did not think this matched closely enough.How were you able to say Bishu over the other two?

Kokubunji-ji is a provincial temple for monks (according to wikipedia).So maybe the smith was a monk or?

The date could be Gentoku (元徳, 1329-).

Hi,

That could be Sukekuni 助國. there is a tachi signed 備州國分寺住助國作 in the Koto taikan and dated from Gentoku gannen juichi gatsu hi 元徳元年十一月日(1329, the eleventh month).

Thanks to the both of you.I was completely lost on this one.Bizen,Bishu and Bingo all have the same kanji and I did not think this matched closely enough.How were you able to say Bishu over the other two?

 

Alan, almost correct... there were three portions of the province refered to as Bishu. "Bishu' is a generic "regional" term which covers the three portions. When travelling from Tokyo towards Hiroshima, one first reaches Bizen (Bi-first), then Bitchu (Bi-middle), then Bingo (Bi-last). All start with the same kanji "Bi", and together make up "Bishu", it is difficult to know exactly where your sword was made without data on the actual smith.

Finding out where Kokubunji is/was would be a good place to start...then check it against the known smiths.

Regards,

George.

Thanks George;your explanation was most helpful.

This is all exciting news and unfortunately I think the sword has seen it's last polish.Pictured below is what may be some de-lamination of jacket steel or an opening.There are also some nasty chips.Also a photo of the last polishers mark.Perhaps it has enough merit to get the current owner to take proper care of it (that is if I can't work a trade!).

Thanks everyone for being so helpful.

hi,

from Token bijutsu

24. Ko-Mihara School and Kokubunji Sukekuni

It is said that Masaie is the founder of the Mihara school that had thrived in Bingo Province during the Muromachi Period then his smith name had been succeeded up to the end of the Muromachi Period. Masaie used to be called ‘Ko-Mihara’ but all smiths of the school who had been active before the Nambokucho Period are called ‘Ko-Mihara’ today. It is very rare to see the extant work of Ko-Mihara Masaie and his son, Masahiro left a small number of tachi but there is no extant work of these smiths with production date. It is speculated that the earliest work of Masaie is one made around the Kenmu Era inferring from its classic workmanship. There is a smith called Sukekuni who believed to have lived in Kokubunji of Bizen Province and ‘Kokon Mei Zukushi’ and other swordsmith directories say that Sukekuni lived in Tojo of Yasu County; Bingo Province is the same smith as the above Sukekuni. I had never seen the extant work of the latter. Though, I had an opportunity to examine his oshigata recently and became to conclude that they are the same smith and have confirmed that Sukekuni demonstrates a workmanship similar to that of Ko-Mihara. Sukekuni’s tachi that I have ever seen have the production dates of the Gentoku and Kenmu Eras. In addition, ‘Haya Midashi’ lists oshigata with the production dates of Genkyo 2 (1322), Kareki 3 (1328) and Tokuji 2 (1309). The mei of first oshigata is done in normal style and the second one is in unusual style. The workmanship of the latter looks classical.

Alan, :D

I did not explain everything in the first my posting on this thread.

I gave you some hints, Bishu...Kokubunji,It is a formula to derive Sukekuni from the hint of Bishu and Kokubunji.

So,Jacques D was right.

Thank you for the excerpt from Token bijutsu Jacques D. You are fast on the draw!

Thank you Morita-san for your help. I was headed in the direction you pointed and found information following "Kokubunji". I found mention of this smith in a couple of books and on the web.

The owner of the sword was completely blown away as I explained this to him! Especially considering how he obtained it/them. These would have gone out in a garage sale had he not stumbled upon them.

A special thanks to this forum for being here.

Alan,

Just a comment, Jacques and Morita san were just explaining what is written on the nakago.

No one has said it is genuine or not, so to have any confirmation shinsa should be the next step

Hi,

My son being back home with my camera, below, the oshigata from the Koto taikan.

Thanks for the oshigata Jacques D.I see some stylistic variation and it does not look very promising.Any other opinions?

I know Jean,I just get a little enthusiastic with what could be.Hope springs eternal.