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I made a brief search and found the following info about Kirisute-gomen. It seems that the rule was explicitly written in Kujikata-Osadamegaki in ca. 1742, although the practice had been existed befor that. Kirisute-gomen was not only the right to kill lower ranking people, but was self-defense to protect honor of samurai. Kirisute-gomen (切捨御免) http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%84%A1% ... 3%E3%81%A1 Kujikata-Osadamegaki (公事方御定書), ca. 1742 - 1871 http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AC% ... A%E6%9B%B8

The mei reads Noshu ju Ichimonji Minamoto Amahide kitau kore (濃州住一文字源天秀鍛之). FYI: http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/amahide3.jpg

This link shows the Mon of Moniwa family. http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/moniwa.html

BTW, is Kao the name of the person who has done the sayagaki? Regards See this info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%C5%8D

The sayagaki is as follows. I was not able to translate the descriptions of the blade into proper English. Maybe someone can help us, if necessary. 脇差 兼法在銘 時代 桃山 末関の典型(典形=wrongly written)の作也 長さ 壱尺参寸五分此有 地鍛 杢目(埜目=wrongly written)流れ白気直刃大丸(太丸=wrongly written?)に返る(反る=wrongly written?)平造 花押 Wakizashi, has a mei of Kanenori Period: Momoyama, typical type of Sue-seki Length: 1 shaku 3 sun 5 bu (about 40.9 cm) Ji-kitae: Mokume nagare, Shirake, Suguha, O-maru ni kaeru, Hirazukuri Kao

I am unsure, but doesn't it look like "Fujiwara Masahiro saku (藤原正廣 作)"?

The link shows an example of "Yokoyama Kozuke Daijo Fujiwara Sukesada". I think you can compare that with yours. http://www.premi.co.jp/w-sukesada03.htm

Hi Stephen, That is also interesting in another sense. The mudguard was called Aori (障泥 or 泥障). Some of you might already know the point. There is a tsuba shape called Aori-gata (障泥形). That naming came from the shape of the mudguard. Tsuba Terminology; http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/tsuba.htm

The mei reads Hikone ju (彦根住) Nomura Kanenori (野村包教). maybe mid. Edo period

I found that the book is "Koto mei-zukushi taizen (古刀銘尽大全)" written by Ogi Hirokuni (仰木弘邦) in 1794. And there seem to be several reprint versions until Showa era. Ref. http://www.library-noda.jp/homepage/dig ... otom1.html On a web page of National Diet Library, you can read all pages of a reprint (1901 version) of the book. Go to the URL on the following page. http://www.dap.ndl.go.jp/home/modules/d ... and_or=AND http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/BIBibDetail.php ... m=40072506 You can also read "Token kantei hiketsu (刀剣鑑定秘訣)" by Honami Yasaburo (本阿弥弥三郎) in 1905 through the following page. http://www.dap.ndl.go.jp/home/modules/d ... and_or=AND http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/BIBibDetail.php ... m=40072555 *press "本文をみる" button on the web page to read.

I am sorry for that. It might be only a joke. Or the mei was intended to be "Uta Kunimitsu (宇多國光) and failed to be inscribed correctly.

Hi, The inscription reads Utada Hikaru (宇多田光), a name of a female singer. So, the age may not be older than 10 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utada_Hikaru

"Tegaki-Hoei made in Yamato" :? That might be Tegai (手掻) Kanenaga (包永) in Yamato (大和).

That seems to ba a present from women. Memorial (紀念品) To George (ジョージ 様) (from) Ishizawa Chiyo (石沢チヨ) Saito Sato (斉藤里) Mizuno Emi (水野エミ) We wish you happiness. (御多幸を祈る)

Yorifusa may also be a correct reading, since it is a proper noun and I do not know the exact smith.

The reading for 由房 will be "Yoshifusa".

Thanks, Ludolf. I learned some kanji in sosho.

Good work, Ludolf!!! The kanji for "Someya Tomonobu" seem to be 染谷知信. Could you show us the image of the mei on your reference?

Though I cannot identify the specific Nengo, the upper part of the inscription seems to be a date (in year). After the kanji "nen (年)", there are three kanji "roku ju roku (六十六 = 66)". I guess that it might be the age of the maker of the tsuba.

Hi, Here is a loose translation. Sadanaga (貞命), Kii (紀伊), early – mid. Edo, Good craftsman A pupil of Kawaguchi Hoan (川口法安). When Hoan's family moved to Aki (安芸), he remained in Kishu (紀州). He mostly made Ji-sukashi-tsuba (地透し鐔) with Kaku-mimi (角耳) O-moyou (大模様: large pattern?). There were 1st and 2nd generations of Sadanaga. Resided in Wakayama (和歌山).

Hi, The theme of the pic seems to be Jiraiya (児雷也) and his wife Tsunade (綱手) of a Kabuki program. FYI; Jiraiya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiraiya

I think that the mark between "3" and "nen" is just a part of kanji 年 in a strange form as John already said. BTW, 々 (the mark for refrain) is called Odoriji (踊り字) or Joji (畳字).

I am totally unsure about the mei. But I tried by guesswork. Hadani Yoshinobu (波谷嘉信) The 3rd kanji could be 喜(yoshi), 高(taka), 寿(toshi), or others. Also, I might mistake other kanji.

Though its pattern is not Sayagata, the style is like this.

by guesswork; Imashige (今重)