Please help me identify this sword

[TheTinkerBard]

Hey all!

 

New to these forums, thanks for having me!

 

I'm looking for info on this Sword I bought recently, can anyone please help me interpret the signature? I've asked around on a couple of different forums and results are varying, some read it as Fujiwara Noritsugu, others think it says Tsukahara Noritsugu... Would like to find out more about the swordsmith so if anyone knows anything I'd appreciate any and all info.

 

I believe it is a WWII era Gunto, but it doesn't seem to have any mass production stamps commonly seen on Gunto/Showato of that era so I began to think that maybe this could possibly be a Gendaito?... I'm no expert but I think it looks a bit nicer than mass produced Gunto/Showato sometimes tend to do. It appears to be folded and water quenched as it has a discrete but visible Hada and prominent Hamon. The Nagasa is just under 61cm, the Sori is about 14mm and it has proper geometric Yokote (though not very prominent) and not just a cross polished Kissaki. Can anyone help me interpret the signature and possibly identify the Swordsmith and manufacture time period?

 

Thanks in advance!

/Anton

 

[mecox]

Anton, your sword reads "Noshu ju Tsukahara　Noritsugu saku"     濃州住塚原則次作.  There is no smith of that name in the WW2 Seki registration (but often smiths are omitted/not included).

 

Sesko lists: NORITSUGU (則次), Aichi – “Noritsugu” (則次), “Fujiwara Noritsugu” (藤原則次),  Jōko no Jōi (Akihide, 1942) and Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (1941).  He may have been in the  Nakano Mon in Okazaki, Aichi. 

 

Not clear if they are the same (with family name of Tsukahara).  Sometimes smiths crossed between these two prefectures.   Needs a bit more work to determine.

 

                             

 

[TheTinkerBard]

5 hours ago, mecox said:

Anton, your sword reads "Noshu ju Tsukahara　Noritsugu saku"     濃州住塚原則次作.  There is no smith of that name in the WW2 Seki registration (but often smiths are omitted/not included).

 

Sesko lists: NORITSUGU (則次), Aichi – “Noritsugu” (則次), “Fujiwara Noritsugu” (藤原則次),  Jōko no Jōi (Akihide, 1942) and Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (1941).  He may have been in the  Nakano Mon in Okazaki, Aichi. 

 

Not clear if they are the same (with family name of Tsukahara).  Sometimes smiths crossed between these two prefectures.   Needs a bit more work to determine.

 

                             

 

Thanks very much for the info! It was suggested to me by a person on another forum that the signature looks like it might have some relation to 濃州住塚原兼次 - Kanetsugu Tsukahara, resident of Mino Province, real name of Jiro Tsukahara, a swordsmith in Nagazumi-cho Seki City. Any chance that this is what the signature is supposed to say? I'm not able to find any record of a Noritsugu but there is some info about Kanetsugu...

[Kiipu]

Maybe some more eyes can help. I am not to sure on the 4th character.

[mecox]

Anton,     塚原兼次 - Kanetsugu Tsukahara (born 1919)  is well documented. 

Sesko:   KANETSUGU (兼次), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetsugu” (兼次), real name Tsukahara Tarō (塚原太郎), born January 25th 1919, he worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō and died on July 30th 1978, jōkō no retsu (Akihide), Fourth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941).

Seki registration:  registered on Taisho 8 (1939) October 20.

Uchiyama (1969):   Kojima KANEMICHI forge:     (1) Asano KANEZANE (2) Takasaki KANESHIGE (3) Kuriki KANEMASA    (4) Tsukahara KANETSUGU (5) Miwa KANETOMO (6) Takeyama YOSHINAO.

Dai Nippon Meikan (1942):   Seki Kyoshin Sha (Seki)   p.127:   (Swordsmiths: Kojima Kanemichi, Kojima Kanenori, Takeyama Yoshinao, Miwa Kanetomo, Fujii Kanefuji, Kurimoto Kanemasa, Tsukahara Kanetsugu, Kato Kaneharu, Matsumoto Yoshinori) .

Kojima Kanemichi Mon:    Kanetsugu Tsukahara is listed (also note there is a Kanetsugu Maegawa born 1904, of same kanji).

