Cuirassier

Hello Guys Maybe it is me, but this one is an odd one. I can pretty well translate more recent, 20C shin shinto meis (having become used to the style), which I am 100% certain this is one of. But this one has really baffled me. It comes from a civilian katana with a signed plain iron tsuba (photo also shown). However, there are painted characters too, which I always presumed were Imperial Japanese military? This is a coivilian katana and there are no acceptance stamps to the blade. Everything about it confuses me. Let us start with the first two characters, which I presume, I am sure are the province characters. I am using BW Robinson's "The Arts of the Japanese Sword", Provinces (Appendix C) and I see character 15 followed character by 39; I am 100% sure the later is 39, but there is no province associated for this! OK, then the other characters; Ama Iye / Toshi Taka Yama Riki Yo Mio Saku Oh lordy, it does not make sense to me. I am certain about the last few characters, and they do not go together. Finally, the tsuba, it reads Yoshikatsu right? Again, I should have taken photos of the entire blade, which I have not yet, but can do in a few days time if of any interest. Any help / info appreciated. I would for example love to know what the end hole was used for. Cheers Mark

Hi Guys Thanks I will / know I should have taken some full blade images, sorry. The item is at my apartment not our home; I will be back there in a couple of days and will get some photos then. I am currently struggling with another mei, so I may well post that later / ask for some help - it is a wierd one, the characters I am sure I have got right but it does not make sense. Thanks again Mark

Thanks Stephen I will try and clean the rest of the gunk of the blade and maybe think about a polish, as it seems ripe for it, not that I really know. But it might be worth sending to Tony Norman. In any event, the fittings alone are worth more than I paid for it, so the blade is a bonus!

Is it really September already tomorrow OK, hopefully I can have a little boast on this one. I am not sure if anyone can help me further with the bladesmith, as the tang has been shortened. So I bought some items from a major auction house in London fairly recently (just got the items). They catalogued several Japanese items (1 I kicked and kicked myself that I had not bid more). One they catalogued very badly, no photos (but I got photos sent to me anyway); 'Shin gunto, can not expose tang." I am amazed at how little I paid for this thing; someone had stuck what looked a screw into the grip and tang, but it was really a glued in smooth shaft bolt that could not be turned; one little tap from the other side and out she popped! Anyway, the gunto fittings are not too bad to say the least, the blade was covered in gunk (which has mostly come off now to leave quite a respectable item), the entire thing is very heavy, and it has a Bizen blade - the mei is like nothing I have seen before; quite unpronounced, written at the very end So, I have translated what I can, any further pointers / indicators / era / possible bladesmiths would be very much appreciated I have Bizen, Shirosaku? Clearly other characters have been lost when the tang was shortened. I am sure this is not the world's most exciting find, but for less than the cost of a decent hotel room for a night, it aint bad!

Thanks Adam and Matt Wow, I could not have been further off The character "yoko" is not even in my "Arts of the Japanese Sword" characters for swordsmiths, or am I looking in the wrong place?

Any helpers? I have ignored the first three chanarcters to try and concentrate on / find the maker's name. The last character I believe is "saku" (made this). So I presume the two or rather three characters before "saku" are the maker's name. But it is the middle of these three? characters that throws me. A horizontal line with two shor and one long vertical strokes. I have got Nori, Ari or Tomo, Hiro, unknown, suke, saku My eyes are very tired - scrutinizing every book I have. Please, put me out of my misery

Guys, thank you very much. It dispells, I think, what the original owner said, that his grandpa was given it by the Chinese. Cheers

Hi Guys Please tell me this is Chinese; Or what is says if it is Japanese. I have tried and tried using my mei reading books; yes, I know it is not a mei! I was told it was the bring back of an RAF pilot that had something to do with Chinese / Japanese prisoner of war exchanges / releases. Cheers in hope and anticipation Mark

No problem, I did not buy it; it sold for what I would have paid if I thought the mei were authentic / 100% So thanks for pointing whay you did out. I will now wander over to the Izakaya forum and tell you about my "turnip chopper"

Hoanh I think the placement is OK against the top Mekugi ana, I just get jittery about such finds. John Thanks, I feared it might be kosher. Dang Not sure I can afford it Spent too much money today on some mighty fine Scottish blades - shame I can not relate about my Gordon chieftan Culloden find here.

This can't be THE Yasuhiro, right? The "Yasu" character is too straight, too normal. Yes, on a gunto (what else). :-) Mark

Thanks Chris. Sorry, I did not think for pone minute it would be a signature. I was expecting it to be some war cry or blessing. Thank you Mark

Hi Guys I do not know where to start with this one. All of the books I have are all relating to tang inscriptions. This is one of those ironic purchases. I just happened to be reading up about police and other dirks the day before, when this wakizashi popped up very badly described in an auction I was already bidding in (not for Japanese edged weapons) and I just happened by chance to recognize the Menuki (it was actually only half a menuki at that) and saw the inscription on the blade. Now, mostly, I would avoid anything with characters on the blade like the plague, but the wakizashi clearly has a great deal of age (it shows) and it has the menuki for an senior Imperial Japanese police officer. It is in a bit of a state, but I bought it cheaply enough, so it does not really stand me for anything much. The tang is not signed. I just wondered if anyone could tell me what the inscription means and if it likely means the blade is anything special; I very much doubt it BTW. Or at least point me in the right direction to find out. Thanks Mark

I have changed my mind again; I believe this is an authentic Japanese blade. The gunto it is mounted in comes with absolute provenance, 1945 surrender / presentation certification. Any ideas as to the likely age based solely on the "mei"? I suspect it is 1930's. Any thoughts very welcome.

