SteveM

The sword is by Fujino Masatsugu from Chichibu city in Saitama Prefecture. It was made at the request of Sakurai Saburō, on the ocassion of the 13th anniversary of the passing of his relative Sakurai Tomiharu, who was at one time a Lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Army. Tomiharu was born in Sendai city on January 23rd, Meiji 19 (1886), and died at the age of 89 (1975) in Kawagoe city. This means the sword was made around 1988.

I think the paper is from Hon'ami Kōryō. The Hon'ami family are a long line of sword scholars (and sometimes sword polishers) who used to be the official sword appraisers and polishers for the shogun and the imperial family. Kōryō is a relatively recent person, active in the early 20th century. I don't think there is any concensus on how accurate his appraisals are. The whole paper says 在銘　時代寛文　　 勢州石見守国助 長サ壱尺四寸九分余 正真 It means Sword with name inscribed. From Kanbun era (c. 1660s). "Seishū Iwami-no-kami Kunisuke" Length of 1 shaku, 4 sun, 9 bu (should be about 17.77 inches) Genuine The long name inscription just means, "Kunisuke, Lord of Iwami in Ise Prefecture" made this.

Hello, The little cartouches say 正利 (Masatoshi). Presumably the artist's name. There are at least eleven artists named Masatoshi. The artist who made this tsuba would probably be late Edo. I don't know if the tsuba and kozuka is a set, but they do look like they compliment each other well.

Upside-down, inside-out, standing on my head...I'll try anything.

The last picture, if I'm not mistaken, is the signature of the artist 還暦　素雪 (Sōsetsu, 60 years) Note that the picture is upside down (but I am becoming a specialist at upside down inscriptions). Unfortunately I can't read the poem. I don't know if I am an angel, but Morita-san sure is godlike. It looks like a good, authentic piece. That's my layman's view anyway.

Yes, if you got the sword for a good price, don't be discouraged. It could still be an interesting sword regardless of the signature.

OK - yes, the current condition doesn't let us see much of the hamon, but I agree it seems to be in OK shape and would seemingly be a good candidate for a professional polish if it is a genuine Kunimichi. This would be the signature of Kunimichi (1st), working in the early-to-mid 1600s. This particular style of his signature would be from before 1614. However, some bits of the signature feel funny to me, so it could be a forged signature (of which there are many in the sword world). I'll dig around and see if I can find a Kunimichi using these same kanji for comparison. In any event, you should show it to someone who knows Japanese swords so they can advise you better.

And, from one Steve to another, welcome to NMB.

平安城住藤原國道 Heian-jō jū Fujiwara Kunimichi It means "Kunimichi Fujiwara, resident of Heian Castle" made this. He wasn't actually residing in a castle. "Heian Castle" is just another name for the city of Kyōto. Any pictures of the actual blade itsel? The signature is nice, but I bet the blade is even nicer.

Its a collaboration (gassaku) by the father and son team of Enomoto Sadayoshi (father) and Sadahito (son).

Yes, Father's work, aged 60 years. By Kayandō The son is Katō Kayandō (or Kashiwadō, not sure). The father is Katō Sōsetsu

I don't know much about him. I'd just be digging around on the internet for info (and much of the available info is probably already located on this forum in one of the older threads.). Does it come with a military scabbard in good condition?

黄瀬戸 夏茶碗 Kiseto natsu chawan, I think. Can't read the left side.

Hello Nick - your photos are upside-down, but still readable. 藤井兼音作　It means "made by Fujii Kaneoto". If you search on this site for "Kaneoto" you can find other examples of his swords.

Looks like this one. Navy cap. http://www.mforce.info/products/detail.php?product_id=4501 Yours has names written on it Shimada Minoru? 島田稔? Komachi ?suke 小町?助 with a partial address or phone number.

This should be combined with the other thread. As Piers and Ray posted, the kanji are 胴落. Normally in saidanmei style it would probably be read as "dō-otoshi". Literally it means "torso + drop", but the meaning is more like "cut off at the chest". Well, that would be the meaning if it were a normal saidanmei on a sword. As Ray says, it feels weird to see this on a tantō because its not likely going to be used to cut anybody in half. Even as a name for the blade, it feels a little over-ambitious. Like calling a pocket knife "demon slayer". I mean, an owner can call a blade anything he wants to, but it would be ridiculous to bring in a tantō to the inscriber and ask him to inscibe it with the words "body cutter" even as a nickname. So, another mystery. Anyway, it isn't the smith's name, so I think the choices are either saidanmei or blade name.

Here is a ww2 sword with the slogan Hakkō Ichiu inscribed on the nakago. Close-up of the nakago. http://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords3/KT326157.htm

昭和十六年正月 January, 1941.

