David McDonald

Dear Dave

To add to Marks post your sword has

濃No

州Shu

住Ju

源Minamoto

秀Hide

俊Toshi

作saku

Noshu is refering to Mino province, ju is lived at

Minamoto is a clan name

the smiths name is Hidetoshi

saku is made.

If you have questions about your sword please ask.

later

david

Dear Mark

I read

Omi no Kami Minamoto Kunimasa

近O

江mi

守Kami

源Minamoto

国Kuni

正masa

Hawley KUN418 and KUN440

Worked in Musashi and Iwashiro around 1688 and student of Hidetoke

Worked in suguba

good luck

david mcdonald

Dear John and Morita

I am glad someone could read the kanji.

In vol2 by Gary Murtha there is a listing for a

Takahashi Masatsugu as late Edo and founder of the Takahashi school that is

actually part of the Ito school. He is famous for his guribori work.

The image with the note looks a little like your tsuba's signature.

Looks like you need a shinsa to see if it is this famous smith.

Good luck

david

Dear Keith

Tadamasa is the name on the tsuba as the makers name.

Post an image of the tsuba and someone might be able to

say more about the tsuba and when it was made.

(remove the seppa so only tsuba is in image)

good luck

david

Dear Keith

 

Your image is upside down and once turned over will give

忠Tada

正masa

 

I can not make out what is on the seppa - to much glare on

the image.

 

good luck

david

Dear Marc

Here is some info from Nihonto Meikan p813

Zushu Kimisawa ju Hironori

豆州君澤住弘則

天明Tenmei (period 1781)

伊豆Izu province (zushu)

(刀研,総覧) Name books? – Token Sōran

年紀Nenki (dated example??_)

天明三Tenmei san (1783)

注Chū (notes)

Bunka (1804) hachi nen (Shinmatsu??)shi gatsu ju ichi hi

(Kunsawa gun??)koyama kaname ishi Ei mon Kunitada

I think date of death and school of Kunitada????

文化八年辛末四月十一日君沢郡小山村要右衛門国忠

To ? ? ga a ru

と鞘書がある

Out of time for today maybe someone

Else with good Japanese language skills can take over

Later

david

Hello all, :D

 

Its a quite long time I am looking for info about this swordsmidth said to be active around 1781.

 

Does anyone have some details about related school, teacher, life, students and so on... ?

 

豆州 君澤 弘則

 

Thanks by advance :D

 

Marc

Dear Curran and John

I think Morita-san means that an image of the signature is

needed that is very clear.

The images above the drawing even enlarged does not show the

signature clearly.

John you might want to set the tsuba on a scanner and scan

just the signature area (600 dpi) so the on the image all character are

clear.

good luck

david

Morita-san,

 

There is a picture of the tsuba above (John?)'s drawing.

 

Are you thinking of a Shimizu (Jingo) school dilettante student?

Or something different?

Dear Keith

Your image is upside down and once turned over will give

忠Tada

正masa

I can not make out what is on the seppa - to much glare on

the image.

good luck

david

_________________

keith mccauley

any ideal what the writing on the tsuba says?

Dear Ludolf

Thanks for the thought. Looks like it might be right.

I did not find an example in my books to confirm but sure do not see anything else.

Thanks all that looked

later

david

Hi!The 1st Kanji,without the upper part to be seen,is probably Yoshi 義,so it's Yoshimitsu.I have checked the Mei of the 2 Koto guys from Bizen,YOS 1563 and 1565.The writing is similar,but it's not from them.There are some more 義光 without references where to look.Ludolf

Dear All

I am working on identify a 28.3 inch katana signature.

Sori is 1.25 inch (2.8 cm)

Hamon looks to be midare to a ko-choji midare

I am not sure of the first kanji.

拝gami, hai or maybe 祥yoshi, Jō, Shō

光 mitsu

Yoshimitsu does lead to a a Bizen smith working around 1429.

But the nakago does not look Bizen.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any thoughts you might have. I am starting to lose sleep trying

to identity the first kanji.

Thanks

david

Dear Oleg

I think that from what I see in the images that the sword

could be late war

when you see a lot of crude/poorly shaped nakago (tang)

The fittings are poor casts are found late war

no yokote/kissaki/lines not crisp

to me look like someone has taken a oil tempered blade with problems and fitted it up so that

it could be sold as a wall hanger.