There is no indication of a mix up with name Tsukahara Noritsugu. 

 

As another item,  I did find a Seki smith in Sesko who is not listed in Seki registration, and I did not hvae:   HIDEYASU (秀安), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Seki-jū Hideyasu kore o saku” (関住秀安作之), real name Tsukahara Yasuo (塚原安男),

born 1929, student of Tanaka Kanehide (田中兼秀)

[TheTinkerBard]

Tbh I kind of have a hard time seeing either Kane or Nori, I don't know what that Kanji is supposed to be... The three stacked boxes in the Nori Kanji, if that is what it is supposed to be, looks like they have been left open in the top left and bottom right corners giving them the appearance of a backwards S sort of... The only Reason Kanetsugu could kind of make sense to me is because everything else matches, but I doubt a swordsmith would make a type in his signature... I'll try and take some better pictures.

 

Edit: Here are the new pics, I had to split them up since I couldn't get my camera to focus properly across the entire tang. Hope these are a bit more clear:

 

Edited Friday at 04:34 PM by TheTinkerBard

[TheTinkerBard]

I tried to fill in the chissel marks using red lines while comparing with the tang by eye in order to perhaps make the lines a bit more clear. This is what I see when I look up close:

 

Edited Friday at 04:47 PM by TheTinkerBard

[Ray Singer]

Definitely 則次 (Noritsugu), as we discussed previously.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

[Scogg]

Some collectors describe certain wartime mei as “chippy” because the strokes appear to be done quickly and lack precision.

This can make them difficult to read and translate. Your sword is a good example of this type of signature, which is why matching the characters can be challenging.

Best of luck,
-Sam

[TheTinkerBard]

35 minutes ago, Ray Singer said:

Definitely 則次 (Noritsugu), as we discussed previously.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

Hey there Ray, good to see you again!

 

I do not doubt your judgement, just looking for any and all info I can find about this sword and its maker. I think we can most probably say that the Mei has been interpreted correctly as Noritsugu since most agree on this, now I just hope to find out more about this swordsmith 

Cheers!

 

14 minutes ago, Scogg said:

Some collectors describe certain wartime mei as “chippy” because the strokes appear to be done quickly and lack precision.

This can make them difficult to read and translate. Your sword is a good example of this type of signature, which is why matching the characters can be challenging.

Best of luck,
-Sam

Yup, that would indeed seem to be the case. I'm still having a hard time seeing certain characters as what they supposedly are even when comparing them side by side. I guess this is the equivalent of bad/sloppy handwriting... 

Thanks mate, I appreciate it!

[Ray Singer]

In some cases, swordsmiths changed their mei over time (using one artname and then transitioning to one or more others during their careers). In this case, a smith may be primarily known by one name but actually used others as well. For example, the gendai smith Yoshihara Kuniie was well known under that name but he also signed Akihiro and Nobutake early on his his career.

Also, many smiths were simply undocumented. Especially in Seki, it was an active site of arsenal production and I have seen other cases where a Seki-made showato was by a smith who simply does not appear to be listed.
 

[eternal_newbie]

I've seen at least one smith (the name eludes me, sadly) for whom an amateurish, inconsistent mei is a kantei point!

[TheTinkerBard]

On 12/12/2025 at 7:16 PM, eternal_newbie said:

I've seen at least one smith (the name eludes me, sadly) for whom an amateurish, inconsistent mei is a kantei point!

Kind of surprising considering how the Japanese are known for being structured, precise and well organised... 

[eternal_newbie]

5 hours ago, TheTinkerBard said:

Kind of surprising considering how the Japanese are known for being structured, precise and well organised...

 

Keep in mind that this was hundreds of years ago and a great many folks were effectively illiterate. It's entirely possible that chiseling a mei was the first time he'd ever had to write something...

[TheTinkerBard]

19 hours ago, eternal_newbie said:

 

Keep in mind that this was hundreds of years ago and a great many folks were effectively illiterate. It's entirely possible that chiseling a mei was the first time he'd ever had to write something...

Of course, It was just meant as a humorous remark  

 

Thanks everyone for the identification assistance, I appreciate it!