Nobody

The mei looks å³æ­£å¿ƒ to me, too. I suspect that the mei might be a bad joke. The mei could also read “Migi Shoshinâ€. Although the last kanji is different (å³æ­£å¿ƒ -> å³æ­£çœŸ), that is a common phrase often appears on Kanteisho, and that means that the item on the right is genuine.

How about asking the studio directly? fujiwara@diana.dti.ne.jp Ref. http://www.diana.dti.ne.jp/~fujiwara/

Hi Moriyama-San. I'm writing from work. My fault. I've cut a frame from the original page and I left the caption of the item above (not showed in my post, actually the orignal sword) together with the modern reproduction. The caption you've translated is referred to the original item I've cut away. Sorry for the confusion I've caused. Carlo, Actually, I have the book which includes the picture you showed. There are two similar Tachi on the page. However, they are different Tachi. And both of them are real. The lower one is not a replica of the other. Please see the attached pictures. The 2nd picture shows the Upper Tachi on Kasuga Taisha site. The 3rd picture shows another image of the lower Tachi of Jingu Chokokan. EDIT (Aug. 2, 2008): A typo in the 1st pic is corrected (Nishikizuzumi ---> Nishikizutsumi).

I do not think that your Habaki is a Tachi-Habaki. Usually a Tachi-Habaki is thinner and has Shinogi, I assume.

I think that “Tachi-Habaki†is an actual term which consists of two words. Anyway NBTHK says that Habaki are classified into “Tachi-Habaki†and “Katana-Habakiâ€. Ref. http://www.touken.or.jp/syurui/tosogu.html

Just discussed it on another board. Here how it looks like a on a modern copy : Ah, that is not a modern copy but a real Tachi in Heian period. That is a Juyo-Bunkazai (é‡è¦æ–‡åŒ–財) in possession of Jingu Chokokan (神宮徴å¤é¤¨: http://www.ise-kanko.jp/cgi-bin/temp.ph ... re&idx=333). The caption in your picture says that the Tachi is said to have been put on by Fujiwara no Hidesato (藤原秀郷) and has a cut from an arrow on its Tsuka.

Hi, Now I understand what you want to know. The mei reads Yano Toshikazu saku (矢野俊一作) as you already know. That means Yano (family name) Toshikazu (smith name) made. The attached picture shows a page from a database whose name is ToShoW. According to the data, he was a smith in late Edo period in Musashi no kuni. However, I do not know the reliability of the database. At least there is an error. “Chorensai (長連斎?)†must be “Chounsai (é•·é‹æ–Ž)â€. If he was the smith on the page, One of my books says that he was a student of Chounsai Tsunatoshi (é•·é‹æ–Žç¶±ä¿Š) school in late Edo period. As for the ura-mei, your reading might be a little incorrect, though I am not 100 % sure. That may read TaiTai Dodan-barai (太々土壇拂) Yamada (山田 – family name of the tester), and that is a cutting test record. TaiTai (太々) means a shoulder level of a body. Dodan (土壇) is an earth mound. So, the ura-mei means that a body on an earth mound was cut through at its shoulder level.

A tachi habaki is generally slim and neat. (Ref. 1) – the upper picture Early Tachi habaki were made of iron, and some of them were fitted from the tip side of blades. The upper left habaki in the lower picture is a Tachi habaki. (Ref. 2) Ref. 1. USAGIYA: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/habaki.html 2. NBTHK: http://www.touken.or.jp/syurui/tosogu.html

Nakano (中野) - a common family name

I agree that the Mei is irrelevant. But FYI, the Mei seems to be Kanemoto (兼元).

The seller’s explanation seems to be reasonable. Ref. Japanese Sword Laws http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/japane ... _laws.html

The mei on the reverse looks 政晃 (Masaaki?) to me.

I believe the mei reads Etsu no Zenshu ju Kanetane 越之å‰å·žä½å…¼æ¤. As you might know, è¶Šå‰ (Echizen) was a part of 越国 (Koshi no kuni = Koshi province), and è¶Šå‰ literally means the near side of 越国. “越之å‰â€ is equivalent to 越å‰, and it naturally reads “Koshi no mae (å‰)â€. BTW, å·ž may also read Kuni.

