SteveM

Thank you, Malcom. I am, however, standing on the shoulders of giants. Here is one of the very few things I found with both Wisteria Maiden and Oni no nembutsu (sometimes referred to as Oni no kan'nenbutsu). http://www.creyon-nurie.com/ukiyoe-next/newpage50.html I haven't found anything where the oni is carrying the maiden, so the origins of that particular vignette still eludes me.

I think this Nakagomi has a more utilitarian translation: inner lining. Nakagomi (or sometimes Nakagome) can also be a last name, albeit a somewhat unusual one. I think in this case it is just a memo on a piece of wood that was to be used for lining the inside of the saya. 中 = naka: middle, inside 込 = kome(ru), komi: put, insert 中込 = lining

I have been googling this on and off for the past weeks, and I haven't come up with a satisfying answer. Be that as it may, I think; 1. Oni no nembutsu is not a name or an oni turning "good". It is an idiom in Japanese, "The prayers of the devil". It is similar to the English phrase "Even the devil can quote scripture". It points at the superficiality and hypocrisy of taking on an outward appearance of piety, while still harboring an evil heart. In other words, a devil dressed in priest's robes is still a devil. If you google for this you will see similar images of devils/oni wearing priestly robes and carrying the drum. It is a popular motif of a certain kind of rustic art. (see below) 2. The girl is Fuji musume 藤娘 (Wisteria Maiden). I don't know her story. I don't know why she is being carried by the devil. I know she, along with Oni no nembutsu, is a common motif of traditional, rustic pictures produced in the city of Ōtsu near Kyoto, for the tourists who traveled on the 53 Stations of the Tokaidō. In Japanese these are referred to as Ōtsu-e (大津絵) - Ōtsu pictures. Some more info here http://shiga-ken.com/blog/2015/10/otsu-e-paintings-now-and-then/ I don't know how these two motifs got merged with the one carrying away the other. I should add that Wisteria Maiden became such a popular motif, they started producing kabuki plays with her as a character. I think she just represents an archetype of Japanese femininity.

The first two pictures are the date - and most of the salient bits have been translated by Thomas above 嘉永元 戊申八月吉祥辰日 心願之　奉納 Kaei gan'nen tsuchinoe-saru hachigatsu kichijō tatsujitu Shingan (kore?) Hōnō 1848, zodiac year, August, auspicious day of the dragon I'm not sure how to interpret the following line but the words are expressions of prayer and dedication. My guess is, "This sword is dedicated (to/for something that would be understood by the giver/givee, and is not specified on the sword)." On the other side 奉献 Hōken (Dedication) 短刀一腰 Tantō hitofuri (as above) The next part is either a name or an official title, but I can't make it out. 當村庄官 　　Tōson Shōkan　 Shōkan is an official title, and it means head of a village. I am not 100% confident in the second kanji. 圡居新左衛門 Doi Shinsaemon (Name, family name first, personal name second) I think he is the head/mayor/lord of a village in Shikoku, what is today the prefecture of Ehime. This site shows the area (look for the black pins) http://www.hucc.hokudai.ac.jp/~x10795/cgi/uwamap.cgi

I can't make out any of the cursive handwriting under 直胤. I can't even make out what appears to be 4 numbers on the other piece of paper, and those should be super simple...alas, they are indecipherable to me. The final number is "1", but the others?? The paper may come from one of the latter Hon'ami, 宗円 (Sōen?) is my guess.

The paper points to a pretty big name, I think. 武州大慶直胤 Bushū Taikei Naotane The vermilion seal on the paper says Hon'ami. I can't verify if its real or a forgery.

短刀一腰　One tantō illegible 土号 ? 新左衛門　越智通故　Shinsaemon (person's name) Ochi (another name) something

Hello Chris, Do you have the sword that goes with this paper?

Yes, your interpretation is correct, but take a look again at the Taishō date and your western calendar date.

I think any kind of scratch or cut in the sword should be regarded as the damage it is. Its a detraction from the sword's optimal condition. It should never be considered a plus. Unfortunately, ebay is the land where a blatant flaw can be described as a highly desirable "feature". Novices are easily lured in by stories of samurai battle, and a chip in a blade suddenly becomes a "must-have" talking point. Drives me nuts. But your second post is making a false analogy, because any sword that has a documented history of coming from a major historical figure will be appraised differently from a sword that has no such provenance. A sword that has a clear history from somebody like Ishida Mitsunari or Tokugawa, takes on value as an important historical artifact, in addition to any value it might have as an art sword. So we appreciate the well-documented historical item, with all its flaws, as being something different, but related, to an art sword without such provenance. It would be the same if we had a musket from, say, the George Washington collection, with proper documentation showing he owned it during the Revolutionary War, but was now rusted and didn't work. How would you value that compared to a working musket of the same vintage, owned by some random person? They are almost two different things, even though they may have had the same manufacturer. The only place were scratches and cuts add any value to a sword is in the magical marketplace of ebay.