Thanks for restoring my sanity guys! I am going with Chinese "Woolworths". Though the thing is in very good shin gunto mounts. Very strange. Cheers Mark PS If you ever come unstuck on Napoleonic era swords, I may be your man.

Hello I am truly stumped over this mei. Or is it a mei? Or is it even Japanese? I have looked at all the differtent character pages in my various reference books and come up with Gwatsu Gwatsu (blank - possibly Fune) (blank - no idea). Thing is, this blade is in an authentic gunto, so I do not think it is a Chinese fake, but then when I look at the mei, I do. I now know what a ping pong ball feels like. HELP! (please)

Yes, am sure it is a fake; I found this very close example; http://au.allbazaar.com/Antique-Japanese-Sword-ZZc-475-ZZi-140908030945.aspx I think this is original; http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=oshigata_sword_s27 The sword that is for sale appears to be this one; http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/a-Japanese-katana-2 Cheers Mark

Thank you very much Grey. Is there any way of determining or guestamating which generation this Masatoshi is. I found 4 generations that signed "Etchu no Kami Masatoshi"; the first three are all Sai-jo saku or Jo saku or Chu-jo saku, the 4th generation appears to have somehow lost his forfathers' skills! Of course, every example of "Etchu no Kami Masatoshi" I find for swords for sale or sold all say they are 1st generation (hmmm).

PS Just to show I am not totally useless, I managed the translate the tsuba signature no problem; Hirotsugu

Hi Guys I can generally translate a mei by focussing on key characters and then expanding out. I have a couple of books I use, but none are helping me here. The mei is so clear, so precise, but I can not find kanji that actually truly fit, so I wonder whether it is fantasy, a Chinese rendition of Japanese. Which would be a shame, as it appears to be a nice looking sword I have a chance at. 1. Shiro or Shige? 2. No idea 3. Mori or Yasu? 4. Half a Kane? 5. Toshi? I have checked various characters sets (titles, provinces, dates, etc.) but nothing! And the mei is so clear, which is the frustrating part! Any helpers?

Hi Chris Oh, I see now, thank you. It seems I have a sword from the least known WW2 Japanese "smiths'. Many thanks / Happy New Year Mark

Compliments of the season / Happy New Year Forgive me for bringing a Seki stamped blade question here, but this mei is an interesting one; at least, I think so. I generally can find my way around Shin shinto and WW2 blades; I have a couple of good reference books (I start with translating the smith name and then expand out by reference to these). This though, I have never seen before and can find no reference to it, if I am in fact right in my translation. It appears to be No shu (alternate form of "shu") Seki shu (note, not "ju") Soko (or Shima) Yoshikane saku If I am right, is this just the mistake of the smith (Noshu Seki shu) or something more cryptic? Also, would appreciate if anyone could determine whether I am right about the character "Soko" (or Shima). Regards / RSVP Mark

Thanks guys. Yes, maybe I should have stuck with it, as I had the key elements, but the trouble is I think my books. Certainly now the smith's name makes a lot more sense now I know Fujiwara is a title. As requested, extra photos, but I am not the world's best photographer for sure. The blade appears to be very well made; I am sure the fittings are early 20C Maybe it is worth me spending some money on a polish and refurbishment, maybe I will just sell it on for a quick profit As I said, I bought it as it flashed on my Internet bidding screen when I was not expecting to see an edged weapon; I was waiting for swords which were to come later in the sale. It just flashed up, I saw the cat scratch habaki, the asking price was low, I bid and got it ! Normally such impulsive buys burn my fingers, so I was due some good luck! Cheers again Mark PS If you ever need help with Napoleonic / 19C European swords, I may be your man!

Hi Guys I bought this not bad at all thank you wakizashi for a good low price; the blade is really not bad at all. It was one at one of those live auctions, where the item was badly described with quay spulling meerstakes, so udders did not see a waki in amongst other things where it really should not have been. Saw it and quickly bid, and got it; thought "God, what have I just done" but now am pretty glad I did buy it. Anyway So then I came to the mei. I thought I had this one beaten, but no! I tend to find the smith's name OK, one way or another, and then use some detective work to work out the rest (have books, have Internet). This one has me beat though. First, there was no "saku" character at the end, so I looked at the last two characters hoping this was the name. I got the second to last as "Iye" but that did not work when I tried to find a smith's name beginning with "Iye", and the last character I can not work out. So went with forth and third from last, and got Fujiwara; I am right, aren't I? Please tell me it is Fujiwara! So I found three Fujiwara's, but this is not any of them. So I thought "OK, look up the province. Should be easy enough, the "shu" character is there", right? So I think I found the character, number 70 of Robinson's "The Arts of the Japanese Sword" This character can be found in the provinces "Iga" and "Kaga" but not where it is the lead character followed by "shu". I can not find the province but am convinced I have identified the charcter correctly. Please, please help. Images of the mei below. Insanity will come soon otherwise. Mark

I only have what the seller sent me; they are not very good. It is up for auction in the UK, but I think the reserve is a whopping 800 GBP, so I will not be bidding!