If this was priced in the $200 to $400 range it is what it is.

If it was priced higher than $500 I would wonder about the seller.

But I do not think chinese.

Just my thoughts

david mcdonald

Dear Chris

I think you miss typed and mean Kanesada not Kuni sada.

In Hawley there is the listing KAN 271

Kawachi no Kami Kanesada

Yamato and later in Edo

worked around 1673-88

Itame, suguba and notare

sharp

30 points

Did not find an oshigata with the Monju in his signature.

good luck

david mcdonald

Hi All. I have just come across a Yari signed Kawachi no Kami Monju Kunisada (I think!) interestingly, it also has an impressed seal, something that I have not come across on a Yari before, can anyone shed any light on the seal or the smith?

Thanks. Chris F.

Dear Morita san

Thanks for the information.

This type of place name I always find hard to identity.

I hope anyone collecting this group of smiths can use the historical information.

Thanks again

later

david mcdonald

Hi,

 

以外濱沙鉄造之

 

"This sword was made from iron sand of Sotogahama " (外濱/Sotogahama-beach)(in Aomori prefecture).

Dear All

I am trying to identity the iron sand talked about on this shinshinto sword.

弘前住藤原正一

Hirosaki ju Fujiwara Masakazu

Wo motte Ge ? Sa Tetsu tsukuru kore

以外?沙鉄造之

Not sure of Ge or the next kanji

I was thinking Ge 外　as outside, and hama　濱

so outside beach????????

Thanks for any thoughts

( I have large images if needed - about 1.5 Mb size )

later

david

Dear Hilik

Great pictures and thanks for the information.

later

david

Dear Klaus

I think you did ok with Yoshimichi 吉道 as the smith name

Fuller has a listing of a Yoshimichi ( Komatsu? Yoshimichi)

later

david mcdonald

I tried to translate the Mei of the blade because it seems very easy, but no luck.

For me the second Kanji looks like 道 Michi (but I am quite sure that I am wrong, but also 恒 Tsune and 但 Tada do not fit - to less strokes ). And the first Kanji is absolutely mysterious for me (maybe 吉 Yoshi)

Many thanks for help!

edit: added (maybe 吉 Yoshi)

_________________

Klaus Schicker

Dear All

Thanks for all your thoughts.

Makes you wonder what else my be left

in the old garbage pit.

later

david

Dear All

Sorry I forgot to include the size.

width 2.8 cm (1 1/16 inch)

height 2.2 cm (7/8 inch)

thickness 0.15 cm ( 1/16 inch)

If it was for a pouch how would it be attached?

thanks again

david

Dear All

This item was found in an old garbage pit. Most of the trash was from the early 1900's.

Looks like nice work but what was it from or used for???

Thanks for any comments.

later

david

Dear Junichi

Most likely a rice glue was used to hold the ray skin to the saya.

And I have had some luck wetting the ray skin to get it soft and then reglueing.

To take the ray skin totally off it is best to work dry, when wet it is easy to tear the skin.

You can tear the skin when dry but it is harder.

Then wet the skin before putting it back on.

Often when finished there is still a gap that needs to be lacquered.

The two halves of the saya were most likely glued using rice glue.

I use a thin spatula to split.

Not sure if this helps.

good luck

david

I recently picked up a kai gunto, double hanger, which is in serious need of repair. The same on the saya has dried and pulled away. Part of it is still attached, but the other half is separated.

 

Getting a black lacquer saya just isn't the same as a ray skin covered one to me. If possible, I'd like to try to restore this one. I was wondering if any one knew what type of glue did they use to attach the ray skin to the saya? Also, is there an easy way to remove it? Will soaking it water or using a steam bath work?

 

it looks like the previous owner of the blade did not keep it in a nice spot, so the ray skin dried out. I've heard that the ray skin expands when wet, so getting it off and soaking it may possibly rejuvenate it?

 

From a previous post, it looks as though fred lohman does not repair ray skin saya any more. If any one can recommend a restorer, it would be much appreciated.

 

2nd question: what is the proper way to split open a saya to repair?(i.e. for when after I get the ray skin off)

Dear Edward G

Here is the translation.

