SanTouSu

Yes beautiful sword Max. Sorry was out of town. Finally reduced pic....only had one picture of full length..(well not quite all there)...will take better pictures when it arrives.

Just noticed the date on your post...it's been almost a year.. Did you finally get this translated? santos

David, Just saw your post while research Kato Tsunahide. Very interesting...and very old style writing. I'm not a Japanese language expert....I've learned on my own from translating nakago mei and other things. I noticed in Japanese certificates & awards they use the "Right" kanji to designate the person whom they're writing about. In your case the "Right Forger" I assume refers to Kato on the other side of the sword. In other words..."The Forger on the Right". I also noticed in looking at old documents that my grandmother had from early 1900's that they used "Katakana" instead of hiragana for the non-kanji writing. Although yours has a mix of both. Some of the kanji you can't identify appear to be katakana. But even that doesn't help in translating the meaning. Some parts are unrecognizable. So far I have: Migi tan yuu saki saku no soo ken. I'll keep looking at this...it's hard. English: The forger mentioned before on the right made this sword. (I'll have to confirm this). If you know an older Japanese person i.e. in their 80's they may recognize some of the writing.

Hey Greg, Having trouble uploading picture...says its too big. They're 7.5MG...let me figure out something. Sword is shinogi-zukuri with koshi zori....and choji gunome midare hamon.

Yes, I believe you're correct

Max, The sword was made Heisei 10 (1998). The inscription's writing style is same as yours...except that it includes the family name Seto.

I'm very happyy for you. The fact you received personal authentication from Seto san himself is really special. I'm kind of in the same boat as you...I'm awaiting a Seto Yoshihiro katana which I picked up in Kyoto this past month. Good Luck on yours.

That is really cool and very nice of him. I believe Seto lives in Fukuoka....did your family take it to him by hand?

When was the 2015 NBTHK competition? Do any of you have results for 2015? thanks

Although Seto San doesn't use the internet...he may use a cell phone. If you opt to have the sword sent to you in the US, you can take a picture of the "mei" (inscription on the tang) if there is one, and send the photo to his cell phone. He would readily recognize his inscription. Just a option to what you are considering to do.

Seto Yoshihiro is currently 70 years old (born in 1945). That picture looks like a picture of him when he was younger....in his 50's. The only picture I've seen of him was from Leon Kapp's book "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths". The Kanji (characters) for his name are correctly spelled.