Help translating please.

[Orselli]

Hello all.

Let me first say I have the upmost respect for what you do on this site. I spent a few day going through the Japanese alphabet and I had no luck trying to figure out what I had. I contacted Darcy Brockbank to see if he could help. Darcy did say he thought I had a sword signed in grass script and he suggested I come here to see if some of you could help.

 

Sorry about the pics. The script is very hard to see and photo. Edited! Sorry Darcy.

 

Thank you for any and all help.

 

Tom

[John A Stuart]

Although not gender specific Darcy in this case is a man's name. Sign with your given name so that we may address you. John

[Orselli]

Very sorry. I had my wife looking over my shoulder telling me Darcy is a woman's name. My apologies.

 

Tom.

[k morita]

Hi,

This sword is WWII period sword,made by Kumabe(family name) Tadatoshi,RJT sword smith.

The signature says "Living in Higo(Kumamoto prefecture), Tadatoshi(smith name)". 肥 後 住 忠 利

[Orselli]

Thank you for the fast response.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I most likely am.

 

The sword was made by the Kumabe family and they had a smith working for them named Tadatoshi who made the sword? (Or is Tadatoshi the last name) And the smith is a RJT smith and that is a average to below average sword maker and they made swords in the Higo region, a older region of Japan.

 

So it was not a factory made sword, that's good.

 

So I have a great story to tell my father in law. His father brought this sword back from Japan and he was interested in its story and now I have one.

 

Thanks

Tom.

[b.hennick]

Morita san you continue to amaze me! Thank you for all your contributions to nihontomessageboard.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Tom, the smiths name in total is 隈部 忠利 Kumabe Tadatoshi also 雲正 Unsho. He was ranked 貴品の列 Kibin no Retsu (Jo Saku) which is a pretty good rank. John

[Brian]

Tom,

Not quite. What it means is that the sword was made by Kumabe Tadatoshi. Kumabe being his family name, and Tadatoshi his swordsmith name. The signature just has the Tadatoshi name, but Morita san gave you his known family name too.

So basically, "Tadatoshi of Higo made this."

He was a wartime smith working under the Rikgun Jumei Tosho program. They made Gendaito and I would think above average.

 

Brian

[george trotter]

Hi Tom,

You have potentially a good traditionally made sword of WWII.

It should have a "star" stamped on the tang just above the signature and if so, it must have a date on the other side of the tang (per RJT scheme rules)...maybe also a contract number on the lower end of the tang or on the mune.

How about a few pics of the blade overall mounted and unmounted.

Nice find,

[cabowen]

Kumabe Tadatoshi was born in Taisho 2. He was a Rikugun Jumei Tosho and a Meiyo Sosho member of the Kokuko'in Kai. He won a gold medal in the war era sword contests and the nyusen award 5 times.

 

He usually signed in sosho style.

 

He was a middle of the road smith.

[Orselli]

I'm off Friday and will post some more then.

 

My father in law is ticked pink with all the history.

 

Thanks

Tom

[Orselli]

Here are some more.

 

Won't let me upload more then 2.

 

Tom

[Orselli]

Ok. Just realized the pic was over 1mb. So here are the rest.

 

One of the seppa has some tiny writing.

 

http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Orselli/library/

 

I added a few more. Updated.

 

Tom

[runagmc]

Hi Tom, it looks like it has rusted under the habaki? It would be good to remove it and put some mineral oil, or light weight machine oil, on it... wipe oil on the polished part of the blade, but not on the nakago (nakago= the handle of the bare blade, with the file marks). The nakago is left un-oiled, and over time will form a patina...

[Baka Gaijin]

Morning all,

 

The Seppa look as though they have been recycled from the type of thin sheet metal often used in Fusuma Hikite (Decorated sliding door pulls) or other items of Kane - Mono (decorative metalwork).

 

 

 

Cheers