Nobody

Hi, Undoubtedly Numazawa is correct.

Hi, The mei is "於東都大宮八幡宮 ? 直次造". I cannot identify the 9th kanji. It reads "oite Touto Omiya-Hachimangu ? Naotsugu tsukuru" literally, and it means "at Omiya-Hachiman Shrine in Tokyo, Naotsugu made".

Hi, That reads Seki ju Kawai Kaneyoshi saku (関住河合兼義作). Ref. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/tosho.htm

Hi John, I think that his real name may read Kitagawa Katsuichi. As for the second question, it is very difficult to answer, because I unconsciously read them in most cases. I am thinking of my reading procedure again; Regarding 北川 for an example, I might have judged the kanji as a family name before actually read it with sound. Because I was reading a mei on a nakago and I knew that 勝則 must be a smith name from my experiences, 北川 was naturally thought to be a family name or place name in most cases. However, 北川 is common as a family name, while it is rather miner name as a place to be used on a mei. If it was a family name, its usual reading was Kitagawa or Kitakawa. Hokukawa or Hokkawa could be its reading, but I never thought of that, because its possibility is small (but not zero) as a family name. Generally, the readings of proper nouns in kanji are difficult except you know their names beforehand in your memory.

Hi, The mei reads Kitagawa Katsunori (北川勝則). Ref. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm

Hi, I cannot identify the mark but the motif. It is not Tsuru (鶴; crane) but Sagi (鷺; egret).

Undoubtedly, that looks Shishi to me. The variations of its style are very diverse. The Shishi in question is more like Shishi compared to the attached example. The following photo shows "Kara-Jishi (唐獅子)" by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Ref. http://www.asahi.com/boston/gallery/02.html

As only a loose translation; 1st photo; Nobuie (信家) was an expert on tsuba making and there is no doubt that he was not the Myochin Nobuie (明珍信家). There were several Nobuie(s) and every one of them was known for his exquisite forging in 17th century. They were not the persons in old era like Myochin Nobuie. At the beginning of October in 1937 Chuo Token-kai appraiser (中央刀剣会審査員) Kuwabara Sokei? (桑原双蛙; unsure about the reading) 2nd photo; Nobuie saku Omodaka Kebori Heimei Sukashi-tsuba

Hi milt, That is too difficult for me. Maybe Morita san can read that.

There is a name of Kanenori (兼式) on the page below. WWII Seki Kaji Tosho; http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm

The date is Showa ju-hachi nen go gatsu (昭和十八年五月). ---> May in 1943

Thank you sencho san. I am with 式. The mei seems to be Kanenori (兼式).

Ah IMHO, the people at that time surely did not like thunderbolts. They chiselled the word only as a charm against it, I think. p.s. I do not like it either.

The date seems to be simple. Is it Showa Mizunoe-Saru (昭和壬申) Satsuki (皐) (= May in 1932)? BTW, for my exercise ; do you know the name of the artist? Is the name Kakuyo (鶴鷹)? I cannot identify with confidence.

Yes, thank you. I also realize that just now. It must be read from right to left as 雷除.

Then, the year might be 1776.

I am unsure, but is it Hinoe-Saru (丙申)? BTW, is the name of the artist 丹家 or 丹歩?

The kanji are Jorai (除雷). That is a word of charm for avoiding a thunderbolt.

Actually, the mei is not so difficult. FYI; (though there is no photo of the mei) http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_040.htm

There is a mei of Kunihiro similar to yours. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/kunihir3.jpg And FYI; Seki Kaji Tosho http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm

Hi, The mei looks like "Kanenami saku" (兼波作) to me.

Though I am unsure about its reading or meaning, I think the kanji could read Wari-ba kitae (割刃鍛). One meaning of Wari-ba (or Wari-ha) is a splitter. But I do not know if it makes sence or not.

You will find good photos on the following site. http://www.samuraispirit.org/Ono-Yoshim ... Index.html

I do not think that Mune mei is common, though I have seen several cases. Ex. http://homepage2.nifty.com/FUJITOKEN/page029.html

Hi, The attached photo shows an expample of a true Mune mei of Izumi no kami Kanesada (maybe 11th gen.). Your example looks like only a mark of something to me.