Tanto Inscription. Please help

[Samurai]

Hello! I'm new here. I found this by google and thought lets give it a go..

 

Who can help me identify the smith?

[Ray Singer]

Appears to be Masatsugu. 

[Samurai]

How so? It would look alot different?

[Ray Singer]

I'm not sure that I understand what you mean as far as looking different, but that is what I personally see. 

 

正次 - Masatsugu. 

[Samurai]

What about this one? Any thoughts?

[Ray Singer]

Not as clear as the previous one. Perhaps Toshihisa. 

[Bugyotsuji]

What do you mean when you say you 'found this by google'. Are you wanting to buy a blade, or did you run a search for unreadable Mei? Usually posting one photo alone makes the job exceptionally hard for anyone to decipher. Two or three photos from different angles is more friendly.

 

Re 'help me identify the smith'; by reading the characters alone you might not be identifying the smith, since it could easily be gimei. 

 

Confused in Gotham

[Samurai]

@Bugyotsuji These are Tanto's that I own. And truely wanted to know what was written on them.

 

[Lewis B]

7 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

What do you mean when you say you 'found this by google'.

I think he means he found NMB by Googling, at least that was my interpretation.

[Samurai]

@Lewis B Exactly!

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, thank you.

 

*The second one could start with Yoshi spelt not the standard 吉 with 士, but with known variant 土 on top.

Borrowing -hisa from Ray above, Yoshihisa?

吉久？

[Bugyotsuji]

Further thoughts above! 

[Samurai]

Thanks for the reply!

 

The 土 is Right! The bottom Kanji is already too far gone too get it correctly..

Edited Sunday at 06:03 PM by Maik
I didn't read right..

[Ray Singer]

On 1/17/2026 at 9:19 AM, Bugyotsuji said:

Ah, thank you.

 

*The second one could start with Yoshi spelt not the standard 吉 with 士, but with known variant 土 on top.

Borrowing -hisa from Ray above, Yoshihisa?

吉久？

Typical typo on my part, what I intended was Yoshihisa rather than Toshihisa. Thank you for correcting.
 

[Samurai]

What smith's name started with 土 ?? I only know Tosanosuke (土佐介) But that doesn't match the second Kanji.

[Ray Singer]

@Maik, 土 refers to the radical and does not mean a mei that begins with the kanji 土. The Kanji 吉 (Yoshi) contains the radical 士 at the top.

[Samurai]

@Ray Singer Oh I see. But then 吉 doesn't match, because for sure there's no square underneath..

[Ray Singer]

2 minutes ago, Maik said:

@Ray Singer Oh I see. But then 吉 doesn't match, because for sure there's no square underneath..

 

There are many ways that kanji are expressed in mei. They not aways executed in a rigid exact way and strokes do not always connect with one another.

[Samurai]

@Ray Singer As I see it, it looks more like J and not like I. Was that too difficult for them to do a straight line?

[Ray Singer]

No, this has nothing to do with difficulty in executing a straight line. Mei are calligraphy, and calligraphy is expressed in different ways depending on the hand of the craftsmen. This is the famous swordsmith Toshiro Yoshimitsu.


 

[Samurai]

I was thinking Yoshiyuki 吉行 Just because there are 2 not straight lines underneath. Does this match like that, you think?

 

[Samurai]

8 minutes ago, Ray Singer said:

No, this has nothing to do with difficulty in executing a straight line. Mei are calligraphy, and calligraphy is expressed in different ways depending on the hand of the craftsmen. This is the famous swordsmith Toshiro Yoshimitsu.


 

This looks nice, but it looks off from mine..

[Ray Singer]

Another example. Variations on how the same mei of Masatsugu might appear on different smiths' swords.



 

[Ray Singer]

Just now, Maik said:

This looks nice, but it looks off from mine..

 

I understand. I am showing variations in writing the same kanji.
 

[Samurai]

Just now, Ray Singer said:

Another example. Variations on how the same mei of Masatsugu might appear on different smiths' swords.



 

Wow this one IS accurate to it! Thanks alot for this one! 

[Samurai]

Just now, Ray Singer said:

 

I understand. I am showing variations in writing the same kanji.
 

I appreciate you doing so! This helps me much with this!

[Samurai]

Can you also help me with these 2 Tsuba's?
1 Picture is probably upside down. I changed it in my system but it keeps uploading upside down.

[Itomagoi]

I can't help you with the translation, but both tsuba are modern works. Probably cast bronze from china.

[Samurai]

Just now, Itomagoi said:

I can't help you with the translation, but both tsuba are modern works. Probably cast bronze from china.

Why do you think? Explain please

[Itomagoi]

Hmmm. It's not easy to explain briefly. The quality of the craftsmanship is very poor. Even the signature is round and not angular / sharp, meaning it was not signed with a chisel. Look online for fake tsuba, you will found examples like yours.