Assistance on identifying or Translating Please

[Sunseeker]

I'm a fish out of water here. This was with my great Uncle's belongings and I haven't a clue what it says, means or is. I thought it was a butter knife at first glance, but trying to research online, I only came up with maybe a Japanese sword or little sword. 

The handle is gold-ish' with some copper coloring. The design appears to be a home or structure or building with a straw or otherwise roof. The blade, looks to have some discoloration and is very, very smooth feeling to the touch. Like butter actually, your fingers just glide over it. I did rub the entire item with a plane microfiber cloth to see if I could see what was on the blade and handle better. It became even smoother.  I'm just wondering if someone could possibly point me in the right direction as to what this is, what kind of time period am I looking at, and where it came from. Like what us the meaning behind the raised design on the handle.  In my opinion,  I really find the mural on the handle very nice.its peaceful looking. I don't know if it is or not, but that's my opinion of what it looks like based on knowing absolutely nothing about this.

[Scogg]

Hi @Sunseeker, welcome to the forum! 

I am going to relocate this thread to the "Translation Assistance" section, because I think you will get a faster reply there. 

Let me know if you have any questions/issues.
Best of luck,

-Sam

[Sunseeker]

Thank you!

[Bugyotsuji]

The blade has been pushed into the Kozuka handle too far, covering the last kanji of the inscribed name.

(Upside down btw)

 

The smith name is Kuni + something

Title is Kawachi no Kami

 

[Sunseeker]

Oh, so maybe I need to look at it with the blade up? I'll see if it slides, while keeping my fingers in one piece of course,

[Bugyotsuji]

Wear tough, grippy gloves, I reckon! 

[Sunseeker]

I think it came out a little more. I wrapped the blade in a heavy cloth,used some needle nose plyers and tried to pull on it. It did look like it may have moved a bit. I then tried to rub it with the microfiber cloth. I dideven know that blade could move. It certainly doesn't move inwards by hand. 

Not that I tried, but I did try to see if I could wiggle it out, nothing.

[Sunseeker]

Also thank you for that. I didn't know the handle was called Kozuka. 

[Bugyotsuji]

国貞 Kunisada?

国助 Kunisuke?

Maybe the hidden Kanji is one of those?

 

PS Yes, the handle is referred to as a Kozuka (literally ‘small hilt’), but by extension this word is often used to include the whole package, blade included.

[Sunseeker]

Thank you for that translation! Very interesting.  I can see if I'm able expose more of the blade too. 

[Sunseeker]

Okay, I was able to wiggle some more out and I took a felt cloth and tried getting all the gunk off it.  I think you can see the last character now. 

Do the blades come right our of the handles? I mean are they meant too?

[Sunseeker]

Maybe this is better?

[Tim Evans]

• The blades (kogatana) are usually held in place with pine pitch, an early hot melt glue.
• The signatures on kogatana are usually fanciful attributions to important swordsmiths, not by the person who actually made it, so normally not taken seriously.
• The kozuka has been over cleaned. The pink coppery parts should be a black color called shakudo. It was probably polished with silver polish, this is not uncommon. If you wash off the silver polish residue, the black color oxide may eventually reform. 
• Sometimes kozuka are signed, usually on the back. Another place to check is the butt. However, it is not unusual for it to be unsigned. 

[Sunseeker]

Thank you Tim, that's very helpful!

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, very spidery eccentric writing but it looks like Kunisuke!

国助

In homage perhaps…

[Tim Evans]

Contextually, this a small utility knife. It was normally carried in a pocket carved into the scabbard of a short sword called a wakizashi. You can easily google some images of wakizashi mounted with kozuka. There are silly stories about them being used as throwing knives, but they were too expensive, too light and wrong balance for that. Fittings collectors seem to prefer them with the blades removed, so you will often see them sold that way. The one you have appears to be from the mid to late Edo period. 

[Nobody]

The actual characters on the blade are

小林河内守國助 - Kobayashi Kawachi no kami Kunisuke.

 

[Franco]

The blade itself, ko-gatana, is made of kawagane or skin steel (see links below). Suggest keeping the ko-gatana lightly oiled, especially the rusty area where it inserts into the kozuka to prevent the rust there from continuing.

Search this message board for threads on sword care.

No silver polish! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakudō

 

 https://www.martialartswords.com/blogs/articles/shingane-vs-kawagane-steel-whats-the-difference 

 

https://studyingjapaneseswords.com/tag/kawagane/

[Brian]

As Tim and other said , this is a kozuka (handle) and kogatana (blade) that was carried as an accessory/utility knife in the side of the scabbard of the sword. Basically call it a Samurai's Swiss Army knife :-)
Sometimes the blades are forged and folded and have a small hamon, sometimes they are plain steel, hardened. They are collected on their own as well as with the complete koshirae of the sword.
The blades aren't permanently installed. Sometimes friction fit with a slight bend in the tang, sometimes pine pitch etc. Often they can be moved or removed and are loose. Not huge value, but a pair like this would go for over 100-150 bucks.
Nice little accoutrements and decently well made. 

 

[Sunseeker]

Thank you all so much! I was able to get it apart. I don't know what it looked liked in its original state, not polished,  but I really like how it looks now.