Sayagaki on Mumei Late Koto/Shinto Katana

[Kaigunto230]

Hello everyone. I recently purchased a tired mumei katana at the Token Kai. I bought it as part of a bundle deal, and although it's in tired polish, its characteristics were far different than its counterpart in the deal, and it gives me a lot to study in hand. Part of the intriguing part of this sword was that its saya came with a sayagaki. The dealer pointed out that he didn't know from the provenance if the sayagaki actually matched the blade sitting in the shirasaya, and I negotiated the price assuming it's not a match. That said, I'd love if it actually did match the sword. The sword itself is suriage and allegedly late koto/early shinto.

 

   Could someone please help me with the translation of the sayagaki? The sword also came with a tag that read "Kashu Kanemune Saku." Does this tie into the sayagaki? I intend to fully kantei this sword sometime in the next week, but I can do quick measurements/take photos if that will help with the translation here.

 

Closer to the top (nearer the nakago while the sword is resting with its (saya-covered) kissaki on the floor):

 

Closer to the kissaki while it's resting with the kissaki on the floor:

 

[Gakusee]

Well, Michael, the way to check if it matches:

 

a) study the characteristics of Kashu swords per textbooks and compare to the ones on yours. The name on the tag and saya matches - Kanemune

 

b) measure the length of you sword and compare to the sayagaki inscription. Note that the numbers on the sayagaki are the formal Sino characters used in formal documents. 
I think the nagasa per the sayagaki should measure around 66.5cm or thereabouts 
 

Number	Common	Formal
1	一	壱
2	二	弐
3	三	参
5	五	五
10	十	拾

 

[uwe]

As Michael mentioned, the sayagaki reads “加州兼宗作” (Kashū Kanemune saku). 

[Kaigunto230]

@Gakusee and @uwe thank you both so much! I really, really appreciate the generosity of your time. I'm finding kanji to be one of the least approachable aspects of this field. Just need more studying, obviously.

 

As to the length, I'm hoping to do a full kantei today and will circle back here when I post that.

As to the signature:

• 加州 - Kashū. The characters match Kaga Prefecture, and I know typically the place of the smith's province proceeds their name. Is that correct here?
• 兼宗 - Kanemune. Unfortunately, I'm not finding a Kanemune who hailed from Kaga province. Yumoto's book only lists one from Yamato province. Nihonto Club's site has a bunch of Kanemunes but again, none from Kaga (https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/list?id_op=%3D&id=&name_op=starts&name=kanemune&kanji_op=%3D&kanji=&province=All&start_era=All&school_nid=All ). Finally, Nagayama doesn't have any info on Kanemune from Kaga. Interestingly, he does list Kanewaka (兼若), whose name is close but no cigar. Does anyone know of another Kanemune from Kashū/Kaga that I haven't found yet?
• 作 - saku. Does this just mean "made"? Contextually, when I google this, I never find the word alone. It just comes with the ratings: chu saku, chu-jo saku, jo saku etc.

Like I said, the whole thing could be nonsense, but it is intriguing.

[Gakusee]

Michael - try looking it up in Markus Sesko’s swordsmith index book or Hawley’s, which are much more extensive than the little Yumoto primer (which is really only a starter booklet). 
Good luck and keep persevering. 

[Kaigunto230]

Here's my kantei of the sword. My gut tells me the sayagaki doesn't match (biggest problem is the fit within the shirasaya and the nagasa measurement), but to my amateur's eye, the sword does exhibit many Kachu traits. Who knows? Thank you again so much for the help!