Jump to content

Nihonto Months


md02geist

Recommended Posts

Hello all,

 

Simple question; are there "lucky" or more important months for swords to have been completed? I seem to see lots of Hachigatsu blades. I did some searching and research but didn't turn up anything...is there anything special about August or am I just running into coincidence? 

 

Thank you!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been told a smith will try to do his best work in forging the first sword of a given year. I have always given a bit extra attention when a sword is dated shogatsu, and it does seem generally true that swords dated to the first month show good quality for that particular smith.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For hachigatsu we might consider that the number eight is generally considered lucky in Japan.

There are many superstitions  about numeral and their writing and reading in kanji like the one that ask to sew a coin of five cent of Yen on the senninbari as the reading of the matter might be the auspicious "just Beyond the line of Death" considering that 4 (cent) would have been read as "shi".

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In an 18th century text which was translated in the first decade of the 20th it is suggested that smiths chose specific months (I think in this case they state August and May) for quenching. This was because the natural light was more consistent allowing them to better judge the temperature of the steel by the colour reached in the forge. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Month dates on old swords should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Do you really think that smiths waited until hachigatsu or nigatsu, quenched most (80%+) of their swords, and didn’t produce anything else for the other ten months of the year?

 

It was considered lucky to have those months written on the nakago, so smiths wrote those months on the nakago. I don’t think you can ever take it 100% at face value. In Japanese art, sometimes the appearance was considered more important than fact.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...