SteveM

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?

Looks like Hidenao to me.

I wouldn't put too much faith in this certificate. It is issued by the "Nihon Tōsōgu Kenkyū Kai" (Japanese Sword Fittings Research Association), which is a little-known group that I believe is affiliated with a dealer based in Osaka. This particular certificate just says the tsuba is a late-Edo piece from Chōshū, and it lists the dimensions. The text at the bottom says the theme of temple/pavillion in the mountains was a favorite of the Chōshū group. The Chōshū fief, which was historically in opposition to the Tokugawa (or, at least, in a grudging sort of submission), liked this theme because the theme implies impermanence - the idea being that the mountain temple is fragile and unsustainable, and eventually collapses - which is an allusion to the increasingly untenable Tokugawa government eventually imploding. So the theme has symbolic importance to the Chōshū group. I can't verify this claim as it pertains to this tsuba, but I have found other sources that discuss the political nuance of this theme from another time. Anyway, consider this paper to be a sales aid, and not a validation of quality.

江州　Gōshū 彦根住 Hikone-jū Its a location name: Hikone (city) in the province of Gōshu

@Anfoz Yes, the whole thing is Seki-jū Fujii Kanefuji Saku

Hello Andy, 関住藤井兼藤作

This is the awarding of the "Order of the Sacred Treasure, Silver Rays" to Satō Yūtarō (could also be read as Tomotarō), who was a customs officer. The guys that Matt mentions (on the left of the document) are the authorizing parties and their ranks and titles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_Japan

It needs a miracle, I'm afraid.

OK, now it gets interesting. I don't think its a worn-out shinto. That would have been a massive sword when it first came out of the forge.

Hello Bruce, No, you aren't missing anything. The "hide" in the first photo is spelled phonetically using two kanji (hi + de) 日出 　(hide) . Incidentally, these two kanji could be translated as "rising sun". Later on he switched to the single kanji (秀) which has the same pronunciation, but means "excellence".

Yes, above the hotstamp is a kaō. And, 文化五年 so 1808