Need Help with Mei..

[canutkan]

I own a sword that was given as a gift to my father while he was in Japan. It is a Japanese military sword with signature... I have uploaded 3 pics of the signature, on the other side is a date which I have translated as "19 th year of showa 2nd month 5th day"

 

But the signature beats me.. It was we are told an officer's sword.. I am planning a trip to Japan in a couple of months and would like to invest in a cleaning kit if it is indeed hand made..

 

I really hope you can help me..

 

[Nobody]

HI,

The mei reads "Toshihide monjin, Numazawa Toshimitsu saku (俊秀門人 沼澤俊光作)". That means "a pupil of Toshihide, Numazawa Toshimitsu made".

 

FYI; He is listed in the group of CHUGE SAKU (中下作) on the following page.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/tosho.htm

[canutkan]

Thank you very very much! This is vey helpful.. As this sword never left Japan is it safe to assume it is genuine??

 

Also this would mean that it is a traditionally made sword.. definetely need to take good care of it.. do you think I should have it looked at by a specialist?

 

Thank you very much in advance..

 

Hontonii Domo arigoato gozaimasu..

[canutkan]

One last question.. I have looked at the list you pointed at.. Just curious what does

 

??? (CHUGE SAKU)

= ????? (Ryoko no Joi) =

 

mean?

 

Thank you very much for helping a newbie..

[Nobody]

As this sword never left Japan is it safe to assume it is genuine??

 

Also this would mean that it is a traditionally made sword.. definetely need to take good care of it.. do you think I should have it looked at by a specialist?

Does it mean the sword is still in Japan? If so, it must have its certificate (Torokusho; 登録証) and that means it is genuine.

 

Ref., http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/japane ... _laws.html

[canutkan]

sorry for the misunderstanding... the sword never left Japan prior to being given to us.. I now have the sword in istanbul and it does not have a torkusho that I know...

[Bungo]

" I now have the sword in istanbul ".......... that's very interesting.

I have two kozuka from an old collector who bought them from an Iranian from Tehren ( who left iran after the fall of the Shah )years ago ................

these things could turn up anywhere !!

 

milt The ronin

[Nobody]

??? (CHUGE SAKU)

= ????? (Ryoko no Joi) =

 

mean?

 

Thank you very much for helping a newbie..

That is a rank for smiths of an evaluation system. Although my translation might not be exact, the meanings are as follows;

 

CHUGE SAKU: below avarage made

Ryoko no Joi: above good smith

[k morita]

Hi canutkan,

 

This swordsmith (Numazawa Toshimitsu/ real name was Numazawa Takeo) was a student of Horii Toshihide at Muroran,Hokaido.

Good blade!

Thanks

[canutkan]

Thank you to everybody for their help.. here is a better picture of the blade that I took in daylight.. as you can see the condition is not superb.. what can I do now to help the condition? And also is it ok to change the fittings of the sword? ie.. handle etc..

 

It is probably safe to assume then that this indeed is a hand made blade by the above mentioned smith..

 

Again thank you for the help..

 

[Stephen]

Welcome to the board thanks for sharing, very interesting as to where Nihonto travels.

 

If you can get some clear shots I would and I'm sure others would like to see some pix of the blade.

 

looks like you did while I was posting ....yes id say if your mounts are neglected you can put it into shirasaya or buke if you want to go that way.

a togi would have to have it in hand to tell but a light polish may do the trick.

 

the tsuba looks like it was from a Kai gunto is that correct. if it is in good shape its very collectable that way.

 

Its your sword and you can do what you want with it. here your pix reduced cropped and up and down so the members dont get a crck in there neck :lol:

[canutkan]

Dear Stephen, yes it is indeed a military sword (ie military mounts) though one interetsing thing is (maybe ) of all the pics I ve seen on the net all of these swords have 1 obi-tori & ashi on the saya.. Mine has 2 .. dont know if this has any relevance at all...

 

I would love to bring it to a togi but there are of course none here.. so I will see what I can do..

 

anyways thank you all for all the help.. if anybody has more comments would love to hear them..

 

Can Utkan

[Stephen]

i beleave you have a Kai gunto or navy sword..see link

KAI-GUNTO

 

id find someone in the States that you can trust and have him take it to a show, or contact a togi via the links here.

 

 

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/military.htm

[canutkan]

Dear Stephen,

 

Thank you for your help.. I have contacted a few Togi and the polishing process is a long and very expensive one!

 

Still trying to decide if I should do it (and afford it )

 

Thanks to everybody who has provided with information..

 

Can UTKAN