SteveM

白氣映ノ立ツ板目ノ肌合ニ匂口ノ締マル小沸出来ノ直刃ヲ焼キ細カニホッレガ絡ミ Shirakeutsuri (also spelled shirekeutsuri) -no-tatsu itame no hada-ai ni nioiguchi no shimaru ko-nie-deki no suguha wo yaki hosokani hotsure ga karami 帽子ガ丸ク掃掛ケテ稍深ク返ルナド boshi ga maruku hakikakete yaya fukaku kaeru nado 南北朝期ノ同派ノ特色ヲ示ス優品也 Nanbokuchō-ki no dōha no tokushoku wo shimesu yuhin nari 時在己亥暦霜月 I'm not sure if he is just abbreviating the kanji 時, or if he is using a variant like 时. You can notice that the longer he writes sayagaki, the more confident and almost literary he becomes, often using a kanbun phrase (the date in this sayagaki), or unusual kanji rather than the standard kanji. This is evident with the use of 稍 as well. It is a seldom-used kanji meaning "somewhat" or "slightly". Also, note the difference between the big ツ and small ッ which can also cause confusion. You got most of it right, but a few things threw you off which (as you said) make the whole a bit difficult. The verbs and adverbs are accompanied by okurigana, so if you don't know you are looking at a verb (絡み) or an adverb (丸く) you are sort of guessing at the meaning. Of course, with kanji, you can often make a good guess at the meaning, but sometimes you can be way off. No need to look for hidden meanings in these sayagaki. I think its an honest, straightforward appraisal of the sword. Congratulations.

I think there are a lot of swords out there, and there is no particular reason to fall in love with this sword. It is an average, unsigned and shortened blade, in need of a polish, which may make your total investment more than the finished product is worth. However, if you are already in love with it, you should ask to see a copy of the registration certificate, just to confirm the length of the sword, if nothing else. I would also ask the dealer if there are any fatal flaws in the sword. I don't know anything about this group. Their invisibility is, I think, a design feature, and it makes me suspicious. I think a group that purports to be authenticating swords, but has no contact number, website, or other details, ought to be viewed with maximum skepticism. This paper confers no status or desirability or value to this sword. The only info I can find on them, is an Osaka dealer who seems to be offering the authentication services of this group for 10,000 yen (~US$90) per paper.

Yes, you got it. 江州彦根住 Gōshū Hikone-jū 藻柄子入道宗典製 Sōheishi (aka Mogarashi) Nyūdō Sōten-sei The market is full of fakes. This one looks like it merits a close look by someone who knows Sōten well. Obviously it has seen better days, but first things first. Determine if it is an authentic Sōten, and then figure out how/if it should be restored. In the meantime, handle with care.

A new group - 銃砲刀剣研究会 (Jūhō Tōken Kenkyūkai) Guns and Swords Research Association. I think this group is affiliated with a dealer in Osaka. There was a query here recently about this same type of paper. Not to be confused with NBTHK.

It looks like フクヲカ. Probably in this case it is the surname of the owner. It can also be a location name, but in this context I'm guessing it is a last name.

I think you ought to consider the strong possibility that this was not found on a Korean battlefield. Maybe it was acquired during a trip to Japan?

I'm afraid the owner will remain a mystery unless there is a tag or other identifying document that came with the sword. The inscription on the sword itself (if any) will tell you who the maker was, and possibly a year of manufacture, but only very rarely will it say anything about the owner (with one recent sword on this forum being an exception).

Presumably 備前（国住/人）長（船） Bizen (something).... Osa (something)

Yes, this and other readings are possible.

