John A Stuart

Oite Bushu Edo Teruyoshi ageru kore. John

Is not ageru as in to raise or lift using 上 for swords, whereas 揚 in this sense is hoist as with ropes or pump as in water? I have a sword with this on it; 於武劦江戸照吉上之 John

Deep fried? Haaaaa! Weird. John

Must be these which are just incidental I suspect. John

If you take it as a whole 信国義昌楊兼信銘有之 Nobukuni Yoshimasa owns this named 'the' Yanagi Kanenobu Something along those lines? Then again if read as normal 兼信銘有之信国義昌楊 Kanenobu (signed originally as?) owned by Nobukuni Yoshimasa (Yanagi) That yanagi hanging on the end is odd. John

Does not the mark refer to the design painted, not the actual kiln? Painting by Zhang Yitai. I am not sure if this is an actual artist or atelier mark. "Drawing by Zhang Yi Tai. Dated in the decoration to the gui mao year (1903). In Straits Chinese porcelain Zhen Yi Tai is a common mark. Zhang Yi is probably the name of a company (Tai). A number of old businesses in San Francisco Chinatown have this same tai character as the last one in a three-character name, for example "Jiu Jong Tai," "Fa Ming Tai," "Guang Xing Tai," etc. "

I can't find reference to 天生土, but, I would posit it as being Amatsu, possibly Amato. John

Maybe 'kaeriyoru' 返り寄 John

Careful cleaning with a soft brush water and Woolite Zero. A quick wetting, brush with dilute WZ, rinse and immediately towel dry by squeezing to minimise ingress to the wood core or same. That or a rewrap. John

That is 拾 another way of writing ten, 'ju' or 'tou'. John

OK Ray> John

Goryou seems a much more satisfactory reading. John

Before Fujiwara is 玉長 Tamanaga. John

An interesting approach to identifying production and quality in different periods. John

Well that's a pain. Maybe the scribe wrote an obscure kanji for Hide from a verbal attribution or simple clerical error. John

I tried a few readings and no luck with these kanji. There are so many possible, usually Masa, Sho, Sei, Tada ect are doubly indexed so Tou, Hide, Yuki and Yoshi ect using 透 aren't there, that I can find. John

Maybe they are not sure where it was made just that it is Muromachi period.. If I copy the kanji 国不明時伐室町 correctly. John

Well 東条 is Tojo as in prime minister (shinjitai) and 雄一 is Yuichi, a name and could be an insult. It really isn't relevant and is meaningless. John

Use it. Part of the enjoyment is the tactile sensation of a warm kobachi, its' glaze and appearance. You won't hurt it. John

What you have here is a replica of very dubious quality. I hope it was not an expensive lesson. John

Yes, that seems very well reasoned and likely. John

Have you tried Masataka 正崟 ? John

My brain is aching! John

焉 can be kore yes? 丸冶 Ganya whole smelt, meaning one solid steel, maru construction, maybe? John

Welcome to our new members! John