SteveM

Hiroga - aka Hiroyoshi https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/HIR530 The paper is for a blade that is 21 centimeters, while the registration card is for a blade that is 14.8 centimeters. Having said that, its always best to concentrate on the sword and not on the paper. (Its one of those sword collecting rules that we all break, over and over again.) I would rate the sword a bit higher than Ron. The rust spots are obviously a problem, but despite those I think the sword is OK, and the valuation of £700 - £1000 doesn't feel too far off the mark. Well, in its current condition it would be at the low end of that range.

摂州摂津守源忠行 六字有銘而忠行二代也年代元禄頃小板目鍛ヘニ 丸キ互乃目主調ノ乱刃ノ作風ヲ示ス佳品也 長壱尺五寸 歳甲辰卯月 探山識 Settsu Province "Lord of Settsu Minamoto Tadayuki" Six character signature of Tadayuki 2nd. Circa Genroku era. An excellent piece showing us koitame hada, with rounded, gunome-midareba hamon. Length 1 shaku 5 sun April 2024 Tanzan

NTHK paper is from 1977. It dates the sword to Tenbun (1532-1555).

NTHK paper attributes it to Den Taira Takada.

Looks like ”十" that was accidentally struck twice. Should be 十九年 (1944), but for some reason it ended up as 十十九年. Late war carelessness?

I agree with Moriyama-san about 林越奈 (Hayashi Etsuna) 林左治衛 intuitively I would think its Hayashi Sajie.

The hentaigana I took that screen grab from, comes from the page below. Its the one I use most often. http://www.book-seis...jp/kana/onjun_1.html

Yes, its Fudō-Myōō https://fukoku-kobo.net/html/page1.html

These are all names of the people who signed the flag. Suzuki Hiroshi Noguchi Shizue Mizufune Isamu etc...

臼井定年 Usui Sadatoshi Kind of a mysterious smith. Made an appearance here on NMB a long time ago

I think you are right. It could be some hentaigana for つ and う (too hard to see clearly, but maybe 川 for つ). う is too hard to see, but from the others, and the overall theme, I think you've nailed it. This is the earthquake and fire that the box mentions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kantō_earthquake

Ah, OK. Got it. Probably not worth it. I figured there was some issue like this, because most of the really old posts are corrupted in the same way. I think the info from Moriyama-san and Morita-san is sufficient to figure it out in this case.

Q for Brian, any way we can fix the character glitches in the old post (Barry's post from June 2008)?

Or 丗八号　(means "#38") Not a surrender tag. Price tag, repair tag, inventory tag... something like that.

Kiowa is maybe Kyōwa 享和 1801-1804?

Yes, that would make more sense.

Swordsmith is Sado-no-kami Kunitomi Motoyoshi Kunitomi is the smith's working name. Sado-no-kami is his title.

possibly 散見せ　

It was issued in Shōwa 44 (1969), March 23. Person who submitted it is named MORI - I'll skip the first name for privacy reasons.

美濃住　光沖 Minō-jū Mitsuoki

I think the shinsa team in 1976 (the date of your certificate) was a bit careless when they wrote your appraisal paper, and they meant to say Sendai Yasutomo. Sendai is very close to Aizu, geographically, and I think from the kanji of 安倫 (Yasutomo) written on your paper, its clear that the appraiser meant Sendai Yasutomo. "Later Generation Yasutomo" would put this sword in the 1800s. I have no specific information on the later generations of Yasutomo. The swords of the mid-to-late 1800s tended towards this kind of straight shape, so the shape of your sword is correct for the time.

Looks like 貞廣 (Sadahiro).

同人 　Dōnin. Means it was performed by the same person that did the one on the right (hence, the same kao).

Hello Lukas, Yes, the name on your tsuba is Ōsaki Yoshiaki (大崎善明).

Thank you, Moriyama-san. I was struggling with the Hachiman reference. Now I understand it, thanks to your post.