2 in one; translation and what is it - ceremonial Yari?

Dear members,

A while ago I couldn't resist to buying this remarkable item, a large yari-like blade which was mounted in an original naginata shaft with nice metal fittings. Obviously this is a later marriage as the shaft was not custom made for this nakago.

The blade machi to tip is 32 cm, at the widest nearly 7 cm and total length 58 cm. Thickness at the spine around 7 mm. As you might expect this thing is Heavy! At the tip the edge is blunt, about 1 mm thick. sides are thinner but still not razor sharp. Hamon is present in nioi, can't tell if there is hada in it's current condition but I wouldn't be surprised if it's there.

Then the inscriptions; on one side above the mekugi ana I see a date. Although the carving seems a bit sloppy/hastily done I think it says "MEIJI SANJU ICHI NEN ICHI GATSU", which should be 1898 first month.

Same side below the ana, province and smith: "OWARI JU XX XX TSUKURU"

Other side above the ana: well, here I'm lost (almost) completely. Very long shots, 2nd maybe Chi, 3rd Go? I don't know what construction to expect here because province, smith and date are already covered on the other side...I bet it won't be a cutting test

I do remember a thread where 2 similar newly polished "yari" were shown, If I recall correctly these were recently made and meant as presentation pieces for a shrine. Unfortunately I can't find this thread anymore.

So there are some questions to be dealt with;

Are the readings that I do have right? What does the rest say?

And, ehhrm (this one is slightly embarrasing), what did I buy? Does the species have a name and how would it be mounted originally (naginata shaft looks fine though, that's not the issue)? It seems to be too well made to be an early tourist piece and the colour and yasuri on nakago seems to correspond with the inscribed date.

Any info would be great!

Best regards,

Eric.

I have trouble with these choppy signatures, you've done well. Until some better help comes along, the one bit I was working on; 尾張連 ? 列 ? It might be an Association's name rather than smith name. John

Eric, are you saying that the shaft had more than one hole in it or that there was no hole for the yari and it was just set in the shaft? its a nice shaped yari.

I am a little unsure about the 2nd picture.

尾張連虎裂 – Owari no muraji, Koretsu (reading?)

明治卅一年一月 – January in 1898

為雅楽協會 – For Gagaku (=ceremonial court music of Japan) association

“Owari no muraji” seems to be a name of Kabane (姓).

Gentlemen,

thank you very much for your help!

I think this blade was just put in an available naginata shaft ; the shaft has one hole which does not line up with the mekugi ana in the nakago when the machi are resting on the tip of the shaft. Lining up the ana produces a gap about 2 cm between shaft and blade.

But the real give-away is that the space in the shaft (nakago ana?) is wedge shaped as a naginata nakago, this nakago is flat.

Btw, the shaft has been shortened (probably for shipping restrictions), just 147 cm and on the tip side some hasty painting was done to "restore" lacquer loss. But of course shortening a pole would be done on the butt side, fortunately the metalware has been moved up and still fits nicely. Some pictures of the shaft attached, it's not in great shape but the fittings are nice and complete.

Best regards,

Eric.

Oh, now I think of it, could someone provide me with a closeup picture of an original naginata-mounting where the blade meets the shaft? I'm interested in the metalwork that should be there (ferrule- seppa- tsuba- seppa- habaki?).

Thank you, Eric.