Not sure of a couple of the kanji.

good luck

david

Dear All

Look what happens when you have to work and can not

read the Message Board!!!!

Jacques – I agree most likely gimei but might still be just

an unrecorded smith (but not likely unrecorded)

Jason – I hope there is an attached image of the listing.

In the listing there are notes of books but sorry

my Japanese is not that good to translate. Here is

what I can read.

Bishu Osafune ju Norimitsu

2nd generation

Engen (Yengen) period 1336

Bizen

Then I think name of books

Last dated swords I believe.

Engen 2nd year

Ooan 3rd year and 6th year

Sorry not ju nin just the ju

Jean – bashing heads????

When I read the posts about Norimitsu I got out my

KATANA and looked at the mei. When you said that

Ju was not associated --- “unseen with this smith”

I recalled that I had seen Bishu Osafune ju Norimitsu when

I was researching my katana. But as I listed in my email

this was not an easy task as you were correct that almost

all followed your note. But there is one.

Wakizashi/Katana whats a few ‘sun’ among friends.

Keith – Jōdan no kamae….. shomen

Does a cut to the head beat a small touche'?

Back to tsukamaki – I am working on a string style wrap where there are two strands and at the cross over the inside strans are hineri maki and the outside strands are rolled. Looks nice but took a while to figure out.

Later

david

Dear Jean

When you said that ju was not associated with Bishu Osafune my first thought

was that this can not be right. I was sure that there were many Bishu Osafune ju.

I have a Norimitsu mine is signed Bizen Kuni ju Norimitsu.

So go out Hawley’s -- you were right no Bishu Osafune ju but I did not give

up so went to Toko Taikan – you were right no Bishu Osafune ju but I did not give

up so when to Nihonto Meikan -- ha! there is a Bishu Osafune ju Norimitsu listed

On page 751 the second listing with a date of 1356 (embun or yembun period)

The listing has a double circle so must be a good smith.

The sword at hand does not seem that old so later generation?

Unrecorded signature style?

Always fun getting out the books and doing some reading.

Later

david

In early/Middle Murmachi the classical mei was:

 

"Bishu Osafune Norimitsu", with often a Nengo (date) on the other side.

 

In sue Muromachi : There were short mei without date, mostly kazu uchi mono.

 

Generally "Bishu Osafune + smith name".

 

What is very strange is the association of "ju" with "Bishu Osafune", unseen with this smith.

 

Generally "ju" is associated with "Bizen Kuni"

 

Later generation, unrecorded, why not but .....

Dear George

Thanks for the info. Maybe someone will know where Kishiyama is located.

Attached are some images. It looks like oil tempered but in a few places there

seems to be some hada. So some folding and oil tempered is my guess.

later

david

Hi,

you seem to have got it all there...Sho 12 is 1937 BTW.

He is listed in Hawley as Seki and a Fukuchi? Toshio? is listed by the name Munechika on Jinsoo Kim's Seki Tosho list for starting there on gunto on Sho17-9-9.

After a quick scan over the books I don't see him on any gendai tosho swordlists so think he may have been only iai and gunto into war period?

 

You don't show us much, but the yasuri, ana, mei style look a bit "showato" to me (just MHO)...is it traditionally made?

Nakago jiri doesn't look particularly Seki/Gifu to me so maybe Kishiyama is a clue that he worked elsewhere?.

Geo.

Dear All

I am working on determining information about the

WWII smith Munechika

The 9 in tanto is signed

奈良三條宗近作

Nara Sanjo Munechika saku

昭和十ニ年十月

Showa ju ni nen ju gatsu

岸山

Kishiyama

I think Kishiyama is mountain by the sea??

Hawley lists a Sanjo Munechika with a date 1960

Anybody know anything about this smith or the mountain?

Dear Chris

Thanks for the information.

I was hoping that I had not found the correct kanji as I also could not find the smith.

Now with your help have a good shot at the correct reading.

Thanks again.

later

david

It is the name of a famous kiln/potter but he would not be a sword maker....

 

It is the location of a temple in Shimane Prefecture...The way the blade is signed, it lists Seiunzan as the location where the blade was made, so perhaps it is the location in Shimane. Perhaps Ryuza is the smith, though I find no listing.....puzzling....