Showato translation assistance request

[fujidog]

Hi everyone, I was hoping someone could translate this for me.

 

98% Sure its showato and not older. Blade does not appear to be folded, only clay tempered. Original polish is pretty much totally gone.

 

Looks like five characters right? I think the first is "Ishi"?

 

Any help is much appreciated. 

[nulldevice]

Ishido Teruhide

[fujidog]

Wow thank you null device. 

 

I'm still curious, is the last what is the last character. Is it "kao"? 

Edited Friday at 12:02 AM by fujidog

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes.  We've been using "Kao" as the generic term for a smith's personal "trademark."  There are two kinds, the inscribed kind, like this one, called kakihan; and the hot-stamped kind called kokuin.

[Bruce Pennington]

DC,

Would you mind removing the tsuba/seppa set and getting a shot of this area, for me?  Might be a Seki stamp.

[Hector]

Hi there Fujidog,

 

I would say it's definitely a gendaito and not a Showato.

When I first started looking for a sword of my own, I was considering a gunto with a blade by this maker. So I did a lot of research on him and I've never seen one of his with a stamp.

 

Good resource here:

 

Japanese SWORDSMITH ISHIDO TERUHIDE