SteveM

The title is a nice thing to have. If you are from a lineage that has traditionally used the title, it is very important for you (and your succeeding generations) to continue to maintain and use this brand. It adds an aura of prestige. It is a kind of marketing tool. But it doesn't open any doors into the aristocracy. The smith just wants it because, in a way, it validates his position as a master swordsmith (even though the "validation" aspect was continually devalued by the bakufu selling these titles). Sukehiro's mentor did not have a title, so maybe Sukehiro or some patron felt Sukehiro's skill had surpassed that of his mentor, and was worthy of a title. Whether or not he can charge more for his swords after receiving the title is just speculation on my part. If you are a swordsmith from a province with dwindling need for swords, you probably don't have much leverage to raise your prices, even with a fancy title. If you are a swordsmith from a province that has great demand for swords, maybe you can use the title to justify raising your prices above those of your non-"accredited" peers. As others have noted, Suketaka was genuinely a master of his craft, as you can see from his several Jūyō-rated blades. So in his case, the title was well-deserved. The date on this sword is interesting because it comes from the period just prior to receiving the title, but that's about all we can say. If there are any flaws or blemishes on the sword, it greatly devalues the sword regardless of the date (and/or any title that might be on the blade). I don't think there is anything else missing. I mean, Fujishiro's swordsmith index notes that Suketaka received the title "Kami" on Dec. 19th, Kansei 10 (1798). There may also be some primary source documents in the Imperial Archives, etc... which also note the date on which he received his title. It really is just a title, something like Esquire. I doubt that Suketaka would have considered himself to be a revolutionary swordsmith. His lineage goes back to the Bingo Mihara smiths (spiritually, not by direct bloodline). He was able to consistently replicate the dynamic toranba style of temper pattern that Tsuda Sukehiro was well-known for in the mid-1600s. This toranba style of hamon was also admired and replicated by Suishinshi Masahide, so somehow the timing of these two smiths, Masahide and Suketaka, converged, and due to their admiration of, and ability to consistently forge, blades with toranba, the sword world considers them as part of a new era. But I don't think Suketaka would have felt he was making a break from the past. Edit to clarify: the complete title is Nagato no Kami (Lord of Nagato). Nagato was the province on the southern tip of Honshū. Present day Yamaguchi, or thereabouts. This is one of many cases where the location of the "lordship" has absolutely no relation to the smith. It's just used for convenience. And I don't mean to imply that Suishinshi Masahide's only contribution was an ability to replicate toranba. He was a smith who may have seen himself as advancing, or "restoring" the direction of swordsmithing in Japan.

源市太　MINAMOTO Ichita Minamoto Ichita was a swordsmith from the 1600s. No idea if the signature is genuine or not.

If you show the whole script we might be able to make an educated guess. It's tough to tell from just the signature part. @MauroP is a pretty keen collector/admirer/student of Kanzan's writing, so he might be able to give you an opinion also.

I'm pretty sure its 昭和未年新春 (spring, year of the sheep) = 1967 Edit: corrected

Yes, 寒山誌（花押）　Kanzan shirusu (it means "written/recorded by Kanzan" with his monogram at the bottom). I don't know if its authentic or not. There are a lot of fakes out there.

To be honest I've never heard that smiths had to submit samples of their work to the bakufu or to the court in order to receive the title. I think they had to make a formal application, or have one made on their behalf by someone of status (the actual daimyo of the fief, for example). But I am not a deep scholar in this area. I have read Markus Sesko's article here, which I think you will find very interesting if you haven't already read it. It provided the basis of what I know. https://markussesko.com/2013/02/19/how-honorary-titles-were-conferred/ Whether this particular sword is one of his best examples or not; I think there are too many variables. The biggest one is condition. It could well have been one of his best examples, but you'd need a deeper inspection and you'd need to compare against his other known works to make that call. And I don't think one can even make a sweeping generalization about swords produced before/after receiving the title. For some smiths it may be true that their best work was toward the end of their productive life. For other smiths they may have become lazy, lost their vitality, lost access to good quality tamahagane, or some may have allowed their apprentices/students to produce under the smith's name, and so there may be some variance in quality. Other smiths may be "average" smiths, yet had the funds to acquire the title, so...too many variables to generalize.

Uwe is correct. Yasuchika saku.

