thewired1

TSUKA: BLADE: MISC PHOTOS:

So I recently aquired this sword locally from an older gentleman. It came with the standard story. His uncle was in WWII and came home with it. When his uncle pasted, his Aunt gave it to him. It's been sitting in his closet for years and he didn't want it anymore. My limited knowledge of Japanese swords, led me to believe that it was worth a gamble at the price he was asking. I showed the inscription to a Japanese friend and she was able to translate a portion of the Kanji as a name. With the help of some other members here, I think we were able to translate the entire inscription. Original translation thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/16365-translation-help-please/?p=170763 It's either "Joshu ju Ito Teruyoshi" or "Toshu ju Ito Teruyoshi". I checked the "The Nihonto Knowledge Base, Swordsmith data base" but nothing came up as a good match for his particular spelling. Another helpful member was able to find couple of Ito TeruYoshi's in Markus Sesko's index but I'm unsure if they fit this swordsmith since the Kanji doesn't 100% match (as best as I can tell). Based on it's size, this is a wazakshi and not a full Katana. Someone please correct me if I'm assuming wrong. I'd really love to learn some more about the swordsmith and this sword. I plan to make a nice display case with an engraved plaque displaying it's history and information. Any help would be REALLY appreciated. I'm a fast learner with a lot of things but I've hit a wall with resources here. Thanks! Edward Here are some photos: ENTIRE WAZAKSHI INSCRIPTION / SIGNATURE TSUBA:

I found this inside the tsuka. Is anyone able to translate it? Thanks! Ed

James, Looks like "Ito" matches up... 伊藤 on both. It appears that both of those swordsmiths spelled "Teruyoshi" differently than mine. MINE - 輝義 #1 - 英吉 #2 - 輝美 The 2nd one is pretty close but I honestly know very little Kanji use so I could be wrong here. I'm basically just mathcing up symbols on my end. Edward

Thanks! I think I'll take some additional photos of the entire sword and create a new, separate thread in the Nihonto forum. Hopefully someone can assist with some further identification. I recently aquired this sword and it came with a standard "family member went to ww2 and brought this back" type story.

OK... So I figured out that ""TER107 (15pts)" is the reference number and rating. I'm still unsure of the first name issue though and if this is a match though. I suspect I'm wrong though.

Thanks! So I was searching the "The Nihonto Knowledge Base, Swordsmith data base" and found 2 results with "Joshu ju Teruyoshi". Nothing with "Toshu". Of the two I did find, neither had the name "Ito". Based on the database's translations, this appears to the closest match: 上 野 國 輝 吉 ① 城 州 住 輝 吉 Teruyoshi Kozuke no kuni (Tenbun) TER107 (15pts) joshu ju teruyoshi Could it be possible that the swordsmith occasionally added his first name? Also, can someone explain what "TER107 (15pts)" means? Does this appear to be correct direction for this swordsmith that made this blade? Please pardon my ignorance. Thanks! Edward

I recently aquired a katana which had this inscription. I'd love to know more about it. I asked a Japanese friend and she was able to translate a portion of it as "ITO TERUYOSHI". She mentioned the first 2 characters were older and appeared to reference a position or rank but she wasn't too sure. If she was correct with the name, I did find some references to an "ITO TERUYOSHI" swordsmith online but I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction. I'm relatively new but would love to know more about this katana. This is for my own personal use and not for sale or commercial use FYI. Thanks! Edward