Hello Grey, Take a look at Morita-san's reply in the thread below. Must be the same sword, or its match. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/10679-translation-assistance/

廣成 Hironari. No idea of authenticity. I will flip through Wakayama later to see if there is any info. Edit: No such artist in listed Wakayama.

Making as many misses as hits these days. 護国釼筑前刈萱之関住吉正謹作 Gokokuken Chikuzen Karukaya-no-seki ju　Yoshimasa Kinsaku (Nation-protecting sword, Chikuzen Karukaya-no-seki (location name), Yoshimasa) 昭和拾二年十月吉日 Showa 12, October Next one as a spoiler for those keen to have a go. 贈　日支事変為之造皇軍 秋山長三朗

刀匠　石原正直　　　swordsmith: ISHIHARA Masanao 研師　亀山実一 polisher: KAMEYAMA Jitsuichi

Japanese wikipedia is telling me that Otegine was located in one of the Matsudaira family's storage vaults in Ōkubo (Tokyo), when it was destroyed during one of the US fire raids on Tokyo in 1945. They took the molten lump of metal to Hon'ami Kōson to see if it could be restored, but there was nothing to be done. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%A1%E6%89%8B%E6%9D%B5

Note: the papers don't mention Shikkake either.

Edit of my previous post. It must be TAKISAWA Katsushi, if the opposite side indicates the first initial is "K" as mentioned in post #3

Maybe not so strange if the recipient (Mr. Erickson?) is a non-Japanese.

From Yokohama Prison Warden, TAKISAWA Masashi, November 1945.

If you are interested in military swords, Fuller & Gregory's is often mentioned as an essential reference. I am not as optimistic about the sword and mounts as Joe is. The sword might be Japanese, but even as a WW2 sword, it has been damaged by a crappy polishing job, which makes the whole prospect rather uninteresting. Its not good enough to restore, not to my mind anyway. If it came with a pristine set of mounts I would think differently, but considering the volume of decent WW2 swords out there, I would not spend much time on this one. (I'm wondering about the tsuka...almost looks like it is covered in fish scales instead of same/ray skin.)

草薙舎伝来本阿弥光徳筆刀絵図断簡 Excerpt from Hon'ami Mitsutoku's sword drawings, from (den) Kusanagi Co.

Looks to be signed 助房 (Sukefusa). This would be the smith's name - his "art" name anyway - his given name and last name would probably be different. The military sword collectors on this site can tell you more about the fittings. Regarding the quenching method: first, the big question of "why does it matter?". The method of quenching has an effect on how the sword curves, and how the hamon appears. Demand for swords shot up during Japan's imperial era. Individual smiths couldn't hand-forge enough swords to meet demand, so the government started producing swords at a number of foundries. These foundry-produced swords were typically made from various industrial steels rather than tamahagane, and they tended to be oil-quenched. The production was overseen by a number of traditionally-trained smiths, who would put their names on the tang of the swords. Your sword looks to me to be one of these types of swords (but I am an amateur at this, so take mine as a layman's opinion). Not all WW2 swords are foundry-made. Smiths continued to manufacture swords in the traditional method as well. Also, nowadays non-traditionally forged swords are not allowed to be traded or even owned in Japan. They are viewed by the authorities as weapons rather than art objects, and so there is a prohibition of these swords that continues from the American occupation era. However judging from the number of WW2 swords that keep popping up on Japanese auction sites, I think the general bias against these swords is fading. There is also a ton of information on this site. Put the search engine to good use and see what you can find. Look up at the links at the top of this page for topics that catch your interest. Stay tuned for more info. Hopefully one of the military sword experts will jump in with more authoritative info. The site below is also a much-referenced site for WW2 sword info. http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

I think Tame Ohara/Obara Masahiro kun seitan (or, in kanbun, maybe something like Ohara Masahiro kun no tame ni seitan). Made for Masahiro Ohara. On the reverse side is the Imperial Calendar date. Not too hard to figure out - I think if you google info on this it will be very easy to pick out.

My guess: 奈良安親 Nara Yasuchika

These are the 5 principles the Imperial Rescript describes. The English version of the whole Rescript is located here http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jamesorr/ImpResSoldSailors1882web.htm You can pick out the 5 principles. Curiously, the second one greatly abbreviated.