Hello Jake, 次兵衛 is just a name: Jibei. In this case, you shouldn't try to parse each kanji for its individual meaning. The three kanji are combined together to form the name Jibei. If course, the individual kanji have meanings, and these meanings, in turn, add to the understanding of the name. But Jibei (次兵衛) is just a masculine name, that when combined with Dōtanuki means "Jibei of the Dōtanuki Group", and we know this because there are written records of Jibei of the Dōtanuki Group. It is this last character 丞 that is causing us to speculate. Typically it is an honorific title of the kind that local Daimyō or the central government would grant to very talented smiths. It would make the whole name into something like "His Lordship Jibei of the Dōtanuki Group", and would be pronounced Jibei-no-jō. However, these titles are usually well-documented in various sources. The smith is then free to use this title on all of his signatures. In the case of Dōtanuki Jibei, there seems to be no record of him ever receiving the honor of a title, and there are no other swords of his that are extant with that particular title on it (as far as I know). So we are kind of scratching our heads as to what this last kanji could mean. It could be that the record of him receiving the title just didn't survive in any written form. It could be that this isn't a title, but instead means something else that isn't yet apparent. In any event, none of this changes the quality of your sword, and none of this changes the NBTHK's judgment that your sword is indeed a sword made and signed by Jibei Dōtanuki.

天保七年丙申八月 Tenpō 7 (1836) August The middle bit, 丙申, is the chinese elemental/zodiac year fire+monkey. Hinoesaru in Japanese. It's just an additional year-counting convention. It confirms the 1836 date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenpō

Kyūshū Higō Dōtanuki Jihei ... those are the first 10. Could it be that the 衛 character, which is usually written in grass script on this smith's swords, is being mistaken as 丞? There is an article on this smith and how hard it is to read the name, and the potential for these swords to be forged. Look at the illustrations numbered #40 and #41 in the article. He hints (whithout stating explicitly) that the name on #41 is engraved differently enough to be considered a forgery. https://www.token-net.com/knowledge/62_about_gibutsu_14.html Nowhere does it mention anything about 丞 being added.

Need more info. The first three are normally a name, or part of a given name: Jibei The last is normally part of a rank or title ~丞　(~no jō). Japanese is a language for which context can completely change the meaning of the text, so it really depends on what comes before it - but it looks like "name + title".

I think the design on the fuchi/kashira is "Bukan" (Fenggan in Chinese), who was a buddhist monk that is said to have tamed tigers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenggan You probably already know the bug is a cicada. Very common in Japan, and associated with summer. For what its worth, I think the ensemble is probably Meiji, and may have been assembled to appeal to the export market. The sword is early Edo. The fuchi/kashira is probably Edo as well. The cicada menuki...they look a bit big and not so refined, and for this reason they feel like Meiji works. The odd buddha kojiri also feels like a Meji addition. The tsuba is maybe iron cast from a mold?

Hello GE, there are some members on this site who have been flagged in Jussi's post #16, and they might be able to offer their opinions. They haven't posted anything on this thread yet, so they may not have even logged in these past few days. (Or, they simply may not feel motivated enough to give us their thoughts yet.) Life sometimes gets in the way of our hobbies. Regardless, there are some dealers and other enthusiasts who post from time to time that might be happy to look at it in hand and give advice. I hesitate to volunteer their names here, but you might also look on the forum's "For Sale" section to see some of the sword dealers and maybe contact them directly. Or, depending on your circumstances, you might bring it to a sword show to show it to one of the people there - the biggest sword show in the US was just held in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. It is an annual affair, so you might consider coming to next year's show (covid-willing). I think there is a show coming up somewhere on the East Coast. In any event, the names on your swords are big names, as you now know. Big names come with big risks, but it isn't completely unknown that a garage sale or estate sale or some such event uncovers a rare item. It happened recently with a sword found in an estate sale: it turned out to be from one of the great masters of the past 200-300 years. The name on your sword is of the same caliber. If you are interested, please read this thread. It may help you figure out next steps.

The one in the Kuniyasu print with the anchor on his shoulder is Taira no Tomomori (see George's post), also known as Shinchūnagon Tomomori, also known as Ikari Tomomori. "Ikari" means anchor. At Dan No Ura, after losing to the Minamoto, it is said that he walked into the sea holding an anchor. Wikipedia says he tied an anchor around his feet. Anyway, it was an honorable death, as they say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_no_Tomomori But Suruga Jirō Kiyoshige is also a possibility for the motif on the tsuba in Alban's original post. The ukiyoe print in Dale's post #4 is from the set of 100 Famous Warriors. Suruga Jirō was a retainer/guard for Minamoto Yoshitsune, and enters the 100 Famous Warriors list due to his exploits in protecting Yoshitsune. https://www.Japanese-wiki-corpus.org/person/Jiro SURUGA.html I don't follow why he's holding an anchor in the print. It was no doubt more obvious to people in the 19th century. photo is of the Taira no Tomomori statue in the city of Shimonoseki (near Dan No Ura).