Yes the picture is the text of the date and the cutting test. 寛政元年己酉五月九日 May 9th, 1798 次胴落長坂勝曽試之 (Two) bodies cut. Test performed by Nagasaka Katsumasu Unsure of the "Two", as the kanji used actually means "next". Very beautifully written. Sword itself is Sukesada (備前国長船祐定)

金剛兵衛盛高靖博 Kongo Byoe Moritaka Yasuhiro More info at the link below. Looking at the smith's signature, and knowing the sword is contemporary with WW2, I think the signature on the other side was probably carved by the same person (and wasn't carved by the owner as I had orignally thought). It could have been the smith himself who made the inscriptions, or an associate or apprentice. M

A better picture of the other side of the tang would help. The side I can read is an owner's inscription: 於興亜聖戦陣頭 Oite Kōa seisen jintō From the front line of the Asian holy war of unification. 高原登喜夫佩之 Takahara Tokio kore wo haisuru This sword worn by Tokio Takahara.

Chinese. Looks like a manual for a parachute.

Once again, Aoi Art relies on a machine translation and comes up with a monstrous English description. 播州住藤原氏重 Banshū-jū Fujiwara Ujishige Ujishige (first generation) typically signed with "Banshū Tegarayama" in his signatures. Aoi notes the absence of this phrase on this particular sword, and suggests it makes this sword an historically interesting piece. The first character of the cutting test is illegible. The second seems to be 陥, but Aoi is silent about it, so maybe he is unsure. Cutting test would have been performed well after the manufacture of the sword. 寛政十二庚申歳四月　　陥胴落之 April, 1800 ... body cut in half

Many times the people making the translation request will themselves not know what they wish to understand from the document. In their minds, they may have an idea that the document will somehow tell them the details of the smith who made the sword, but in reality the document will just be a dry description of the sword itself. Is the sword old? Is it real? How much is it worth? These are basic things that people want to know, but this information isn't necessarily included in, for example, a registration certificate or a tag attached to a WW2 sword. Here I agree with Christopher and Michael, that the narrative "setsumei" which accompanies the Jūyō swords would be as valuable as, and more interesting than, the technical, almost boring, Jūyō certificate. The Jūyō document here in this thread is full of sword terminology which is meaningful for most of us here, but I'm afraid it will be impenetrable to a new person. And yet, there is no middle-ground. You either know the jargon, or you don't. The translator can include explanations of the terms to try to make it easier, but that is time-consuming. A paper like this could easily take hours to explain fully. In this case I think I probably looked at Jiri's post count, and felt he/she would be able to spend some time with a search engine as long as the text was machine-readable. So rather than me doing a deep-dive on what "ko-ashi hairu" means, or the nuances of "jinie-gakari", I put it into text so that Jiri can explore on his own, and then come back for further explanation on any terms that remain unclear. To the larger question of translation for free, Mywei has it absolutely correct: pursuing an accurate translation can be enjoyable and rewarding for the translator as well as the reader. It also brings new collectors to the site, which is (hopefully) good for the site and good for the hobby. Its also good to have a number of eyes and brains looking at inscriptions because, as we all know, translators make mistakes. So translation work - even complicated passages, can be a pleasure. I will avoid doing a translation if it looks like its going to be thankless drudgework ("I saw this possibly fake WW2 flag on ebay today, could you please translate the 100 names on it even though I might not bid on it"). If people wish to donate to the board when they feel they have received something of value, that is a great thing, and I'm happy to help. It does get complicated if people expect a service in return for a donation, so I wouldn't want to obligate either of us to that. There are so many entry barriers to Japanese sword collecting, that its a good thing for us to try to reduce those barriers.

My feeling is that it is not the urn for the ashes (thank goodness). In my experience the urn for the ashes is ceramic, larger than this, and is without any writing on it. The writing on this object means it was meant to be seen - so probably a flower vase that sits on the family gravesite.

Oops. Edited (after receiving the tip that I screwed up! Thanks Paul). Should be Kunitoshi. (Originally had Kunitsugu). (Stupid mistake, since the OP already knew and stated - correctly - that it was Kunitoshi.) (Sigh).

