Kunesuke ?

[Moley]

Hi everybody,

Thanks to previous help and pointing me in the right direction with very useful links, I have translated most of the writing on both my new Ninteisho papers.

I have being researching the Kanji on the Nakago of one Wakizashi (attached)

I "think" it says "Kawachi-no-Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke " ?

 

1.Can anybody confirm or correct this please? 

 

2. Also, ( if correct), I take it that Kuni Suke is the smith, but, - what does "Kawachi-no-Kami Fujiwara" mean?

 

3. Any idea as to which smith this is ? (if correct)

 

Thanking you all for your support.

 

 

Gwyn

[Drago]

Hi Gwyn,

 

1. Yes.

 

2. http://www.jssus.org/nkp/common_kanji.html This explains the titles a bit. But it doesn't mean he was the "boss" of Kawachi Province!

 

2.5     I always wondered, how did a swordsmith get these titles anyway? Who gives those to him? Did the Daimyo ruling over Kawachi give Kunisuke that title as a thanks for superior work? Because if not, wouldn't that Daimyo have a problem with that? Were any lands given with the title like a hatamoto title or was it just a title to add to your name? And how did he get that Fujiwara-clan title. The clan didn't really exist anymore as such a powerful entity...

 

3. Sorry, others will have to help with that one.

[Ask]

Hi im looking at the kanji and im reading top to bottom :

河内 守 藤原 國 肋 - but that reads kawachi no kami fujiwara kuni roku.

The last kanji is made up of 月 つき and 力 ちから together they read either ロク roku or あばら which means rib.

I go to school to learn kanji, can you tell me your reading for the last kanji and if its different from mine, how are you getting your reading.

Regards

Ps

I just did a little studying and writing similar kanji to 月 and 目 or slightly similar to め with 力 gets you 助 すげ.

Own question answered. Thanks

[Drago]

The signature is 河内守藤原國助 - the last kanji is 助 (ジョ and すけ / たす - the same kanji used for "to help/rescue" btw.) not 肋 - but they do look pretty similar, don't they? I use this website http://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch to search for names/rest when I figure out parts of the signature or know the name in English.

[Ask]

Thanks Tobias whilst i was editing you posted, i will have a look at your site now.

[Guido]

2.5     I always wondered, how did a swordsmith get these titles anyway? Who gives those to him? Did the Daimyo ruling over Kawachi give Kunisuke that title as a thanks for superior work? Because if not, wouldn't that Daimyo have a problem with that? Were any lands given with the title like a hatamoto title or was it just a title to add to your name? And how did he get that Fujiwara-clan title. The clan didn't really exist anymore as such a powerful entity...

 

 

An excerpt from one of my many unfinished articles:

 

 

Japan was divided into 54 kuni 国, or provinces, at the time of the Taika reform. Some of those kuni were divided later, and some were added, so that in 823 AD the number was 68, which didn’t change until the Meiji 明治 restoration in 1868. The kuni were ranked, according to their size, as taikoku 大国, jōkoku 上国, chūkoku 中国 and gekoku 下国.

 

Originally governed by officials with the kabane 姓 (a court title) “Kuni no Miyatsuko” and “Inagi”, of which emperor Jimmu 神武天皇 had appointed 144, they were replaced during the reign of emperor Kōtoku 孝徳天皇 in the early Nara period 奈良時代 by the kokushi 国司. The kokushi, gubernatorial officials, were headed by a kokushu 国守, governor, and the titles they held are called zuryō 受領.

 

The zuryō were (in descending order):

 

no Kami 守 (governor, title of the kokushu)

no Suke 介 (vice governor)

no Jō 掾

no Sakan 目

no Shijō 史生

 

Depending on the size of the province, the titles below “no Kami” were further differentiated, using either the prefixes dai 大 or shō 小 (in these cases the possessive predicate “no” is omitted): Daisuke 大介, Shōsuke 小介, Daijō 大掾, Shōjō 小掾, Daisakan 大目, Shōsakan 小目, Daishijō 大史生, Shōshijō 小史生.

 

Domains with which the emperor rewarded princes or high officials were called shōen 荘園, the possessors thereof shōji 荘司. The shōji had only the produce of those lands, the land itself remained imperial property. The government of the land became more difficult as the number of shōen increased; some territorial lords started calling their domains shōen, too, and in the eleventh century, half of the country was thus converted into shōen. Some emperors tried to enact laws against this practice, but to no avail.

