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[TAIOSON]

Good Morning All.

 

I recently discovered this forum after several years of trying to decipher mei on two Wakizashi swords passed onto me and my brother by my father. He came into possession of the swords shortly after the war was over when it became mandatory to turn in any arms to the occupation forces. Long story short he was handed three swords at different times by three individuals and brought them home. One he used like a machete for clearing brush (loud groans, moans and tears) and the other two he kept until passed on to us.

These two are the ones I'm trying to find out more about.

 

I've taken photos which I'll post at a later date in the hope that members of this forum will be able to help me decipher the mei and provide other details about the maker etc.

 

One question of interest for the group, are all parts of a nihonto made by the one smith i.e. tsuba, tsuka, kozuka etc or are all made by different individuals?

 

Thanks, a nubie.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Taioson, It is possible but highly unlikely. Most artisans had their own particular part in the whole procedure. Sword forged by the smith, polished by the togishi, koshirae made by the sayashi with fittings by other metalworkers etc. A lot of times original matching fittings may have been damaged or been lost and then been replaced over hundreds of years. John

[Stephen]

to the board lot of nice folk to help you out, please dont for get to sign your name per the rules. please check them. If you have a hard time getting your pix up you may send them to me and ill crop size if needed, good luck and have fun.

 

Stephen

[TAIOSON]

Thanks for the signature reminder Stephen. I've changed my profile so maybe this time it will be right. New at posting on forums so bear with me and keep proding till I get it right.

 

I'll start posting phots as soon as I think I've figured out how. From what I've seen so far a 270 kb photo is too large true?

[Brian]

Hi Richard, and welcome to the forum. You are in good company with some highly regarded Richards here :D

270Kb file will be fine. They get blocked when they are over 1 meg, but anything over 500k is pretty huge anyways. Just make sure it is 800x1000 or less in pixel size, or it will not show directly, but convert to a link.

We will await the pics and I'm sure you will get some assistance.

 

Regards,

Brian

[TAIOSON]

Good Morning Members.

 

Well after reading up on the "How To" section I will now attempt to post a couple of pix. I used Irfanview to resize so hope they are right.

 

This is the Kozuka (or Gokatana attached to the Kozuka to be more correct) from one of the swords. I haven't gotten very far with deciphering the mei. The mei appears different from that on the sword tang which prompted my question about single vs multiple artists from yesterday.

 

My efforts (guesses) to date: 1st kanji=Bishu, 5th kanji=Kune? and 6th=Mitsu. Haven't figured out 2 thru 4 yet.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Richard R

 

 

 

Not at all sure I've done this right. It looks to me like the pix are still on my computer and not attached to the post. What did I do wrong and how do I fix it.

[Brian]

Hi Richard,

The pics uploaded fine. When you resize, best to use a maximum width of 800 or so, or they display as a link instead of directly as here.

But clicking on the download link will display them. I believe these are 1000x800 pixels in size. Kb size is fine though.

No need to enter a file description etc. All worked fine though

 

Interesting kogatana. I have not seen one with a hi before. Looks like some work went into that one.

Kozuka and kogatana were usually made by separate smiths. They were used often as the modern day equivalent of a pocket knife, so wore down over time, and were changed a few times over the years. I have not seen a kogatana that matches the maker of the sword yet, but I am sure they exist. Not the norm though.

Btw..the signed side is not usually polished. It is only the other side that is polished, and this will sometimes show a nice hada and hamon, although plain unforged blades are also common.

 

Regards,

Brian

[TAIOSON]

Thanks for the reply and info Brian. I think I will resize a bit smaller next go-round. This Kozuka is part of Wakazashi #1 that I will deal with later. I had not even noticed the hi until you mentioned it. Thanks!

 

After scanning the forum it is obvious that there are a lot of very, very knowledgeable people here that comprise a vast knowledge base.

 

Before finding this forum I was about to contact the Atlanta Japanese Consulate for help. No need now that all you great people are here.

Thanks. :D

 

Next post will be new topic for the current sword I'm having problems with.

 

Richard R

[Nobody]

This is the Kozuka (or Gokatana attached to the Kozuka to be more correct) from one of the swords. I haven't gotten very far with deciphering the mei. The mei appears different from that on the sword tang which prompted my question about single vs multiple artists from yesterday.

 

My efforts (guesses) to date: 1st kanji=Bishu, 5th kanji=Kune? and 6th=Mitsu. Haven't figured out 2 thru 4 yet.

Hi,

The mei on the Kogatana seems to read "Mitakigawa Rai Kunimitsu" (御瀧川来國光). 御瀧川 is an old expression of 三滝川 (Mitakigawa = river Mitaki), which is in Mie prefecture.

[TAIOSON]

Thank you Nobody for your kind help. I would never have figured this out.

The more I scratch the surface of this whole nihonto thing and the very confusing Japanese written language the more I realize the inherent difficulty in this endeavor. The help of the experts is extremely appreciated.

 

One final question of the group before I move to a new subject and item.

 

Which books should I consider buying to aid me in determining just what I might have relative to these two swords I have.

Hawley's Japanese Swordsmiths seems to be quoted quite frequently and I'm contemplating purchasing it but $160.00 is quite expensive for research on just two swords. Comments and recommendations are appreciated.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Richard, If you wanted to buy only one book that touched on the important basics of nihonto I would recommend 'The Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Swords' by Nagayama. Also a reasonable price. John

[TAIOSON]

Thanks for the recommendation John. I'll check it out. It may be what I need to help me find out just what nihonto I have,..which seems to be a difficult task at best.

[TAIOSON]

John, I ordered the book you recommended. Thanks for the help.

 

Nobody, I looked up the area of the Mei Prefecture and it is in the rough vicinity (150 miles or so) of Osafune which is where I think the Wakizashi was made. so it fits. By the way, do you know what Rai means and do you think Kunimitsu would have been the maker of the Kozuka?

 

Thanks loads for everyones help.

[Nobody]

Rai Kunimitsu is a smith's name of Rai school. However, there were a lot of cases to chisel a famous smith's name on Kogatana as only a trademark. I do not know if the mei is real or not.

[TAIOSON]

Thanks Moriyama San for that info. Now I'll have to try and date the Kogotana to see if it fits the date on the wakizashi as I think it is.

 

That will be my next post, pictures of the wakizashi mei that the Kozuka is with.

 

Would it be unusual for the Kozuka to be from and earlier or later date (era) than the sword it is associated with?

 

Thanks again. :D