Hello Jiri, it is a typical Jūyō certificate from the NBTHK. It just describes the sword: its dimensions, shape, steel grain (kitae), hamon, tip, tang (nakago). It describes each using the typical vocabulary used in the sword collecting world. I will put it here in Japanese text so you can look it up yourself (which should be easy with a copy and paste into a search engine). I will put in some furigana to make it easier to understand. 大磨り上　無銘　伝来国俊　(Ōsuriage Mumei "Den Rai Kunitoshi) Nagasa　(length) 長さ　二尺三寸二分五厘　反り七分 Keijō (shape) 形状　鎬造り　庵棟　磨り上げて　中反り浅く　中鋒 Kitae (steel grain) 鍛え　板目　柾がかり　地沸（にえ）つく Hamon (forging pattern on cutting edge) 刃文　広い直ぐ刃　わずかにのあれごころとなり　小足入る Bōshi (tip) 帽子　直ぐに先小丸　裏掃きかける Nakago (tang) 茎　　　大磨り上げ　先浅い栗尻鑢目浅い勝手下がり目釘孔二 We hereby judge and deem the article herein to be designated as an "Important Sword" Showa 38, October 25th NBTHK Hosakawa Moritatsu

奉納 爲　家内安全 本塚當家 Offering For Safety of the House (Head house and this branch family) 安政五年戌牛歳 九月吉日 September, 1858 願主 當所 合羽屋佐右衛門 By Kappaya Saemon of this location

Nitpicking over various readings now that everyone has done the heavy lifting of the translations. None of this changes the content of the translations given. Feel free to ignore unless you are a fellow kanji geek. 刀剣賣買 Tōken baibai　 書畫骨董 Shoga kottō 松川屋刀剣店 Matsukawaya tōken-ten 信州松代町 伊勢町 Shinshū Matsushiro machi, Ise machi (might actually be Ise-chō, since "machi" is alredy used once). 刀剣武具 Tōken bugu　(swords, weapons) 陸海軍々刀 Riku/Kaigun gunto (Army/Navy swords) 御刀剣白鞘 Go Token shirasaya I think in the case of swords, "O" is preferred over "Go". Actually it could be O, On, Mi, or Go. For some reason I think O is preferred. Perhaps because Gotō or Gotōken sounds confusingly similar to other words. So, Otōken shirasaya (Moriyama-san can probably confirm or correct). It's use here is to flatter the customer. "We can make a shirasaya for your honorable sword." Also, rendaku isn't used in shirasaya. 松本元洋堂　　 Matsumoto Genyōdō (this would be the shop name) 松本洋 Matsumoto Yō (could also be read as Hiroshi) (Proprietor's name) 東京市澁谷區上通三ノ四五 Tōkyō shi, Shibuya-ku, Kamitōri 3-45 Tōkyō city, Shibuya ward, Kamitōri 3-45 (Kamitōri is an old name. It is now part of Jingūmae and various other neighborhood names. It is a very nice section of Tokyo). 澁=渋 電話 澁谷 (46) 一二四八番 Denwa Shibuya (46) 1248 ban Telephone number Shibuya (46) 1248 振替東京八六五一三番 Furikae Tōkyō 86513 ban From outside of Tokyo, contact Tokyo Relay Station 86513 first.

I'm guessing its a vase that is used for gravesites 爲松誉鶴壽禅定尼 The first character (tame) means "for". The following characters look like a posthumous buddhist name 追善 In memoriam 施主下浦弘　　From Shimoura Hiroshi (the person presiding over the funeral) 昭和十年三月 March 1935 二十三世 23 years? 教誉代 ? Priest's name? 誉 is the abbreviated version of an older, out-of-use kanji.

祝應召　Congratulations on being called up (enlisted, drafted). It makes no mention of the branch or the service this person was called up for.

And the column heading third from the left says 廠別 (Shōbetsu). It signifies that this column will note which arsenal/factory the item was made in. (I originally thought it said 識別, but that is incorrect)

Or, it could be that Torigoye wrote this in 1961. The date on the box just says "61" (六十一年) which I reflexively noted as "Showa 61", but it could just mean "1961".

Looks like an ubu wakizashi, with some kind of notare midare hamon from the tip to the middle of the sword, and then the hamon settles down to a sugu-ba as it nears the nakago. Feels like its more of an Edo period piece to me. Slightly unique hamon, but no food idea who/what school might have made this. Osaka Ishido, maybe?