Difficult To Read Mei/a Little Kantei

[Dreg]

Hello all,

 

this is my first post here, will be happy to identify myself as a novice who is just beginning this journey down the rabbit hole.  I have been an avid student of nihonto for the last year and change, and it has become a consuming force in my life, i'm quite sure a few of you out there understand!

 

so, my conundrum is as follows.

 

ō-wakizashi (out of polish, but no visible opening or flaw, also no visible hada at the moment) 

 

63cm (slightly over 2 shaku)

 

49cm nagasa

 

iori-mune

chu-kissaki (best i can tell)

torii-zori

low shinogi

kiri/ichimonji nakago? can't tell if suriage has occured, no marks to indicate, although i think this is ō-wakizashi. possibly very gentle kurijiri

low shinogi

suguha (again, its hard to see activity in this condition)

two mekugi-ana

 

 

so i have some ideas, but no certainty.  the koshirae is beautiful and looks to be early edo.  i should mention, i came into this sword almost by accident when i was 15.  until recently, it's been the only piece in my collection until a friends father twisted my arm and got my brain going... and here we are haha.

 

i am certainly curious to hear what you think! i have provided two pictures of the nakago, one that i have digitally edited for ease of reading, although i'm afraid the kanji are incomplete.  any guesses are welcomed!! thank you so much for providing this forum and an opportunity to discuss!

[Geraint]

Hi Daven.

 

Welcome, please add your name to your posts as we all do here.  Your sword is hard for me to make out, others with sharper eyes will chime in I am sure.  I am also sure that we would like to see a photo of the whole blade, side on as an aid to our endeavours.  You probably already know that blade shape is an indicator of age.  From the condition of the mei one would assume koto, full picture of the nakago would help to see if it is suriage.

 

By the by a photo or two of the koshirae would also be appreciated.

 

All the best.

[uwe]

Hello Dreg,

the "digital enhancement" of the mei is little helpful. Can you rotate the second picture and try it again with oblique light? Furthermore, it's important to have a view of the whole nakago/blade.....

[Dreg]

My apologies!  Also, upon close inspection, the boshi looks to be tarumi.  I will post more pictures of the koshirae, but for whatever reason, when I post, all my pictures show up sideways.  Also, file marks appear to be kiri.  Thank you for looking!

 

 

-Dave

[SteveM]

和泉守兼定

Izumi-no-kami Kanesada

 

(I think)

 

Compare to this 

http://sanmei.com/contents/media/A41667_S2150_PUP.html

[Dreg]

和泉守兼定

Izumi-no-kami Kanesada

 

(I think)

 

Compare to this 

http://sanmei.com/contents/media/A41667_S2150_PUP.html

hey there!  sorry, I have been away all weekend and didn't have a chance to respond.  I have been doing what reading I can to try and establish this signature, but I don't think its Kanesada.  I don't really see the structure for it, particularly his name.  What I do notice is that the first character in the mei looks a lot like 'Minamoto'.  I could be entirely wrong, but I can't help but wonder if this was made for an official.  It's really difficult to see the last two characters on this blade, and i have to assume that would be the smiths signature.  I have more, clearer photos as well if anyone would like to see.  

 

cheers!

dave

[Dreg]

also, without the polish it's very hard to see, but i believe my boshi is tarumi, not the chu-maru i thought it was.  hope to get some answers!!

 

-dave

[uwe]

Dave,

I'm pretty sure it's "Izumi no Kami ??", like Steve's reading suggested. The last two kanji are more or less illegible for me. Better pics needed, also for your "boshi" call!

[Dreg]

Dave,

I'm pretty sure it's "Izumi no Kami ??", like Steve's reading suggested. The last two kanji are more or less illegible for me. Better pics needed, also for your "boshi" call!

Uwe, do you have any suggestions for photography of the blade?  Lighting is my enemy here, and without a polish, it is certainly difficult enough to see in person, let alone through photos.

[uwe]

Hi Dave,

no clue how to do the pictures properly. But you probably can ask Uwe G! He's a member here and a very good (and talented) nihonto photographer.

[CSM101]

With a little help from CSI Wladiwostok I could make a little bit more visible. But more than Izumi no Kami  (?) is not possible.

 

If you want a better photo from the signature you need a hard and bright light from the side.

 

Uwe G.

[SteveM]

From here it almost becomes a process of elimination. The first character in the name part of the mei doesn't look like a textbook 兼, but then again, almost none of them do. It does, however, look similar to other "Kane" kanji seen on authenticated swords, such as the one I linked to in my post #5, particularly the highly angled top stroke, and the strong horizontal stroke underneath it. Underneath the Kane it becomes a bit more murky. There is barely enough to make even a wild guess. But once you have a plausible 和泉守兼囗, the options available to you for the final kanji are limited. To me, there is enough in the entire signature to say it resembles other Izumi-no-kami Kanesada signatures. Bear in mind, there were a lot of smiths who used the Kanesada name, and so the variety of signature styles should be fairly wide. Also bear in mind that I do not say it is a perfect match for the one I linked to. And, as always, it could well be a forgery of Kanesada. Hopefully the above is helpful.  

[Dreg]

From here it almost becomes a process of elimination. The first character in the name part of the mei doesn't look like a textbook 兼, but then again, almost none of them do. It does, however, look similar to other "Kane" kanji seen on authenticated swords, such as the one I linked to in my post #5, particularly the highly angled top stroke, and the strong horizontal stroke underneath it. Underneath the Kane it becomes a bit more murky. There is barely enough to make even a wild guess. But once you have a plausible 和泉守兼囗, the options available to you for the final kanji are limited. To me, there is enough in the entire signature to say it resembles other Izumi-no-kami Kanesada signatures. Bear in mind, there were a lot of smiths who used the Kanesada name, and so the variety of signature styles should be fairly wide. Also bear in mind that I do not say it is a perfect match for the one I linked to. And, as always, it could well be a forgery of Kanesada. Hopefully the above is helpful.  

 

Well it certainly is appreciated that everyone has been so helpful!  I have looked, and I do see what you mean about the variety of signatures out there.  I ask all these questions, because at some point, provided it's worth doing, I would like to have it polished and submitted for shinsa. Mostly, I want to make sure that I am making a wise investment in doing so.  I do not have a large collection by any means, so I don't ming the idea of taking care of what I have!  I have recently acquired a Fuyuhiro katana in shirasaya, but this wak has been with me so long, I feel as if I owe to the blade to solve this mystery!