SteveM

前川助房 Maekawa Sukefusa. Modern smith, I think.

The picture should be oriented horizontally, with the tsuba on the left hand side, the big tag in the middle, and the thin tag on the right. The thin tag is an (old) address and name, and it reads: Saitama prefecture, Hiki-gun, Imajuku-mura, Mamedo. ARAHATA, Seiichi 埼玉県比企郡今宿村大豆戸新幡精一 (Arahata can also be read as Shinhata, and maybe a few other ways. Arahata is the family name, Seiichi is the given name). The big tag with the letters blacked out looks like a shop tag for a department store in Nagano prefecture. It says Ueda city, Matsuo town Kaizuya Shōten Wholesale Section Stockings, Imported Goods then it lists a long-defunct telephone number 上田市松尾町 足袋、洋品　海津屋商店卸部 (Not completely confident about that middle kanji, but I think its not as crucial as the address and name above).

That's what I would have thought, but then the writing on the box seems to be contrary to that. There is no honorific on the box for Imai, which would be weird, yet there is an honorific for Ono (on the box). So... that's why I'm puzzled. Edit: Yes I think John is right again. It must be Imai who is the recipient (and the sender is Ono). The lid is strange to me. Maybe it was written by a third party, but its still odd. At any rate, there are no other clues as to the year or the organization. Could be wartime, could be post-war veteran's association. The kanji for prefecture - 懸 - is the old style kanji. The Ministry of Education simplified some kanji in the late 40's. Of course not everyone follows the government guidelines, and old habits persist, so the old kanji could still have been written in the 50's or later. The cup itself is in beautiful condition. (Maybe Imai-san wrote the description on the lid himself, to remind him who gave the cup to him?)

I think Jean is right. Bracken fern sprouts (or, 蕨 - warabi - in Japanese) https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E9%90%94%E3%80%80%E8%95%A8&hl=en&biw=1456&bih=811&site=webhp&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjkvKafk-PMAhVJH5QKHZAoD2wQsAQIGg

The box. The cup itself says Ono 小野 and Present Imai kun/kimi? 　贈今井君 I'm confused about the 君 in the line above. Kun attached to a name is an honorific (used for subordinates or those younger than yourself) so you wouldn't attach it to your own name. In another context it can refer to the emperor (君万歳), but it doesn't seem have that context here. So, I'm slightly puzzled.

山形懸出身 小野貞六氏贈品 朱木杯一個 今井鍬吉（花押） To Ono Sadaroku (born in) Yamagata prefecture Crimson Sake Cup (one) (From) Imai Shūkichi

↑ Yes I think John is right. Isshin, and there are at least 3 artists who use this name.

Looks like 下真 (Shimozane?). There is no such smith in my reference. I think your suspicion (cast copy) is correct. Or, it may be something for the tourist trade. The artists had birth names (of course!), but they usually adopted a name based on the specific school they were affiliated with, or their employer/master would grant them the use of a particular kanji. Some artists went a step further and created their own "artists" name (called Go, or 号 in Japanese) which usually comes in the form of a 3-kanji name. To keep things confusing, some artists used more than one Go in their life. Use of the personal, birth name on an artwork is rare, I think. The most common thing is a two-character adopted name, but Go are quite common also.

Well I just threw that out there because it was the first one that came up in a Google search. It would be wrong to draw the conclusion that this mon is only for that clan or that it started there. Looking a bit more I found an entry in a book on Amazon that lists any of the following possibilities (plus a few more): Gotō, Tawara, Nagata, Nishide, Matsui Note that the list isn't exhaustive (or exclusive). There are probably more families who use this mon. And the above names are not unusual names (well, Nishide is somewhat unusual), so there are many mon associated with these names. If you search for "mon of the Gotō" you will come up with many possibilities. Without knowing the specific provenance of this item, it would be hard to pin down. https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=F1VdUz1RUosC&pg=RA4-PA66&lpg=RA4-PA66&dq=%E9%9A%85%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8A%E8%A7%92%E3%81%AB%E8%94%A6&source=bl&ots=LXiWPtIdTj&sig=KwbkaqZq6SKCfGQfcysd5D4lNQY&hl=ja&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_xbuyt93MAhUmxqYKHdSUBOcQ6AEIVzAO#v=onepage&q=%E9%9A%85%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8A%E8%A7%92%E3%81%AB%E8%94%A6&f=false page 318

Did a bit of googling, but haven't found a lot. It seems to be the crest of a famous sumo wrestler in the 19th century, but haven't found anything else yet. http://www.ippongi.com/2011/12/23/tsuta-2/ https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%9F%E6%9C%88%E9%AF%A8%E5%A4%AA%E5%B7%A6%E8%A1%9B%E9%96%80

Try this one http://www.benricho.org/kamon/database/jpg/115_Sa/146_Sumikiri/Sumikiri-007.jpg 隅切り角に蔦 Sumikiri kado ni tsuta

You've read it correctly. Here is another one for comparison. http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2014/1410_1044syousai.htm

Interesting. Very unusual. For the collector with 550,000 yen burning a hole in his pocket.

