Nobody

Here are the translations. Original red texts for Part 2 and 6 are not 100 % correct. BTW, is this the sword you bought? (through an agent?) http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w25519648 Part 1: At Imabari, Nagakiyo of Yoshu made (this). 豫劦 (Yoshu) - province 於 (oite) = at 今張 (Imabari) - town 長清 (Nagakiyo) – smith name 作 (saku) = made Part 2: A lucky day in January of 1976 昭和 (Showa) 五拾壹 (go-ju-ichi) = 51 年 (nen) = year 丙辰 (Hei-Shin or Hinoe-Tatsu) 正月 (Shogatsu) = January 吉日 (Kichi-jitsu) = a lucky day Part 3: This is an early signature and a good reference. 初期 (Shoki) = early 銘 (Mei) = signature 也 (nari) = be 好 (ko or yoki) = good 参考 (Sanko) = reference Part 4: 和泉 (Izumi) - province 大掾 (Daijo) – (honorable) title 藤原 (Fujiwara) - clan 國輝 (Kuniteru) – smith name Part 5: Blade length: a little more than 1 Shaku 7 Sun 刃長 (Ha-cho) = blade length 壹 (ichi) = 1 尺 (Shaku) 七 (Shichi) = 7 寸 (Sun) 強 (kyo) = a little more than Part 6: 寒山 (Kanzan) 誌 (shirusu) = wrote +(花押)

Sorry again, but the sword got a Tokubetsu Hozon paper. Which sword are we talking about? The one on the previous page? I thought this one. Den Sadatsuna; http://www.nona.dti.ne.jp/~sword/katana ... atuna.html

Sorry again, but the sword got a Tokubetsu Hozon paper.

They say that Hakobore (刃ã“ã¼ã‚Œ) have been acceptable unlike other fatal flaws such as Hagire (刃切れ) in the context.

Piers, Your translation is excellent. The translation was difficult for me. I still cannot 100 % understand the Japanese text, as it is grammatically incorrect. (But I might be wrong and it is just old-fashioned Japanese?) [nonliteral translation] A Kissaki of a Katana is basically compared to a fan shape which is naturally cut out from (coaxial) circles. And the original shape is completed as the kissaki of a Katana. From the right, O-kissaki, Chu-kissaki, Ko-kissaki.

As a wild guess; Fukuro Shinai (袋竹刀). Ref. http://samuraigwynne.blogspot.com/2006_ ... chive.html

Why don’t you store nihonto vertically like this position to avoid messing the scabbard with oil etc?

Maybe this shop? Masamune kogei bijutsu seisakusho (正宗工芸美術製作所) Refer to the bottom of the foll0wing page. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=558&p=4126&hilit=yamamura#p4126

Hi, I just found an interesting web site, though I do not intend to recommend the shop. Typical kitchen knives; http://itkitchenknife.com/Japanese.shtml and more products; http://itkitchenknife.com/j_catalog/j_index.shtml

The reading may be;

Based on the excellent find by Ford, I could find some pictures. http://bbs.cfan.com.cn/viewthread.php?t ... orid=14955

My wife holds a master's degree - and teaches - Ohara-Ryû å°åŽŸæµ Ikebana. She never used, or even heard about Nata being used, in flower arrangement. I, OTOH, have seen (the modern day version) in use by quite a few gardeners. I think we can safely assume that they are strictly gardening tools. Not really; Sometimes manual labor seems to be necessary in flower arrangement. http://www.kaneshin-seki.com/arrengment%20tool.html http://www.s-sato.co.jp/seika/f/kad/fre-2.html

And for the last part; A narrow Kozuka Hitsu (Ana) is opened.

Yes Stephen, that could be Norimitsu (則光), I think.

The seller of this ended auction said that he/she thought that the monthly KOETSU had been published by a sword shop named Honma in Ueno Matsuzakaya (department store). Ref. http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d84778181

Here you are; Replica armour for 121,000 Yen http://www.yoroi.co.jp/syouhin/l034.html

The characters on the tsuba look like Bonji. But I cannot decipher them. BTW, the pictures of the tsuba are upside-down. The mei on the nakago could be Sadamitsu (貞光). But this is only my guess, as I actually cannot read the first kanji.

FYI; Nagashi viewtopic.php?f=9&t=536&p=3345&hilit=nagashi#p3345

My guess is;

Thanks Morita san, So, can we think that the inscription may be genuine?

Piers, I really could not read the kanji. It could be æ°, but I am unsure.

The inscriptions look strange and they may be suspicious, though I am not 100 % sure. 戸石合戦 (Toishi kassen) - The battle of Toishi - [村上義清 (Murakami Yoshikiyo) vs. 武田信玄 (Takeda Shingen), ca. 1550] 内藤 (Naito) - family name? 人馬トモ切落 (Jinba tomo (ni) kiri-otosu) - Cut off both man and horse. 光元 (Mitsumoto)

The mei reads Noshu ju Asai Toshihide (濃州ä½æ·ºäº•æ•ç§€). Ref. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm The kanji for Toshihide (俊秀) of Horii are different.

That is a well known Japanese old-style folding knife. The style is said to have been established in Meiji era. The name (肥後守 +something) is a registered trademark. FYI; Higonokami (Japanese text only) http://www.higonokami.net/index.html

However, it was largely used and by some big smiths such Masahide. As for gourd shaped ingot at least, Masahide denied its applicability. In the article which you introduced, there is a description of Masahide’s words. After using gourd shaped Namban-tetsu for his sword, he said his comment. That is loosely as follows; “The iron is inferior to Japanese iron. The swords made of Japanese iron seem to be the best in the world. So, we do not have to prefer Namban-tetsu.â€