New member requesting help with wakizashi mei

[Wim V]

Hello everyone,

 

I have been following this board for quite some time and I really feel I can learn a lot from the interesting discussions held here. This is my first post and I would like to start with a request for help.

 

I recently bought a wakizashi (please see attached picture) and I have some questions about the mei. On the sashi-omote it reads 青龍子兼次, which I believe can be read as “sei-ryu-shi-kane-tsuguâ€. Kanetsugu is of course the name of the smith, but I can’t figure out what is meant with the three first kanji. Literally I found (thanks to the internet) they translate as “blue-dragon-child†but I wonder what this means. Is it just a family name or clan name, or does this refer to a certain school? Or something else?

 

My second question is about the ura-mei. According to the seller this reads 嘉永七年八月日, which is “ka-ei shichi-nen hachi-gatsu-hiâ€. I believe this is a day in the eight month of the seventh “ka-ei†year, which should be august 1854. However it seems to me the first kanji in “ka-ei†(嘉) is not completely equal to the one chiseled on the tang of the blade. Is this an older way of writing this kanji maybe, or did the smith write an error?

 

Any help is very much appreciated.

 

Best regards,

 

Wim Vanspeybrouck

[John A Stuart]

Hi Wim, The date looks more like Anei to me 1772, perhaps? The 8th month August thing is misleading also, not really August. I can't help with the mei which is Seiryushi Kanetsugu for sure, the Seiryushi being a personal name. John

[sencho]

Looks like AN'EI.... John is right I think...

 

An'ei period 1772 - 1781

 

7th year would make it 1778, day in 8th Month??

 

Cheers

[Nobody]

Hi,

 

I think that Seiryushi is his pseudonym.

As for the date, after all it looks like Kaei (嘉永) to me, though the kanji for "ka" (嘉) is simplified.

[sencho]

In that case 1854, Wim.... You were right and I would take Moriyama san's word for it.

 

I am just taking the strokes and fitting what I can that is closest as far as my eye sees it.

 

Moriyama san is reading it for what it is.

 

cheers

[sencho]

Wait a minute.... 1854 was start of Ansei.... I guess it started after August

 

Cheers

[Nobody]

Wait a minute.... 1854 was start of Ansei.... I guess it started after August

HI sencho san,

Yes, I realized that. Kaei shichi nen (嘉永七年) ended on Nov. 26th, 1854.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Koichi-san, I really find the month thing a toughie. However the start of the 8th month would be at the end of September would it not? John

[Nobody]

Hi Koichi-san, I really find the month thing a toughie. However the start of the 8th month would be at the end of September would it not? John

Hi John,

I am afraid that I cannot catch your point. I hope the following table satisfies your question.

 

嘉永七年 (the 7th year of Kaei): Jan. 1st, 1854 - Nov. 26th, 1854

安政元年 (the 1st year of Ansei): Nov. 27th, 1854 - the last day of Dec., 1854

[sencho]

Hi Moriyama san,

 

I think what John is referring to is the old calender of 10 months. (July and August were added later by the Romans? Julius Ceaser and Augustus Ceasar... going back to school days here!!) September used to be the 8th month.

 

I think that the Japanese yearly calender cycle was based on the moon phases wasn't it? Isn't there 12 of those? I remember a quiz on the old board with 12 Tsuba and the answer was that they represented the 12 months of the Japanese calender....

 

Man, I feel embarrassed that I know celestial navigation and I can't answer this moon phase thing!!! Where's my almanac!

 

Cheers

[sencho]

Just got my almanac out... yes of course there are 12 full moons and 12 new moons each year (sometimes 13 of one or the other but it usually averages out!)

 

I know the Japanese New Year is based on the phase of the moon so I guess the calender was a 12 moon phase affair.

 

1st full moon of 2007 was Jan 3rd and the 1st new moon is Jan 19th.

 

cheers

[John A Stuart]

Hi Guys, Not the Julian, Gregorian thing. The start of the lunar new year fluctuates from February to March. Certain additive months were added certain years to adjust for sidereal to lunar calender. Calling the 8th month August would not tally with the lunar calender. It has been discussed before how the 8th month was used as a charm month and did not truly reflect the month of forging. That convention nevertheless would not account for the real 8th month, the end of September start of November. In southeast asia it is even later, Tet or Changmai though they aren't relevent. I guess it really matters very little. John

[Bungo]

rule of thumb..........lunar new year always falls around late january to mid Feb.

 

Could be wrong , of course.

 

milt the ronin

[sencho]

Yes, sorry John didn't quite get your dift in the original question. Pre 1873 the Japnese used the Luna calender (actually Lunasolar) and this fluctuated. It was actually the first day of spring that was being celebrated as new Year. This was often in (modern day) February, which would mean the 8th month would be in (modern day September). Sometimes there would be 13 months in a year leap months (usually every third year or so).

 

I guess we should just refer to it as the 8th month and think of it that way, as August is really incorrect isn't it?

 

Anyway... that being said I have already eaten all of the Mochi in our house!

 

Cheers and

[Wim V]

Hi guys,

 

Wow I wouldn’t have expected that much reactions to my first post, thank you all very much for your input.

 

Not that I want to question your knowledge John and Sencho, but I also tended to believe the date on this wakizashi has to be Ka-ei, even if the kanji is somehow simplified. I found another reason for this. While searching the web, I found a katana in tachi koshirae for sale, which seems to be made by the same Kanetsugu (see below for the link please).

 

http://www.nihontoya.com/items/575469/i ... ntoya.html

 

The jihada, hamon, bohi and even the file marks on the tang look very similar, and it is signed on the sashi-omote with the same 5-character mei (Seiryushi Kanetsugu). This katana is clearly dated the first year of Genji (1864), so if my wakizashi was made in the seventh year of Anei (1778) this would make a time difference of 86 years. I believe this would be too much to span the active career time of one smith. Or in that case there should be at least two generations?

 

Anyway, thank you all very much for your help.

 

Wim Vanspeybrouck

[sencho]

Hi Wim,

 

I can't speak for John, but as far as I am concerned, if Moriyama san (Nobody) says that it is ka-ei, then I would bow to his better judgement.... It is ka-ie!!! :?

 

I have not yet learned to read kanji as a whole, (like I would read a word as a whole in English and not the individual letters) but am still working on the amount of strokes, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, etc.... I also, for this very same reason, find it very difficult to distinguish between "handwiting" styles.

 

Shame he did not put a pucture of the Tachi's mei up there. I saw from the certificate though, that the mei looks very similar. Can you share some more pictures of your sword?

 

Cheers!

[John A Stuart]

Hi Wim, I would take Koichi-san's take on that over mine anyday. When kanji are messed with or interpreted like in sosho etc. I am confused and can only try. That is a more sensible date for the sword given the late shinshinto look it has and your study shows. A student, John

[Wim V]

Hi,

 

I can only share two more pictures (one detail of the sword + one of the koshirae), which were provided by the seller, as this sword is still on its way from Japan to Belgium. I am waiting for a notice from the customs to get the import cleared. I just hope they won't touch the blade with their (dirty) fingers. :?

 

Greetings,

 

Wim Vanspeybrouck