SteveM

or 龍光 (tatsumitsu? ryūkō?)

於東都三囗山麓東海辺　　Made in the ? foothills, in the vicinity of Tōkai, in Tōkyō. I can't read the name of the mountain/foothills. I'm slightly suspicious of this inscription. It doesn't look very well done. I also can't find any mountain in Tokyo that might match this text. "Tōkai" is also an unusual location name. There is such a location name in Tokyo, but there are no mountains around it. A bit odd.

Looks like a surname　大野 (Ohno, or Ōno). The bit under those two would be the given name, but I can't make it out.

The left side should be 住吉太神宮奉以剱余鉄 Made with steel left over from the making/dedication of a sword for Sumiyoshi Taisha (shrine).

Left side is a family name - 堀田 (Horita)

定善寫 Sadayoshi (no) utsushi

法成寺貞廣 Hōjōji Sadahiro

This is a list of possible "name" readings for 任. It lists Ataru, Tae, Taka, Takashi, Tada, Tane, Tamotsu, To, Tō, Nori, Hide, Makashi, Makoto, and Yoshi. I think it notes "Tada" in red because that would be the most common reading for it. https://b-name.jp/赤ちゃん名前辞典/m/moji/任,ただ/

金地容彫　　　　　　Gold, katachi-bori 無銘 Mumei 後藤顕乗 Gotō Kenjō 出来見事也　　　　 Magnificent work　 昭和丗四年秋 Shōwa 34, Autumn 寒山 Kanzan Not 100% sure of the bits in the red.

I don't think any of those figures are Hangaku Gozen. The box says the figures represent the battle of Ichi-no-tani (Kumagai Naozane, I think), and the crossing of Ujigawa by Sasaki Takatsuna.

For Daws:

越後幕下士大村加卜- Echigo Bakka-shi Ōmura Kaboku 真十五枚甲伏作- Shin jūgomai kōbuse saku (Made with 15-times folded steel)

The one on your fuchi is 光永 (Mitsunaga) The one on the fuchi above is 光長 (also Mitsunaga, but with a different character for naga. Same pronunciation but different character).

And others 使用苗字　　　飛内、竹屋、広橋、森、石河、宮重、中西、望月、森岡 Always important to remember many families used the same crest. There isn't a one-to-one relation to a crest to any one family, excepting the imperial family.

Hello Bruno, I asked the Nihon Tōshōkai this question last year (2023). Their reply to me was: There is no legal requirement for swordsmiths to put the date of manufacture on their swords, but it is done as an "unspoken rule". Recently there has been an increase in the number of swordsmiths who do not put the date on their swords. Most swordsmiths put their names on the nakago in order to indicate that they are the manufacturer of that sword, but strictly speaking there is no requirement for them to do so. However, the prefectures are in charge of sword registration, and there are apparently some prefectures which require names on the swords. There are still some inconsistencies within the registration procedure. Steve

If you are interested, the Southern California Sword Club meets once a month, and Mike Yamasaki is the usual lecturer (excepting when he isn't away in Japan). The club is happy to have people drop in and show the sword and get opinions. Mike would probably be amused to see a sword he owned nearly 30 years ago. Must have been when he first started collecting. Anyway, I'll leave the link for you to check out. https://www.facebook...m/NankaTokenKaiSoCal

OK - Thanks much. Very interesting. Noted as "meikan more" (not listed in any swordsmith index), so we're not likely to find any other examples of this smith's signature. Anyway, thanks for indulging me.

One thing about false signatures is that unscrupulous dealers may put a signature - any signature - on a sword in order to give it the appearance of legitimacy, and value. They know that a signed sword is more attractive to a novice collector than a sword with no signature on it. That is one reason you see obscure names on swords. Another reason is that obscure smiths are slightly harder to validate, whereas a signature of a big name can be fairly easily compared against authenticated examples. The signature on your sword looks very unusual, and my first instinct is that it is written by someone who doesn't know the rules of writing Japanese. This is my gut feeling, but there are many unusual signature styles in Japan, so just take that as one opinion. I also notice it looks to be signed in tachi-mei style (signed on the outside of the tang when the sword is worn with the blade down). Its an unusual choice, but some smiths are known to have signed this way even into the Edo era. (I'd be curious to see the paper it got from the NTHK if you are not averse to posting it). The chrysanthemum mark would be applied under approval/sanction from the government. I don't know if Hyuga-no-kami Morihisa was allowed to use the mark.

My guess: 相州住貞宗作 Sōshū-jū Sadamune saku Made by Sadamune of Sōshū (Not really made by Sadamune, mind you. Just an homage-type inscription).

It will take several weeks to "de-register" the sword and to acquire the necessary export permit, so unless you are staying in Japan for a few months, it won't be possible to bring it back. You'll have to rely on the dealer to arrange this for you. But most dealers will be familiar with the routine, and I think most of them will be happy to sell you a blade and arrange the export for you.

Ah - great example. 肩車 Kata-guruma (shoulder wheel).

I think its just a typo (or misunderstanding of the word?). Kuruma (車) means wheel*. Should always be a "k" sound when its used by itself. The hard "k" sound changes to a hard "g" sound when the word is used as a compound word, and is attached behind another word. Something like 源氏車 (Genji-guruma:"Genji" wagon wheel) or 風車 (kaza-guruma: windmill). * Also means "car", by the way.

It may be a tax requirement. If they sell or ship to a local person, they will have to collect (and submit) consumption taxes.

後藤光保（花押） Gotō Mitsuyasu (monogram)

於桑港 小鍛冶　義人 In San Francisco Yoshindo, swordsmith Edit to fix the name.