 

Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝, the first shōgun, started reforming this system with the goal of gaining stronger control over the lands. In 1185 AD, he entrusted the administration of the provinces to his vassals, who were called jitō 地頭 in the imperial domains of the shōji, and shugo 守護 (or shugoshoku 守護職) when appointed to “assist” a kokushi. The Kantō 関東 provinces, which were directly under his jurisdiction, were governed by kuni-bugyō 国奉行.

 

The shugo, who at first were called sōtsuibushi 総追捕使, collected taxes, dispensed justice, and levied troops in case of war, gradually extended their power over the shōen, too, reducing the jitō to secondary positions. Yoritomo himself was known by the title of Nihon-Sōtsuibushi 日本総追捕使 or Rokujūhakkakoku (68 provinces) no Sōtsuibushi 六十八ヶ国総追捕使.

 

Another change came with Ashikaga 足利 shōgunate. The shugo became more powerful, and some governed several provinces. After the Ōnin war 応仁乱, they began to replace the kokushi, gradually forming the class of daimyō 大名, and the jitō were replaced by gokenin 御家人, house vassals. In the Edo period zuryō became in most cases merely honorific, awarded for merits in battle etc., and the holders had no jurisdiction over the respective provinces. There were, for instance, several Bizen no Kami 備前守 and Shinano no Kami 信濃守 at the same time. Some exceptions applied, like the Shimazu 島津, daimyō of Kagoshima 鹿児島, who bore the hereditary title of Satsuma no Kami 薩摩守.

 

Daimyō could appoint zuryō themselves, but the title had to be approved by the Imperial Court – which it usually did, for a fee, of course. The higher the title, the higher the fee. Not only samurai, but also sword smiths became eligible to apply for and receive such a honorary title.

 

Kinmichi (Kanemichi) 金道, who founded the Mishina 三品 school, received the title Iga no Kami on the 19'th day of the 2'nd month Bunroku 3 (1594), and worked also for the Imperial Court from that time onwards. Shortly before the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered 1,000 tachi from him, and due to the skillful management of all the workers, he was granted with the honorary title nihon kaji sōshō 日本鍛冶惣匠, lit. “master swordsmith of Japan”. With that title, he had a certain influence at court on the granting of honorary titles for other swordsmiths. The title and the advisory function at the Imperial Court were hereditary, and held by successive Kinmichi generations until the bakumatsu era. It is said that they earned more money by acting as intermediaries for titles than by selling swords.

 

 

I also wrote something about ujina 氏名, clan names, but can't find it at the moment    .

[Brian]

Guido,

May I use some of that in the FAQ?

[Drago]

Thank you very much Guido. That was very informative!

[Moley]

Hi everybody,

Thanks to previous help and pointing me in the right direction with very useful links, I have translated most of the writing on both my new Ninteisho papers.

I have being researching the Kanji on the Nakago of one Wakizashi (attached)

I "think" it says "Kawachi-no-Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke " ?

 

1.Can anybody confirm or correct this please? 

 

2. Also, ( if correct), I take it that Kuni Suke is the smith, but, - what does "Kawachi-no-Kami Fujiwara" mean?

 

3. Any idea as to which smith this is ? (if correct)

 

Thanking you all for your support.

 

 

Gwyn

So much information... Thanks Guys... I have bookmarked everything including links from last time.

1. Thanks to Drago for confirming "Kawachi-no-Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke " and an explanation of the titles.

Can anybody help with

 

3. Any idea as to which smith this is ? 

 

Thanking you all for your support.

 

 

Gwyn

[Guido]

Guido,

May I use some of that in the FAQ?

 

Sure, no problem.

[Moley]

Hi Guy's,

Can anyone please help?

This Character (ringed in red) has me stumped,

Any help greatly appreciated.

Also this Kanji style is more flowing and much more difficult to read than the other papers I have,

What do they call this style and why?

Thanks

 

Gwyn

[SteveM]

銘　めい　

 

Or, at least that's what I think it is. And the two above it should be 脇指 わきざし, but the top kanji looks nothing like 脇 so I'm slightly uneasy about saying for sure that's what these kanji are. At any rate, these are the kanji I would expect to see in this position on this type of document.

 

This is just ordinary handwriting, as opposed to the pre-printed (and easy-to-read) letters of the certificate. I don't think the person who filled in the form was trying to affect any kind of artistic or calligraphic style. (But my guess is that the person who is in charge of filling in these blanks has some training in calligraphy). If its any kind of style its called gyōsho (行書). Wikipedia translates this into the very-unpoetic and rather pedestrian "semi-cursive script". 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-cursive_script

[Moley]

Thanks Steve