SteveM

You got it right, but I think Enpō 8 converts to 1680. August is correct. Bear in mind there is not a one-for-one equivalence here as the historical Japanese calendar is slightly different from the gregorian calendar. And yes this says 吉辰 at the end, which is pronounced kisshin, and means "lucky day". (←This I discovered just today. Apparently its not as uncommon as I thought, and I can find several examples on the internet with just a casual search... which goes to show you learn something new every day). https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_jaJP935JP935&sxsrf=ALeKk02shewXOzXkS9MRKdd0cdXRik7Qpw%3A1615737453013&ei=bTJOYOALnLzQ8Q-3rpaQCg&q=吉辰とは&oq=吉辰とは&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgjELADECc6BAgjECc6BAgAEEM6BggAEAQQJToCCABQ8nxY35oBYKidAWgCcAB4AIABzgGIAYQHkgEFMS41LjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6yAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwig9r6Hk7DvAhUcHjQIHTeXBaIQ4dUDCA0&uact=5

Never heard of "lucky dragon" on a sword. Lucky (or, auspicious/blessed) Day is very common. Maybe its part of a zodiac year and "lucky day"? Need pics to see what the writing is.

The picture at the top contains a patriotic slogan, the first word of which is being covered by the habaki. It should say 七生報告 一撃必殺剣 Shichishō Hōkoku Ichigeki hissatsu-no-ken The top line means roughly, "Though I may die seven times, I will rise again for my country". It is a common slogan found on wartime items. The second line means "Sword that will slay the enemy with one strike". The bottom picture contains the swordsmith's name 頭山満翁邸内 笠間一貫齊繁継作 Toyama Mitsuru Okina teinai Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu saku The swordsmith is Ikkansai Shigetsugu. You should be able to find information on him in this site. A very collectible item, I would think.

Neck is kubi (首) which doesn't appear on your blade. But the vocabulary of the cutting tests is specialized, so it wouldn't be something as obvious as that, I don't think. Anyway, it should appear on your hozon paper. I can't tell anything about the date of the sword other than its not tremendously old. The photos are too dark. I have the impression that the sword could be from anywhere between the 1400s and 1600s. I don't know about the Seki floods.

Blade looks OK for the time. Pictures of the hamon are too far away and indistinct to really see much, but it vaguely looks OK for the smith. For any definitive answer you'd need to send to shinsa. He's not a major name in the sword world, but he's not completely unknown either. You wouldn't expect the more obscure smiths to be forged, but as is often noted on this board, if there's money to be made, people will slap any signature on any random sword just to give the appearance of authenticity. Possible to see better pictures of the hamon and the tip?

Looks like 寛政三年 (Kansei 3), which would be 1791. Would love to see the paper. I can't make out what is being cut off. Tester's name is Nagasaka Katsuhide. He doesn't appear in Guido's list. I found another example of his work online. Dropping it here for archive purposes. It seems to eventually link to an auction site. I have some questions about the translation done here, but the important thing for this thread is the cutting test name. This is a Japanese sword in full honzukuri mountings. The blade is signed"Oshu Aizu ju Kanetomo 奥州会津住兼友" Cutting test dated"Temei Yo-nen Yami Shogatsu Juku-nichi(Midnight 19th Jan. 1784) 天明四年闇正月十九日, Tsugu Wakima(cutted throgh under the chest) 次脇間" Kansei Gan-nen Gogatsu Kokonoka 9th May 1789) 寛政元年五月九日, Wakige Ryotabi Dotan-barai(cutted off under the chest) 脇毛両度土壇払, Nagasaka Zoshy Katsuhide rei kore(cutting tester) 長坂造酒勝英例之" shinogi-zukuri with bohi engravings shape. Edo period ca1780 era made blade. https://vatican.com/2/Swords/

On the scabbard: the easy stuff 願主　平井信宜 Ganshū Hirai Nobuyoshi Requested by Hirai Nobuyoshi 奉納居神神社御宝前大正七年九月吉日眞定剱正照作長貳尺四寸参分餘 Hōnō Igamijinja Gohōzen Taishō nana nen kugatsu kichijitsu Sanesada-no-tsurugi Masateru saku nagasa 2-shaku 4-sun 3-bu amari Dedicated, before the gods, to Igami Shrine, this September day of 1918, "Sanesada-no-tsurugi" made by Masateru. Length 2-shaku, 4-sun, 3-bun Igami Shrine is a shrine in the small castle town of Odawara, in Kanagawa prefecture. https://igamijinja.com/アクセス/