I found some images which show how nobles played archery game in Heian period. However, I have not checked their academic reliability. Ref. The Costume Museum http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/index.htm http://evagenji.hp.infoseek.co.jp/co-2002-2-5.htm

Judging from the writing on the saya, the sword seems to have once belonged to Butokukai (武徳會). But I am not familiar with that era. Ref. http://www.dnbk.org/ The inscription on the blade may be the name of a Shinto god; Susanoo (æ­¦é€Ÿç´ ç›žé›„å‘½ – Takehaya Susanoo no mikoto?). Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanoo The mei reads 越之å‰å·žä½å…¼æ¤ (Koshi no mae no kuni ju Kanetane – reading?); = Kanetane in Echizen. The inscription on the other side of the nakago is a Setsudan-mei performed by Yamano Kanjuro Hisahide (山野勘å郎久英). I suspect that the mei side was once cleaned and the rust is new. :?:

I have found some information of the game. The game center was called Yokyuba (æ¥Šå¼“å ´) in Kyoto/Osaka or Yaba (çŸ¢å ´) in Edo. Ref. 1 includes pictures of a floor plan, targets, and arrows set as well as their use fee. The game played among common people originated from a parlor game played by Court nobles. You can find some fragmentary data here (Japanese texts) http://www.rak3.jp/home/rak2_pv.cgi?no= ... bbs_view=4 I suspect that your archery sets are too elegant to be used at ordinary game centers, though I could not find any pictures of a set for nobles and I am unsure about that. Ref. 1. 守貞漫稿 (Morisada mankou); an encyclopedia of 1800s The game is described on several pages. http://www.ndl.go.jp/site_nippon/Japan/ ... m2a41.html http://www.ndl.go.jp/site_nippon/Japan/ ... m2a42.html http://www.ndl.go.jp/site_nippon/Japan/ ... m2a43.html Ref. 2. 風æµå”ãã‚Œãªã„ (Furyu Karakurenai); a picture book in 1700s http://www.kanazawa-bidai.ac.jp/cgi-bin ... l?title=87 The game is shown on p. 25. The picture is attached.

I think parts of the first Kanji for Mino are still visible though partly erased by the mekugi-ana and cut off by the pic's frame. reinhard, I think you are right. The whole mei may be (美)濃國ä½æ”¿ç§€ä½œ.

Upper pic: 濃國ä½æ”¿ç§€ä½œ – Masahide residing in Mino province made (this). 濃國 (correct reading???) – means Mino province 政秀 (Masahide) – smith’s name (I am a little unsure about 秀.) Lower pic: å¿…å‹ (hissho) – Victory!

reinhard, I do not know if there was a Zenjo Fujiwara Kanemoto a.k.a. Magoroku 5th. But at least, there was one as Magoroku 9th. The attached picture shows a similar mei to Tyler’s. And "ä¹ä»£ (9th generation)" can be clearly identified. Ref. http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~y-kimura/10-052.htm https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/auction ... 1165718630

Kiyomaro http://www.nona.dti.ne.jp/~sword/hpbs%2 ... yomaro.htm

As for the kogatana, Zenjo Fujiwara Kanemoto seems to have been working in the first half of 1800s.

Noshu Seki (no) Magoroku kyu-dai sue Zenjo Fujiwara Kanemoto kore o tsukuru 濃洲関孫六 ä¹ä»£æœ« 善定藤原兼元作之 I also read the generation as 5th at first, but it seems to be 9th judging from other information.

The mei looks more like Tomoyuki (å‹ä¹‹) to me.

BTW, the Kyoka (a comic tanka) was composed by Shokusanjin (蜀山人). And the name appears in the second picture. Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cta_Nampo Morita-san, you are amazing.

Hi, These are all I know for now. Mei: 中野兼貫作 (Nakano Kanetsura saku) – WWII smith in Seki Ref. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm Tag: address and name å·è¶Šå¸‚å®®ä¸‹ç”ºäº”äº”ä¹ (Kawagoe-shi, Miyasita-cho, 559) – the number could be wrong? 伊藤米次郎 (Ito Komejiro (or Yonejiro?)) BTW, there is a rice-cleaning company in Kawagoe-shi, which was established by Ito Komejiro 1st. But that might be only a coincidence. http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~film/itoh_seibu.html