Kogatana in shirasaya

[Deperty]

Hi All;

 

Very new to the forum and the world of Nihonto.

 

im posting with two questions:

 

1) for translation assistance on both the blade and the shirasaya

 

2) and (hoping this will become self explanatory): what’s the difference? When would it be appropriate or the norm to add on the shirasaya (I’m assuming that this happened at some date after the manufacture of the blade)…? 
 

Thank you! I appreciate any/all assistance!

[SteveM]

The blade says:

上野守菅原助包

Kōzuke-no-kami Sugawara Sukekane

 

The saya says the same thing minus the surname (kind of clan name, I think) of Sugawara. 

 

Writing it on the saya is just one way of keeping track of your collection without having to unsheath it and then re-sheath it every time you want to remember the name on the item. 

 

Assume the shirasaya was made sometime in the last 50 years. (It could be older, but...its not really super important how old the shirasaya is, unless the item is an heirloom sword with sayagaki from some renowned scholar). 

[Deperty]

Thanks very much!