any help much appreciated

[paulb]

Dear All

I have been given the opportunity to study a very good sword attributed to Naoe Shizu. It is O-suriage and has the attached inscription in Soshu script.

My ablity with kanji is embarrassingly  poor  but I have absolutley no hope when it comes to this. Can anyone cast some light on it?

 

[vajo]

can't help Paul but it looks very promising 

[Ray Singer]

My impression is that this is hiragana rather than kanji. Please see below...

 

み

す or そ

ほ or け

く

 

I am unsure of the meaning of this kinpun-mei.

[paulb]

Thanks Ray you may well be right but looking at the hiragana I still cant make sense of it. Heres hoping someone might!!

[k morita]

The inlay says みをつくし(mi-o-tsu-ku-shi/miotsukushi),meaning is "marks in a water channel".
Maybe a nickname of this sword.
 

[paulb]

Many thanks Morita-san 

I will now spend hours trying to think of what it might mean. It was previously a beautiful sword now it also has an element of mystery that adds to its enjoyment.

perhaps it refers to the gentle flowing pattern of the hamon or the sunagashi running within it, or maybe just something totally different