Help with Asano Kanezane Nakago Inscription

[Conway]

Greetings, 

 

I am looking for assistance translating the inscription on this sword by Asano Kanezane. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi Con,

The omote is a fairly typical nakirishimei: "No-Shu Ju Asa-No Kane-Zane Saku Kore".  The ura side has me confused, on it he often would make an inscription about winning an award or the type of steel used etc, but this inscription is unfamiliar to me. Sorry I can't be more help, hopefully some of the better translators will weigh in.

Tom

[Hiro]

Hi, I will write only the characters.

（I also do not know the correct reading of the first sentence.）

 

「純正直鐡入鍛

　濃刕住浅野兼眞作之」

 

（To me, it looks like the character “入,” but on the auction site below, it is identified as “人”.

　Looking at the photo of the registration paper on the same website, it says “入”.）

↓ 刀　(銘：濃州住浅野兼真作・純正眞鉄人鍛)

auction site（yahoo!Japan）There are still some photos near the bottom of the website.

 

刕＝州　濃刕＝濃州＝美濃Mino

住＝live

浅野Asano兼眞Kanezane

作之=make this

 

眞＝an old-style “真”

 

↓There was also a brief biography on this website.

sword dealer Giheiya

「Mei 濃州住浅野兼真

　Real name 浅野真一

　Date of birth 明治45年3月15日（March 15, Meiji 45 [1912]）

　Address 関市仲町住 Title 陸軍受命刀匠」

 

↓以安来鋼浅野兼真作之刻印 Asano Kanezane

sword dealer Meirin sangyo

 

Edited May 16 by Hiro

[uwe]

Could the third character be “真/眞” as well? Thus we would have “純正真鐡入鍛” ??

[Nobody]

8 hours ago, Hiro said:

Hi, I will write only the characters.

（I also do not know the correct reading of the first sentence.）

 

「純正直鐡入鍛

　濃刕住浅野兼眞作之」

 

.........................................................

 

 

It must be a typo.

純正眞鐵入鍛

 

I do not know its correct reading either.

Junsei magane nyutan (?) - Forged from genuin iron.

 

[Hiro]

I appreciate your correction…！

I will make sure to remember how to read the kanji as well.　magane…！

Edited May 17 by Hiro

[The Blacksmith]

Sorry I cannot help with the translation, but could I ask....... is it possible to get a clear picture  or two of the whole blade please? I have had two Kanezane katana, and a third in my possession for a while, and all three were totally different. As I understand it, the thinking is that several smiths or senior students were allowed to use his signature and stamp, which would account for the vast differences in the blades that I have had.

[Conway]

@The Blacksmith Here are a few photos. It’s not mine, I saw it for sale locally and was just curious about the inscription. It’s a little rough as you can see from the pics. 

[Conway]

Thank you to everyone for the helpful input. I also found a reference on the forum to a Kanezane sword made with “rutsubo” iron, but the link to the auction is inactive. I know inscriptions specifying the type of steel are not uncommon. I would think in this case it speaks to the quality as opposed to the type of forging/quenching process. 

[The Blacksmith]

@Conway  Thank you very much for posting those images.  As I mentioned earlier, the two that I owned and the third that I had in my possession were all very different. One I wish that I had been able to obtain, and one that I really wish that I had kept! The last mentioned blade was full of tobi-yaki.

Thank you again.

[mecox]

@Conway  some Asano Kanezane info in NMB Downloads:

 

 

[Conway]

I did some searching on 眞鐵 and could not find much. I noticed Moriyama san called it “magane” in his post above, but would it be correct to pronounce it as “Shintetsu?” I found one reference to shintetsu here:

 

Taikei Naotane O-Dambira, Sai Jo Saku, 1848 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

This Kanezane also has a “Sho” stamp.