Help with reading wakizashi mei

[sechan]

Hi guys,

Please help to find out more on this wakizashi. 

Thanks,

Steve

[Shugyosha]

Hi Steve,

 

Signature is Kanesada - 兼定

[sechan]

15 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

Hi Steve,

 

Signature is Kanesada - 兼定

Thank you John, so it is about 16th century blade?

[Shugyosha]

Hi Steve,

 

That's possible but it's hard to be precise or say more without seeing the blade. This form of "Kane" 兼 might indicate that the smith was from Mino or one of the schools connected with that province but that's about as much as I can tell you from the information provided.

[sechan]

Thanks again, here it is...

 

[Shugyosha]

Hi Steve,

I've had a scout around Hawley's Japanese Swordsmiths lists several smiths signing with this two character mei "Kanesada". Three have their work periods listed in the koto period between 1469 and 1536 and one outlier in the shinto period in 1724. All of them worked in Mino or in the Mino tradition.

 

I have to be honest and say I'm struggling to see much from the pictures. If you are able to take a close-up of the signature, the whole blade without the tsuka and habaki and close-ups of the hamon, hada and boshi and I'll see if I (or anyone else) can be more precise.

 

 

[sechan]

I'll try it, probably over the weekend...Thanks again.