Robert Janssen

Hey anglerdad? (please sign your posts with a name or add it to your sig.) old forum is still available at http://www.militaria.co.za/board/

Hey Grev, as Brian has posted the database of posts is from 3 days ago, pity as it may be posts since then have not migrated over. Brian has tried to make this period as short as possible without rushing it and making a mess of things. I don't know how to fix this but just wanted to let you know.

Good reminder Robert, nice idea. You have gotten mine Brian, and if you do decide to hold the raffle I have a completely new softbound copy of The Samurai Sword - A handbook by John Yumoto to give away with free shipping. I know it's only a beginners book and low value but maybe I can make a fellow beginner happy by donating it. I would also like to appeal to all the lurkers out there... yes I know you're there peeping through the keyhole!! I did the same for almost 2 years before I registered If you like this forum and visit regularly there is no reason why you can't or shouldn't make a donation if you want to help keep this place running! anyway, keep up the good work Brian, mods and all the other Nihonto overlords!! I thank you all very much for your knowledge sharing and time invested!

Hey All, Personally I can't get enough of these types of videos, astonishing to see what bending and stresses our blades have gone through while being quenched. This video was posted on his facebookpage by Komiya (Rokuro) Kokuten, next in line in the Shiro Kunimitsu lineage. I'm linking to youtube now so all can see without needing a facebook account. Enjoy!

Klaus, in his first post he mentions only markings on one side, so I guess not!

adjusted lighting a bit if you don't mind, was too dark for me...

last one does look like mitsu, to me anyway...

I tend to agree with Brian here. The moment the mei is carved is far from the moment the sword is actually finished. Polishing, making of fittings etc. are all processes that come after cutting of the mei if I'm correct. So stating a day or even a week when the sword was "made" would have probably been inaccurate and very hard to predict.

I'm definately no expert, but it looks as fake as they get to me. the munemachi looks aweful, and the difference in location of munemachi and hamachi is like 2 cm or something... I won't go into the rest... I think your gut feeling was right, don't doubt it :lol: Also I see none of the filemarks that you mention I would stay clear of this, good thing that you have too!

Hey Jean, yes you're absolutely right. In fact without the sayagaki I probably wouldn't have been able to make out this masa. But it is my aim by trying to decypher them, and so studying the kanji and trying to recognize (parts of) them that I'll be able to recognize that masa in 20 years instead of 40 years!

haha you're totally right Jean The thing is Peter is also kind of right, you just need to put in some effort to get it. Personally, I only recently started to give decyphering kanji a try, without books in fact! I use these online resources: http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/ http://nihongo.j-talk.com/search/kanjis ... arch=paste It's all about breaking the kanji down to the level of the radicals and strokes (counts). click on the radicals you think you see, and by proces of elimination you hopefully get an end result in the list below. if you don't you entered a wrong radical and you just reset it and try again. To get the name of the kanji, just copy-paste it into the second link. Hope this helps other people to try and decypher. greets,

政 Masa? edit: damn! still takes me too long

Sorry Martin, I meant to say: how do you come to the conclusion of "mori"(i meant instead of "shi")? do you read a different kanji for that or do you read 司 as mori? I copied and pasted the kanji for haru instead of shi, my mistake! the question still stands though, but with the right kanji this time thanks!

Holy crap I'm getting one of these! The amount of info in there will keep me busy for a while!

hmmm, interesting points made... I got some more stuff to look into know! Martin: how do you come to the conclusion of "mori"? do you read a different kanji for that or do you read 治 as mori? thanks, Robby

thanks Guido, any extra info is more than I have at the moment Can you comment on the fact if kogatana are considered Nihonto? I feel the need for another of Markus' great books/translations on the subject of kogatana...

Doesn't seem like a lot of info is available on this and kogatana in general... 2 books in Japanese and 2 NCJSC bulletin articles it seems... (thanks Pete Klein for that info) Kogatana by John Yumoto, 5pp, with charts!! newsletter #2 1977 Tosu and Kogatana, by John Yumoto, edited by Alan Harvie, september and October 1999 Another question: I posted this in Nihonto, but are kogatana considered Nihonto? Or are they more considered the same way we see (pocket)knives? Do they fall under the registration restrictions in Japan now? thanks! Robby

Let's give this a try shall we?

Hey guys, I have this kogatana that came with a koshirae set. Morita-san graciously translated the inscription as: 泉州 堺 鍛治司 造 之 (senshû sakai kajishi tsukuru kore). I researched this inscription and arrived at: ... in Sakai city in Senshû (Izumi) province made this. 鍛治司 gave me some issues. This can be read as kajishi, but also kanuchi tsukasa. Kanuchi tsukasa translating to “Smith’s office”, with some references adding a note as to the imperial smith’s office with this name circa 7th to 10th century in the Ritsuryō system of ancient Japan. Also to note that kanuchi was most of the time written with 冶 instead of 治. 鍛治 is aparently an archaic form of kanuchi? I have found similar inscriptions like these on kogatana on the web, however they were written with saku instead of tsukuru, which isn’t quite the same... So anyway: any ideas what this inscription means? Were these kogatana “mass produced” by the smiths office of Sakai, or was there indeed something imperial involved? Sakai was a big city back in the days with it’s important port and knife/sword/gun making industry. Has anyone come across one of these before? Greets, Robby

Big thanks to you Morita san, as always your assistance has been invaluable :D I'm glad I got the easy ones right anyway

To make it a bit easier for you guys I've added what I think I see to the picture, is any of this possibly correct? also any ideas on the kanji that I'm missing? Dan gave me an idea and i photoshopped what I think I see. Give me your best guess Let it all out!! :lol:

Thanks Dan, that actually clears up some of the background corrosion artifacts. I took some more pics trying to capture these 2 kanji with my phone (closer focussing). this is the crop of the 3rd from the top. does anyone want to venture a guess? and also confirm the ones that i think i have? that would put my mind at ease of these kanji at least... thanks!

Hey guys, so I've pretty much gone crosseyed trying to figure this out on a kogatana that came with a koshirae set. I've read the info on kogatana mei, and would just like to know what it says really, regardless of WHAT it says. To appease the gods I've also attached a picture of the kozuka :D this is what i have: 1: 泉 sen - izumi 2: 州 shû province 3: 便 tayo? Not likely i think... 4: 俊 toshi? Or 源 minamoto? 5: 治 nao? osa? 6: 司 shi? 7: 造 tsukuru made 8: 之 kore this It's number 3 & 4 (enlarged in extra picture) that i've really scratched my head over, the rest might be correct? thanks for your effort!

Wow that is a rare opportunity for us Europeans indeed! I wish I had known earlier, I could have gotten the wife on board and plan a short trip to the south of France!