Fujishima? Which generation?

[groyn]

Posting for a friend who's not a member. It's a sword he has owned for many years and he understands the issue with green papers. He's been told the attribution is to "Fujishima" but is there any clue as to which generation? He's shown it to a few Japanese friends but some of the Kanji (archaic?) is not recognised by them apparently. If anybody could provide a full translation of this origami, he and I would be most grateful. Many thanks in advance.

Roy

[Ed]

Fujishima was a school, not a smith. There were many Fujishima smiths. Those papers say it is mumei and attributed to the Fujishima school.

[SteveM]

Hello Roy,

 

As Ed says above, the paper gives the attribution, and it certifies the sword as a "Specially Precious" sword. Specially Precious is one of the rankings used in the old classification system. You can find an explanation and a translation of the boilerplate at the link below. 

 

Specially Precious = "Tokubetsu Kicho" in Japanese.

https://www.Japanese...ndex.com/origami.htm

 

Under the attribution it gives the length of the sword, which it looks like 69.2 centimeters (長六九.二). Actually it's hard to tell if its 39 or 69, but if it were 39 centimeters the sword would be classified as a "wakizashi" (short sword). This paper specifies it is a "katana" (long sword), so...must be 69.2 centimeters. .

 

After the boilerplate it gives the date of the certification: October 18, 1969, the name of the issuing organization (NBTHK) and chairman at that time, Mr. Moritatsu HOSOKAWA. Then it gives the name of the person to whom the paper was issued, which nowadays I'm slightly reluctant to translate and post to a public site due to privacy issues.  Repeating Ed's comment, but there is, unfortunately, no mention of which Fujishima smith this might be. 

 

There are only about 4 or 5 kanji on there that are old style, but even most Japanese people today can recognize these old style kanji. The handwritten bits may have thrown them. Sometimes if people can't read the handwritten bits, their brain shuts down and they give up reading any of it.

[groyn]

Thank you Ed & Steve. Both really helpful replies. Just had a quick lookup of the Fujishima school. Given that it stretches from Koto through to Shinshinto eras, is there anything on the origami to suggest if it might be Koto? My friend has been told it's a Koto blade. 

Roy

Quote

 

 

[SteveM]

Nothing on the paper indicating date or specific smith. If you or your friend can post detailed pictures of the blade, we might be tell some more about it. 

[groyn]

Thank you very much Steve, I thought as much. I don't have the blade to hand but I'll see about getting some pictures off him.

Roy

[groyn]

Hi Ed & Steve,

My friend would like to convey his grateful thanks for your help and he doesn't feel the need to have the blade itself assessed further. He's happy enough just to have had the information on the origami explained. Many thanks. 

Roy

[Ed]

Ok, I was going to say with a better photo of the area circled it could be determined whether it is a katana or wakizashi.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Ed, see Steve’s post above.
刀 = Katana, @ 69.2 cm. 

[groyn]

I've had the blade in hand in the past. It's most definitely a katana and 69.2cm is correct.