The first side is the maker. The reverse side is a little bit about the sword, and a note saying that the sword was made at the request of a Mr. Nobuyoshi Hirai. It is written in kanbun style (classical Chinese style, but read as Japanese with Japanese syntax, thus always counter-intuitive and confusing) 1. 甲陽住真定剱源正照鍛是 2. 明治巳二年八月日鉄甲棒打銚之 3. 相陽住平井信宜好依造 1. Kōyō-jū Sanesada-no-tsurugi Minamoto Masateru Kitau kore 2. Meiji Mi-toshi ni nen, hachigatsu jitsu. Tekkō ?? suki de ?? 3. Sōyō-jū Hirai Nobuyoshi no kōi de tsukutta 1. "Sanesada-no-tsurugi" made by Minamoto Masateru, of Kōyō province (modern day Nagano prefecture). My guess is that the sword was given a name (Sanesada-no-tsurugi, with other possible readings) at the request of the person who ordered the sword. 2. Made on a day in August, 1869, using metal from iron plates and plows. This is the one part I am taking a bit of a leap of faith with, although it seems fairly straightforward. Hoping Moriyama san or Morita-san can correct or confirm. (Or Markus-san!) 3. Made at the request of Mr. Nobuyoshi Hirai (other possible readings) of Sōyō (modern day Kanagawa prefecture). edit: fixed Meiji 2 western date

Hokke is my guess. Hottsuke looks like a mistaken transliteration of 法華 (Hokke), as sometimes happens when moving between spoken and written Japanese and English.

If it were a name, and if it were 漆戸大人, it would be Urushido Hirota (or a million other possible readings). But I don't think its Urushido. Sorry I can't be much help.

In this case, Tōshin (東神) is a part of a longer name 日本刀東神鍛錬所 Japanese Sword Tōshin Forge. "Eastern Deity" is the direct, literal translation of the two characters that comprise the word tōshin, but in this case I think its just a name, and it alludes to the smith being affiliated with that particular forge.

1. 寛政十一年未十月十九日 於千十摺付土壇拂前原源太左衛門 寛文八年二月吉日 1. Yes, as you guessed, year of the sheep after Kansei 11. 2. Dontanbarai Maebara Minamoto Tazaemon would be my guess. Mae uses a slight variation of 前 which you can find near the top of the list on the link below https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/u524d

Yes, you got it: 若芝 (Jakushi)

Can't get anything except the obvious ones... 囗戸大人 囗囗 Slim pickings. I don't even know if the first line is a name or a theme. (If its a name, its an unusual name.　漆戸大人?)

Part of the mei might read 八幡宮 (Hachimangū). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachiman_shrine

1. Gomabashi　＝護摩箸 Bōhi = 棒樋 2. 中心　壱　　＝After nakago is the alternative kanji for the number "1". I'm sure this refers to the number of mekugi-ana on the sword. 3. 彫刻 ＝chōkoku (engraving, carving) 4. 明応頃 = Meiō-koro

Same story. 友光 Tomomitsu

Deja vu?

Should be OK...It isn't the first time an item has appeared on multiple auction sites, as you noted. Nice piece, by the way. Good luck with it.

出羽守法橋源光平 Dewa-no-kami Hokkyō Minamoto Mitsuhira Dewa Province was a province in the far north of the main island of Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewa_Province "Kami", as Jean says, is an honorary title granted to some swordsmiths. It usually translates into English as "Governor" or "Lord", but its really just an honorific. The title comes from far back in Japan's history, when it was actually applied to generals and warlords and administrative officials. By the time this sword was made, it had lost any administrative meaning. Hokkyō is a kind of rank given to people who are studying buddhism. It means the swordsmith was an aspiring buddhist priest. Minamoto is a historical clan name. A name associated with a long, distinguished heritage. Whether or not this smith was actually related to the Minamoto clan is probably unknowable at this point. A lot of people, even powerful Daimyo, claimed to be related to the Minamoto clan so they could add some respectability to their own origin story, even if the evidence for such a connection was very thin. So, "Lord of Dewa Province, Hokkyō Minamoto Mitsuhira".

Now available in Japan (apparently) from Yahoo Auctions https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b489701022 Anyway, I would think the correct reading is Tomoyoshi, art name of Shōgetsu-dō

I think its probably 友光 Tomomitsu

Two-piece habaki are common. Don't worry about a habaki moving 1mm in a shirasaya as long the sword is stable.

Hmm. Not much to go on. I can't find the "hana" in that tsuba. I'm not quite sure about the Suruga attribution either. May be that the box is for a different tsuba, but there are people more qualified than I am to make this call.

無銘 因州駿河 花文透鐔 Mumei Inshū Suruga Hanamon sukashi tsuba I'm not confident about mon (文) 丸形鉄地?? 耳透無銘 因州駿河 昭和壬子年師走 寒山誌（花押） Marugata tetsu-ji ?? (nawa-zu?) Mimi sukashi mumei Inshū Suruga Showa mizunoene (1972) nen, shiwasu (December) Kanzan shirusu + kaō I can't get the last two on the first line (far right of the inside of the box). Usually this would describe the design. If you could show the tsuba it might fall into place. I'm not confident about mimi-sukashi either. "Mimi kaeshi" 耳返し would make sense, but this seems clearly to be 耳透かし (mimi sukashi), which is a term I've never heard of. This too might be clarified if we saw the tsuba itself.