Help With 2 Items Please

[Mark]

i have a couple of naginata that i am having a little trouble with

 

one has Hozon paper so i have a picture of the mei from the paper, i can read Shigetoshi but not sure of the first 3 kanji, it does not seem to match any makers in my book

 

second is a naginata  signed   ????Nobu,  maybe Yoshinobu, maybe Sukenobu  ??  not sure of the first kanji it is not one i see very often

 

any help appreciated

 

Thanks!!

[ROKUJURO]

Mark,

First KANJI of first MEI is MITSU, but may be read differently. Third KANJI could be SHI (予)
 

Second MEI looks like SADANOBU to me.

[Ray Singer]

For the second mei, perhaps Sanenobu (實信).

[SteveM]

光龍子重俊

Kōryūshi Shigetoshi

 

http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/T276873_Y1408_PUP.html

 

For the second one, I agree with Ray: Sanenobu (實信), but I can't find any reference or other examples. 

[John A Stuart]

Maybe; 光龍子 Koryushi John    Edit; Ah, Steve already.

[Mark]

thanks to Jean, John, Ray and special thanks to Steve----- the link is not only the same smith it is THE SAME sword i have, ha-ha, small world. I tried search their website in English but can not find that sword, i used a translation program but it does not do a very good job with sword terms, it would be nice to read their description in english.

 

I guess Sanenobu might be the answer but it is strange to to find anyone who uses those kanji, maybe it is an unknown smith

[Ray Singer]

Mark, I am attaching a reference for the SANE kanji. This is an Iruka Sanetsugu tanto.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

[Mark]

 Ray, thanks for the picture,  i think i understand now. I was confused as the kanji printed in books is not the same as the one you and Steve showed, after looking at the sanetsugu mei and checking the books now i see in the books it must be a simplified form of the kanji. Still strange that there is no smith using those 2 kanji, i can't find any reference to a Sanenobu using those kanji

[Ray Singer]

No problem Mark. I likewise looked but could not find a matching smith. Maybe meikan-more, but I thought it might be worthwhile to look into Iruka as a possibility for your sword. They are a school related to Yamato Tegai working in Kii and are not often seen. It appears that particular SANE kanji was used by a few smiths within that school. Refer to Markus' Geneologies and Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths page 69.

[Mark]

Ray,

 

thanks again. appreciate the lead, it is hard to find info on some of these obscure guys