SteveM

大日本京都住 一光堂 宮部篤良 Dai Nippon Kyoto-jū Ikkōdō Miyabe Atsuyoshi

嘱託＝contract employee

Got it! I'll keep you posted. Steve

I think he's talking about this bit here, but I'm not sure if it is actually a "P Y", or if it is part of the design of the bamboo leaves on snow.

My guess: very late Edo. It's just hard to preserve lacquer for 100+ years unless its stored in pristine conditions, or if you can afford staff who can look after lacquered goods. The metal bits can survive for centuries, even without them being kept in a nice, stable environment, but lacquer is more difficult. I'm slightly suspicious of the blank tsuba. It has no signs of being modified to fit the sword tang, and and it strikes me as being a later addition.

Hello Chansen, It is difficult to draw conclusions about the owner of a sword by looking at the koshirae. The crest is used by many families (the site below lists no less than 10 families associated with crest, and it isn't an exhaustive list). The site also says the crest is known in several prefectures, but none of them are in Kyushu, where Bungo was located. https://irohakamon.com/kamon/kashiwa/marunichuukashiwa.html Another reason it is difficult to draw conclusions is because the parts on a koshirae are meant to be replaced as they are worn out, so its possible that some of the fittings on your koshirae have been replaced in the last 150 years or so by its various owners. Shopkeepers are also known to switch out the components, as some items are easier to sell individually. So a shop owner may break up the components of the koshirae and swap them out for other components. Sad, but true. Anyway, the family crest is nice to have on a saya. The habaki also looks like it was something of a "special order" habaki due to the patterning on it.

Other side says 安来鋼 Yasuki steel. See this one as well

Hi John, No dates yet. Typically we meet on the 2nd Friday of the month, but November and December are unusual since many people are away in Japan at the Dai Tōken Ichi, and because of the holidays. We were talking about meeting up for an end-of-year Christmas dinner sort of thing, but nothing concrete yet. Will drop you a line if we decide on anything. Steve

If we can get a photo of the other side of that registration certificate, it will show you what the authorities thought the signature is.

Nanka Tōken Kai meeting tomorrow (Friday) October 10th at the Japanese Cultural Institute in Gardena, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Club Sensei Mike Yamasaki will not be attending, so there will be no specific topics. Bring your swords by if you would like to share with the group. If you have any swords or related items with Japanese inscriptions that you would like read/deciphered, bring them by and I will be happy to take a look. Gardena Valley JCI, 1964 W. 162nd Street, Gardena, CA 90247 Steve

Looks right to me.

✕弥生　→　初夏

Aritsune 有恒 Another example below https://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/b00085.html

Do you use Wakayama's reference? I guess its the most comprehensive one around, but a bit user unfriendly for non-Japanese speakers.It sounds like two different art names. Nobukuni doesn't sound like a typical surname.

The mark on the bottom says 宣徳 (Sentoku), which was originally a brass made in, and exported from, China. The word exists in Japan also, and the meaning is a bit more broadly applied to other types of brass. Judging from the decorations, I'd say this was Chinese.