Nobody

I agree with QuangD. The characters may be 菊一文字作.

Hi Stephen, I sent an answer.

Hi Nate, The signature looks similar in its feeling. However, I think that there are several differences from the papered signature for each character. Also as for the date, 八 (hachi; eight) looks different to me. I am a biginner and am not qualified to judge.

Hi Nate, I found another Sukenao on the net. It is a Wakizashi made in 1692. http://sinogi.ddo.jp/syasin/katarogu/15 ... nao-w.html This one has an NBTHK paper (Tokubetsu Hozon).

The date may be Enpo hachi nen hachi gatsu hi (延寶八年八月日). That is a day in Aug. 1680. Other Sukenao: 津田近江守助直 FYI; http://www.touken-sato.com/web-gallery/sukenao.htm The Mei resembles yours. However, I cannot judge the Mei of your katana.

I think that Shirasaya is rather like pajamas.

Hi Martin, As you might know, Shirasaya means a Saya made of unvarnished wood. Shirasaya is a Saya which is designed especially to keep a sword. Because it is used in unvarnished, the humidity in the Saya is naturally controlled and the blade does not rust easily. Even if the blade rusts, you can easily split the Shirasaya and clean the inside of it. For that purpose, a Shirasaya is made by pasting wood with weak glue. The history of Shirasaya is not thought to be so old. There is a theory that its origin was late Edo period. The upper samurai class had a lot of swords, and it can be thought that they began to use Shirasaya to keep important swords with care. It is also thought that Shirasaya have been widely used after 1876 when a law was issued not to wear a sword in public. After that most swords became things to be kept except for military use. On the other hand a sword which was worn in daily life was always in Koshirae. And the blade was not oiled because it would deteriorate the Koshirae. Ref; http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9E%98

Actually, the chiseling is not good but poor. Also, there are several wrongly written characters and wrong terms as Japanese. But I could imagin what the faker wanted to say with the Mei for some parts. A rough translation is as follows. on the right pic. of nakago; Dedication for the order from Shogun (of course the Shogun did not exist in Meiji). Teishitsu Gigei In (a title which Gassan Sadakazu got in 1906). This sword was made as a spare for the sword which is to be worn by the holly Emperor of Meiji. Gassan Sadakazu (wrong Kanji), date (cannot understand).

Hi Stephen, As you know, it must be a fake. But I tried to read the inscriptions, because they are too funny. Nakago Ura; Jindachi (陣太刀) of 2 shaku 8 sun (84.8 cm) made by Izu no Kami (伊豆守) was shortened to 1 shaku 7 sun 5 bu (53.0 cm). Nakago Omote; 武雄軒 日本西山之士 正中帯之 (???) Blade Ura; to be fast like wind, to be silent like woods, to invade like fire, to be immovable like mountains. (Its origin is a phrase of 孫子(a Chinese strategist) and it was also used as the trademark of Takeda Shingen (武田信玄).) Blade Omote; looks like a tameshigiri mei.

Hi Ludolf, The inscription must be 皇紀二千六百年 (Koki nisen roppyaku nen). It is not 2040, but 2600 Imperial year. The year system was established in 1872 (5th year of Meiji) so that the first year of the Koki (皇紀) was defined to be 660 B.C. That is thought to be the year of accession of the first Emperor Jinmu (神武天皇). So, 1940 A.D. = Koki 2600.

Hi sencho san, His teacher MATSUBARA SHOZO (松原正造) seems to be a WWII sword smith in Seki. His smith name was also Kaneyoshi (兼吉) according to the WWII Japanese Swordsmiths list on the following Dr. Rich S's site. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/tosho.htm http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm

Hi Adrian, I found that Ryoguruma (両車) means hips in Tameshigiri mei, though I am unsure about its reading. But I could not find Ryo Kuruwa (両曲輪). Does it hava the same meaning?

The characters seem to be 両曲輪落. It may reads Ryo Kuruwa Otoshi, though I am unsure about its reading. If it is a tameshigiri mei, 両曲輪 must be a name of a part of a body. But I do not know what it means.

Here it is. http://www.tousyoukai.jp/english/member_e.shtml In Japanese; http://www.tousyoukai.jp/shibu/index.shtml

I found one name of Inaba. On the following list, No. 159 shows Inaba Kaneyoshi (伊奈波兼吉) as Kaigun jumei toko (海軍受命刀工). http://www.murataya-g.co.jp/sword.html

Isn't it leather with/without lacqure?

Hi sencho san, The mei reads Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshimasa saku (源信国吉政作). He was a smith of Chikuzen Nobukuni school (筑前信国派) in Shinto period. The name was used by several generations. FYI; http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/0610_2015syousai.htm

The Mei reads Bishu ju Masachika (or Masazane) (尾州住政真). This Bishu is not 備州, but Owari no kuni (尾張国). Unfortunately I have no information of the smith.

Hi Curran, I do not think that "ichi gatsu (一月)" means the first month in that sence. But of course there are always any possibilities that I do not know. At first, I thought a possibility that Feb. 1864 was expressed in the current solar calendar and was equvalent to Jan. 1864 in the old luni-solar calendar on that Mei. But that possibility was denied, because I found the first date of Genji era was Feb. 20th 1864 and it is expressed in the luni-solar calendar at that time. The date was Mar. 27th 1864 in the current solar calendar.

Hi Leroy, I found a strange fact. The date on the nakago is "Genji gan nen ichi gatsu hi (元治元年一月日)". It means January, 1864. But actually, Genji era started on February 20th, 1864 and ended on April 7th, 1865. So, a day in January 1864 could not be a day in Genji era.

looking at the translation of the shinsa paper......... have a question. The part about the name of the person who turned the sword in for shinsa. You translated that as so and so " dono " and interpret that as a honorific ( as Mr. )......... I always thought that " dono " means submit, as so and so submit ( this sword ). Can anyone clear this up ? May be Herr Nobody ? milt THE ronin Hi milt, The Deron's translation is correct. "dono (殿)" is always a honorific as Mr. Usually more official than sama (様).

Hi Leroy, I do not intend to deny the signature. But I do not know the Sukenaga in Genji era (1864). Maybe someone can give us his information. Later generation of the famous Sukenaga? I know one Yokoyama Sukenaga (横山祐永). He is thought to be the best smith in Bizen Yokoyama school at late Edo period. His hamon was famous as Kobushi Choji (拳丁子) or Kikka Choji (菊花丁子). He died in 1851.

Hi Bernie, I definitely do not want to do that. I have watched the same performance on TV when I was a child. If you do not slide your feet on the blades, you might do that.

I found a rare photo of a famous smith at the link below. His name is Izumi (no) kami Kanesada 11th (和泉守兼定). http://www.dokidoki.ne.jp/home2/quwator ... esada.html One of swords which Hijikata Toshizo (土方歳三) used was made by the smith, and the sword is still kept. http://www.tamahito.com/ishida24.htm Hijikata Toshizo was famous as the sub-leader of Shinsengumi (新撰組). http://www.dokidoki.ne.jp/home2/quwator ... ikata.html Also there are many photos of famous persons from late Edo to Meiji period on the following site. http://www.dokidoki.ne.jp/home2/quwatoro/bakumatu.shtml

nihonto vs. bullet; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNiX_l-HEGM p.s. from the same TV program of "nihonto vs. watercutter" which Stephen posted.