JohnC

When I received a WWII era katana recently, the blade fit snugly into the tsuka, however I noticed that the mekugi was missing. I fashioned one out of bamboo, and it is a nice tight fit. The problem is that because of the way the holes lined up where the mekugi fits in, the habaki is now no longer snug up against the tsuba. There is about a 1/8" gap, so the tsuba rattles slightly when the katana is handled. There is a single seppa in place, but it does not come close to taking up the space. What is the best way to handle this extra space? Should I consider putting in additional seppas? If I do add extra spacers of some kind, is there a preference as to whether they go on the fuchi side of the tsuba, or on the side of the current seppa? Thanks for any suggestions. John C

Thank you Thierry. I am wondering if this is the same smith, since the kanji is different from that of the mei on my blade which was translated as Kanezumi from 兼泉. Assuming that I am starting to grasp some of this, the character for Kane is the same, but the character for zumi is totally different. I am too new at this to know if it is common for the same name to have different kanji, and if so, could both kanji variations refer to the same person? As always, I appreciate any help in increasing my understanding. John C.

Very sorry, it was late. Here is the link to the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11703553@N03/sets/72157632334667448/ John C.

Firstly, I am new here and would like to ask for your tolerance of any misuse of Japanese terms that I may use in my early attempts to learn. I was recently gifted a WWII era katana that I am enjoying getting to know. I am attaching a link to a few pictures of the blade, saya, and the nakago. In another section of this site, a couple of members were kind enough to translate the mei, which only has me more curious. Just as a matter of disclosure, I received a translation of the mei from the seller after I had posted my request on this site. I am now sure that the translation from the seller is inaccurate, but for disclosure it was: "Seki Kaneyasu Saku". The translation from the experts on this site seemed to fit the kanji much better to my uneducated eye: "Seki ju Kawasaki Kanezumi saku". I have searched a number of sources listing hundreds of smiths from the Seki area during WWII, and I cannot find this name listed anywhere. I am sure that I am influenced by my prejudice, but it does seem to be a fairly high quality blade for a showa stamp. It has a distinct hamon with what I believe to be nie indicating that it was clay tempered. The blade is very smooth and shiny above the shinogi, but there does appear to be subtle and uniform hada between the shinogi and the ha. My best guess at this point is that it is made out of western steel, but still hand forged and clay tempered. I would be grateful if anyone could give their opinion of the blade, and possibly any help in tracking down information on the smith. Thank you to the experts on this site that take the time to help us in the learning process. http://www.flickr.com/photos/11703553@N03/sets/72157632334667448/ John C

Many thanks to both Piers and Chris for taking the time to get back to me so quickly. Piers, I apologize for the photograph being upside down; that is just the way that I was holding the camera in an attempt to get the best light. I have now corrected the picture orientation on the link. I was happy to see the agreement in your translations. After I made my inquiring post, I received a piece of paper with a translation from the person that sold the sword to the person that in turn gifted it to me. That translation did not make sense to me, since there were not enough translated words to match the number of kanji. It simply said SEKI KANEYASU SAKU. The fact that both of you were in agreement on your translations gives me the confidence to disregard the late arriving translation that came after I had received the katana. I must say that I have a very heightened respect for the ability to go from the roughly chiseled kanji to the full drawn characters before it can be translated into english. I must admit to a little let down in that after going through numerous sources, each listing hundreds of names of smiths from the Seki region of that time, that I was unable to find a match for the signature. Oh well, I have not quit searching yet. Thanks again to you both for your sharing your time and expertise.

I am new to this site, and am hoping for some help in translating the mei on a katana that I recently received. The instructions on posting in this section suggested including some background. The katana was given to me as a gift by a WWII historian who knew that I have an interest in Japanese culture which began with 15 years studying karate, and includes reading a good many books on Japanese culture and history. Owning a katana has always been a dream of mine. I am not asking this for any commercial reasons, but just wanting to know and understand as much as possible about the blade that was gifted to me. The blade came with standard WWII tsuka and tsuba, but the fact that the blade displays a distinct hamon, whose outline and nie leads me to believe that the blade may be handmade as opposed to factory made. Also, it came in a black lacquered saya as opposed to a standard metal military saya. I have spent many hours on different web sites trying to find translations for the kanji on the nakago, but the only character that my uneducated eye has been able to identify is the third one down, which I believe to be "san", or three. I would appreciate any help in trying to identify the history of this blade. Here is a link to some photos of the mei, the blade, including one of the kissaki as requested. http://www.flickr.com/photos/11703553@N ... 334667448/ Thank you in advance for any help. John C.