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please help me with a translation


Swagman

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Good day, I recently bought this sword in an auction. It came without a saya and most of the tsuka wrap was missing. It did have good looking fuchi & kashira. When it arrived the tsuka was tight and rusted on. I'm sure that it had not been off for many years. Finally I got it off without damaging anything and was pleasantly surprised to see the signature. Just the problem now of reading it. Could someone please help.

IMG_20210812_100423996.jpg

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平安城住藤原國道

Heian-jō jū Fujiwara Kunimichi

 

It means "Kunimichi Fujiwara, resident of Heian Castle" made this. He wasn't actually residing in a castle. "Heian Castle" is just another name for the city of Kyōto. 

 

Any pictures of the actual blade itsel? The signature is nice, but I bet the blade is even nicer. 

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OK - yes, the current condition doesn't let us see much of the hamon, but I agree it seems to be in OK shape and would seemingly be a good candidate for a professional polish if it is a genuine Kunimichi. 

 

This would be the signature of Kunimichi (1st), working in the early-to-mid 1600s. This particular style of his signature would be from before 1614. However, some bits of the signature feel funny to me, so it could be a forged signature (of which there are many in the sword world). 

I'll dig around and see if I can find a Kunimichi using these same kanji for comparison. In any event, you should show it to someone who knows Japanese swords so they can advise you better. 

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So it's looking like a faked signature. Well, I bought the sword without any idea what if anything was under the tsuka. I bought it because I liked it and will continue to. I probably will have it polished in the future and will be keeping it. So I'm content.

Thanks for your help and information. I have another sword that I also bought recently and will post pictures of the signature soon.

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