personal name...Shinshiro or Nobushiro?

[george trotter]

Not sure if I have asked this question before, but can I ask the correct pronunciation of this Tsukamoto Masasakazu personal name.

Here is an oshigata of his from 1941 in which he includes his personal name.

Can someone tell me whether it is pronounced SHINSHIRO or NOBUSHIRO?

I ask as I have seen it quoted both ways in different Japanese sources and as a result am unable to be definite about his name.

Regards,

George.

 

[Hector]

Hi George,

 

Using the best translator I have at my disposal, this is the result I got.

 

Best,

Hector

Edited December 27, 2025 by Hector

[eternal_newbie]

I believe it's 信四郎 Nobushirō. Shinshirō typically uses a different kanji (進 or 慎) as the first character.

[george trotter]

Thanks guys...trouble is, I have a Japanese name book that gives only one version and that is Shinshiro and so my problem arises as there are two of his swords translated on online sword selling sites in Japan who both give it as Nobushiro (not in my book)...so lets hope an expert native Japanese speaker can also post his version...I would really like to be SURE.

I appreciate your responses but lets hope others respond also...

Regards,

George.

[Mikaveli]

Shin is the usual reading of 信, and will usually be the pronunciation used by dictionaries etc.

 

However, it is also read as "Nobu", and the most famous example of this is probably 信長 (Nobunaga, as in Oda).

 

Which reading is used isn't revealed by the Kanji alone - so without other records/precedence it could be either. For example 照門 is sometimes read (in modern transliterations) as Terumon, but most sword books state "Terukado" (てるかど) where pronunciation is given.

[Bugyotsuji]

Coming from another angle, there are many names which could be read either way. A simple example is the swordsmith Chogi/Nagayoshi. Sometimes an alternative reading is used to distinguish one person with the same name from another. Kane/Kin, etc.

 

Today in Japan if there is any doubt, (and even when there isn't) people will ask you how your name is pronounced. Only the owner can tell you for sure.

Although 信四郎 can be read Shinshiro, and I have found examples on the web, Nobushiro is more likely to bring up the correct kanji 信 in people's minds.

 

Even if the 'correct' reading was Shinshiro, the owner would be 100% used to people calling him Nobushiro, and if or when he introduced himself as 'Shinshiro', each and every time people asked him which character he used for Shin, he would surely have answered 'Nobu'.

 

In this sense the default reading would really have to be Nobushiro...

[george trotter]

Thank you all for your very reasoned answers...I think I will mark this on my notes as "SHINSHIRO (or NUBUSHIRO)" until perhaps one day I find a direct reference to Masakazu's personal name reading in a book.

Regards,

George

(PS to members...feel free to keep trying to work it out (Morita san?)

[Hector]

Well, I just asked my Japanese wife "Look at these three kanji and read the name out as you see it" 信四郎

 

Reply "Nobushiro".

[george trotter]

Thanks Hector (and wife) and members...I have done some more thinking and have decided that the name NOBUSHIRO is the most likely.

After all the feedback from you all and some more studying by me I am sure this must be correct....so, NOBUSHIRO it is.

Please make a comment if any of you find some written facts in the future...all the best, and thanks!

Happy new year to all,

George.

[mecox]

@george trotter      George, these questions are interesting, and yes you need to ask the tosho himself.  I note you followed up Masakazu in March, 2022 and where he died.

I also asked my wife (Showa vintage) about 信四郎  and she read  NOBUSHIRO.   However, several examples I found where translated as SHIN (but thats auto translate).    So I dont know!

 

I note that Sesko list for Tsukamoto Masakazu uses SHIN: 

 MASAKAZU (正和), Fukushima – real name Tsukamoto Shinshirō (塚本 信四 郎), born Meiji 33 (1900), he worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō.  1941:  5th Seat 6th Shinsakuto Denrankai.  Missed 1942 Banzuke list.  He died Showa 44 (1969) February 5. 

 

For interest, there are also other Tsukamoto smiths of the period: 

 

KIYOKAZU (清和),  Fukushima –  family name Tsukamoto (塚本), he is also listed with the family name Kasama (笠間). Said to be the older brother of Tsukamoto Okimasa (塚本 起正),  1942: jōkō no retsu (Akihide),  1941:  4th Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai.

 

OKIMASA (起正),  Tōkyō (ex-Fukushima) –  “Okimasa saku” (起正 作), “Tsukamoto Okimasa saku” (塚本 起正 作), “Tsukamoto Ikkansai Okimasa saku” (塚本一貫斎 起正 作),  real name Tsukamoto Shinpachi (塚本 新八),  said to be descendant from the lineage of Yamamura Masanobu (山村 正信).  Studied under Kasama Shigetsugu (笠間 繁継), later married his daughter.  Worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō and got several prices.  Died young in Showa 35 (1960) May at the age 43 (or 46).  Lived in Tōkyō´s Setagaya district (世田谷),  1942: kihin-jōi (Akihide banzuke),  1941  2nd Seat & Cutting Test at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai.   [Slough, p. 139]

 

MASAZUMI (正澄), Fukushima –  “Tsukamoto Masazumi saku” (塚本 正澄 作), “Ōshū Iwashiro-jū Tsukamoto Masazumi saku” (奥州 岩代 住 塚本 正澄 作), real name Tsukamoto Jūjirō (塚本 十次郎).  Born  Taisho 6 (1917) December 14,  younger brother of Tsukamoto Okimasa (塚本 起正).  Studied under Kasama Shigetsugu (笠間 繁継) and learned also from his brother.  Later changed his name to Yoshimasa (?yoshi).

 

MASAMITSU (正光), Tōkyō – “Masamitsu” (正光),  family name Tsukamoto (塚本), he worked as guntō smith.  1942 ryōkō no retsu (Akihide banzuke). 

YOSHIAKI (喜昭), Tōkyō – “Yoshiaki saku” (喜昭 作), “Tsukamoto Yoshiaki saku” (塚本 喜昭 作), “Minamoto Yoshiaki saku” (源 喜昭 作), “Tsukamoto Ikkansai Yoshiaki saku” (塚本 一貫斎 喜昭 作), “Tōto-jūnin Yoshisaki” (東都 住人 喜昭).   Real name Tsukamoto Shōtarō (塚本 小太郎),  gō Ikkansai (一貫斎). Studied from 1939 under Kasama Shigetsugu (笠間繁継) and from 1940 under his uncle Ikkansai Okimasa (起正).   Said to be from the lineage of Yamamura Masanobu (山村正信).   Born 1926, early he signed Masamitsu (正光).  He died Showa 43 (1968) September 18 at the young age of 42.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hector]

Hi Mal @mecox,

My wife is also Showa vintage so, as you undoubtedly know, it's best not to argue with those ladies! 😂

[george trotter]

Thanks for your help Mal, I have got all that information on the name possibly being Nobushiro or Shinshiro...I myself  leant towards Shinshiro until this latest query by me brought the majority of responses for it being Nobushiro.

The "clincher" was that I also found a Japanese sword site that recently sold a sword by Masakazu (NBTHK papered) and gave  tang pics showing the date 11/17 and his mei  including the personal name which they definitely translated as being NOBUSHIRO. I thought that if a professional Tokyo sword shop like Ginza Seiyudo translates his name as Nobushiro then it is correc, considering that they must have sources for personal smith information that are better than most collectors.

 

At the moment I am leaning towards Nobushige, but I will change if some good evidence 'correcting' this comes along.

Regards,

George.