(Reddit) Sadatsugu: blade. Ato-mei? Gimei?

Hello all,

A Reddit user has posted this wakizashi asking for more info.

I started with a translation assistance request here, which John Stuart, Markus Sesko, and Mike Vinehout all contributed to. Since their answers raised some more questions (that I can't answer myself), I decided to open specific threads on the blade & fittings respectively. I hope that isn't too spammy.

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Blade:

45 cm wakizashi, signed 備中國住人貞次 Bitchū (no) kuni jūnin Sadatsugu / 眘目包則摺揚之 "Tsutsushime Kanenori kore o suriageru" - "carefully shortened by Kanenori" (the latter translated by Markus, thanks again!).

Only Bitchū smiths I can find signing Sadatsugu are Aoe school, which I am skeptical this is. The coarse ō-mokume doesn't seem right, does it?

The second half of the mei is in the same hand as the first, leading me to believe that this is purporting to be ō-suriage ato-mei (i.e., shortened and then re-signed by the shortener). Is this feasible, or would you agree that it is a likely gimei?

Any other thoughts or assessments are welcome. Thanks,

—Gabriel

The person that shortened it also inscribed the mei. It isn't gimei, just perhaps a poor attribution.

Thanks Chris.

Makes me wonder if the ato-mei was an honest (albeit unlikely) assessment, or an attempt to trump up the blade a bit. If the former, maybe it's good enough to warrant a polish. It's hard to make a call on that from just photos though.