Date on the sword is Kansei 10, August. Bear in mind, in the shintō period the dates inscribed are almost always either August or February (well, strictly speaking its "Eighth Month" and "Second Month" - there is a discrepancy between the traditional Japanese months and those of the Gregorian calendar). These two months are used regardless (almost) of when the sword was actually forged. So best not to take that date too literally. I wouldn't place too much significance on the title, or the privileges it conferred, or the deference paid to the swordsmith upon receiving the title. It's not representative of admission into the nobility. "Lord" or "Governor", "Protector", etc. are just honorific titles, so the smith isn't in any kind of professional limbo until he receives the paperwork. The title just allows him to inscribe his swords with that title, and of course it is an honor for him to do so, but otherwise his life and status doesn't change. Maybe it allows him to increase the prices of his swords slightly. Also the granting of titles was, to some extent, a revenue-generating scheme for the bakufu. So the standards for granting of titles may fluctuate depending on the finances of the bakufu and/or those of the officers in charge of granting titles.

My guess is 安秋作　（Made by Yasuaki). But I can find no such metalworker in the Wakayama index.

Very strange. Illegible to me. The 怍 (saku) is fine, but the character (or characters?) above that are a mystery. An attempt to fake a mei? An addition of some chisel strokes to deliberately obscure the Mei? Unusual.

Hi John, I saw one just like it on Japanese Yahoo for sale. It's described as a commemorative paperweight. It's not uncommon for these to have a loop and cord on them. So I think it started life as a commemorative souvenir for cultured folks.

It's a paper weight - 文鎮 - the kind used when doing calligraphy.

Other side is 潜龍 "Hidden Dragon" 源義制 佩劔 Owned/Worn by MINAMOTO Yoshinori. Hidden Dragon would be the name given to the sword. I think Minamoto Yoshinori was a hatamoto in the Tokugawa Bakufu Government.

One correction 竪丸形 Tatemarugata Nengō is correct. Edit 型→形 (had to correct my own correction)

Hello Kirk, I was just commenting that this sword has been popping up on this board frequently. I meant no insult to the sword. I haven't looked closely at the sword, so I have no strong feeling about it, but yes I presume it is an arsenal blade.

This sword has been posted to NMB at least 3 times in the past few months.

This sword keeps coming back to NMB like a bad penny.

I think it is meant to be the 4-character idiom 以守為攻 (守りを以て、攻めと為す), which in colloquial English would be "the best offense is a good defense". It means secure your victory by shoring up your defense. But it looks like they've spelled it as 以守以攻, with a slight variance in the third character.

Kanbun/Kwanbun

貞正 Sadamasa I think we've seen this one before. Pretty recently. Within the last 3-4 months.

Pretty much as stated in the description "Gunto Hokoku No.45 Takeuchi No.2". (Hōkoku is a patriotic phrase: duty to country/patriotism). I can't find any other reference to this label anywhere else on the net, so it raises a little yellow flag in my mind. It sure looks properly aged though. But, is it a sticker? Is it embossed on the leather? Is it a one-off item, or did this "Takeuchi" company make any more of these kinds of saya? If so, why can't we find other examples? And I actually think its "No. 415" (not 45, as stated on ebay), but I don't know what the significance of that is.

I would go further and say "Sukesada" was a kind of brand, too, indicating a certain consistency of quality. I think these were also exported to China, so there would have been external demand for swords inscribed with "Sukesada". No doubt there would have been sufficient commercial incentive to add the name Sukesada to any sword. Note I am not saying the sword in this post is gimei. With so many Sukesada smiths, it would take a detailed examination to determine if this was made by one of the 60 or so Sukesada smiths. I mean, there are a few whose signature style, and swordsmithing style, was distinctive enough that you could make a quick judgment, but there are a lot of Sukesada smiths, and this could be from one of the lesser smiths.

Yes, I saw that one, too, and was equally intrigued by it. What a coincidence to have two copper tsunagi show up in just a couple of weeks. I would think copper would be an unlikely choice for tsunagi material, because it's going to corrode and play havoc with the insides of the saya. Maybe its alloyed version doesn't corrode so easily. By the way, I liked and agreed with the translation that @xiayang gave. There is an additional aspect of it that may be relevant. The Japanized version of the saying on that sword, "一心定めて、万物服す" was a slogan of Former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (1957-1960), meaning basically "If one acts with intention, one can conquer anything". No doubt he borrowed it from the Zhuangzi.

No, I think the craftsman who made this would have received these two characters from his mentors. Perhaps the ame character comes from a mentor in the copper crafts. I say this because the kao at the end of the name tells me that this person used this name/signature on other works in his career, so it probably wasn't specific to this item. Just wildly speculating; maybe the person who made this was once a swordsmith, but gave it up due to the decline in sword production, and moved into copper crafts.

雪斎書 = Sessaisho (presumably the art name of the person who made the tsunagi) 宗雨 = Muneame I would imagine this is the professional name of the maker. I haven't seen a copper tsunagi before. It would be an unusual extravagance. The name is also kind of unusual. Mune is common, but 雨 (ame) isn't a character you would typically expect to see in a name.