Medina San1 Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 I'm doing this for an acquaintance.. he has two swords this one and a Gassan Sadakazu.. The gassan was easier to translate this one not so easy for me. Someone cleaned the nakago So far I came up with Koyama Bezen Munetsugu. the date part is giving me problems... I have picks of the Nakago only... I can post pic of the Gassan Nakago if you guys want.. Thank you Dan Quote
John A Stuart Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 Yes, Koyama Bizen (Suke?) Fujiwara Munetsugu. John Quote
Ford Hallam Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 The date appears to read ' Ansei roku X X nen hachi gatsu nichi ' or 1859 , not sure what the next 2 kanji refer to, (year) ,eighth month, 'a lucky' day. Quote
cabowen Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 Yes, Koyama Bizen (Suke?) Fujiwara Munetsugu. John Koyama Bizen no Suke Fujiwara Munetsugu Bizen no Suke was his title. Quote
cabowen Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 The date appears to read ' Ansei roku X X nen hachi gatsu nichi ' or 1859 , not sure what the next 2 kanji refer to, (year) ,eighth month, 'a lucky' day. The X X are the zodiac signs for Ansei 6. Then can be easily found on line.... Quote
Ford Hallam Posted March 3, 2014 Report Posted March 3, 2014 Thanks Chris, didn't occur to me. Don't think I've seen Munetsugu use Zodiac signs before, you learn something everyday Just been looking at this page on the Zodiac signs. So x x is snake sheep, an odd pairing but apparently associated with the Cult of the Big Dipper constellation: " worship of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, which were said to control one’s human destiny. In the Sutra of the Big Dipper for Prolonging Life (Hokuto Shichisei Enmei-Kyō 北斗七星延命経), each of the seven stars was combined with the zodiac signs, thereby yielding one’s personal star based on one’s birth star (Honmyōshō 本命星): " There was a very serious outbreak of Cholera in Edo in around that time, 100 ~200 000 deaths, perhaps Munetsugu or the person who ordered the sword hoped for some additional protection. Quote
cabowen Posted March 3, 2014 Report Posted March 3, 2014 Ford- The Japanese use these zodiac signs in pairs to indicate dates- they repeat once all combos have been used. If you look, for example, in the NIhonto Meikan, you will find the appropriate pair for each year. It is a sexagenary cycle. For some reason, we often see them used in the Shinshinto and later. Quote
Ford Hallam Posted March 3, 2014 Report Posted March 3, 2014 ah, wakatta, Chris :D I'll stop inventing my new theory then Funny how I seemed to have completely blanked on this zodiac thing...probably my general anti-woo nature and horoscopes in general. Quote
Brian Posted March 3, 2014 Report Posted March 3, 2014 Well..we can only hope for his sake that both are shoshin. A Munetsugu and a Sadakazu? That would be a lucky day for him. Brian Quote
Medina San1 Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Posted March 4, 2014 Thank you all for being so helpful. I'm starting to learn a little and hope some day to understand better at what i'm looking at. I posted the photos I took of the Sadakazu nakago. I'm going to see if I'll be able to photograph the sword. Dan Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.