Can't quite get it. The bit on the right looks like 宗作（花押）　Munesaku? Not showing up in my reference. The bit on the left would be an art name (and therefore usually easier to track down in the reference), but this isn't showing up either 有楽刻　Not sure about the last one. Edit: There is an artist by the name of 有楽 (Yūraku? Ariraku? I think probably Yūraku). So perhaps the bit on the left isn't an art name at all, but is 有楽 　刻 (as in, "carved by Yūraku"). But Yūraku himself had a different art name (臨楽斎) so it doesn't seem to be the same artist... but I could easily be wrong on this.

And another sword story that came out of Kyoto this week... Sakamoto Ryoma's sword, which was surrounded in doubt due to the sword not quite matching the historical descriptions, was found to be genuine after some supporting evidence showed up in a completely different place (explaining why the sword looked the way it did - short story is that the sword was damaged by fire and repaired). Anyway, something else to see along with the above next time you are in Kyoto. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605120071.html

Looks like Gendaitō smith. I found a few styles of this mei on some websites here in Japan (linked below), I don't know enough to comment on the hamon, other than to say the very obvious thing that it looks like it could be a nice hamon if it got a proper polishing. http://ohmura-study.net/753.html http://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords/KT126104.htm http://kendoinfo.jugem.jp/?eid=240 Edit: Oops, I just noticed that John answered you in another thread already. Mods feel free to delete or merge this with the other thread.

Don't know about the sword, but the mei on the kogatana is The mei on the sword could start out the same, but it could also be something completely different. Not enough of the sword mei for me to take even a wild guess.

I think 乙卯年 (kinotou-nen), which would be 1975. After that it might be 弥生 (Yayoi), or March.

濃州関前川兼継作 Nōshū Seki Maekawa Kanetsugu saku (made by Maekawa Kanetsugu from Seki in Nōshū province) Another sword by this smith in the thread below http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5944-translation-request/

I think its supposed to be Gōshū-jū Ichimine 江州住一峯

Looks right to me： OIte Kishū Shigekuni Tsukuru Kore (Actually if the whole thing were converted from the kanbun style it would probably be read: Kishū ni oite Shigekuni kore wo tsukuru)

When the nihonto bug first bites, resisting the urge to buy one, any one, that strikes your fancy and is within your price range is a hard thing to do. In truth, I think it is a battle most people lose. I lost it, and my first purchase (like many on this board, I presume) was a shonky gimei wakizashi. I bought it because a) it had a signature!, and b] it had a hamon!. There were other factors too: I was living temporarily in Japan and I didn't know how long my stay would last - I thought it would be a good souvenir (or, that was part of my justification for buying it). It came from a small-town sword shop, the kind that is so far off the beaten path you would never normally go there. Unfortunately I had no idea what I was buying. I had no idea it might be gimei. I had no idea that the market is awash in gimei wakizashi of poor-to-average quality. As a young man, that $1000 I spent on the sword would have served me better in the bank, or in shares, or in a proper suit. Or, it would have brought me $1000 closer to a proper sword. But I spent it, and that's that. I still have the shonky gimei wakizashi. It didn't kill me. It did teach me a few things, and I was able to learn about caring for the sword, and assembling the parts, and it helped me familiarize myself with the terminology. And it was money spent at a time when I had no other obligations; no kids, no house payment, etc... But its something I dread re-selling to a proper sword shop because they will roll their eyes and then maybe give me a hundred bucks for it out of sympathy. The sword on ebay is the same kind of sword, I think. Perhaps slightly better than my first purchase.

Take a look at the sharp, crisp inscriptions of these papered Yasuhiro swords and compare. It doesn't look good for your sword, I'm afraid. http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/09112.html http://www.giheiya.com/shouhin_list/japanese_sword/wakizashi/03-1024.html http://www.token-net.com/juyotoken/tachibana_yasuhiro.html

I saw the one I think you are talking about. Nice-looking sword. Great photographs. Some interesting hataraki. The sword is a bit scratched up near the habaki, and there is not a very clean shot of the boshi (which is a shame considering the detailed photographs of everything else). I don't know anything about the certificate that comes with this sword. It is not a standard NBTHK or NTHK paper, so it should be considered to have negligible value. In any event, it adds nothing to the sword. Kind of an undistinguished smith during the somewhat problematic kanbun era. Problematic only because collectors and aficionados tend to find the kanbun swords to be uninteresting, and therefore kanbun swords are out of favor. This is a generalization of course. Inoue Shinkai was from the kanbun era, and his swords are beautiful, pricey, and very much sought after. The Kaneyasu on ebay... not so much. Stay the course and continue saving up for a koto sword of some distinction. Resist the urge to spend good money on an cheap ebay sword.

http://www.token-net.com/soldout/201310-25.html http://katanatogishi.seesaa.net/article/413681731.html http://www.seiyudo.com/ka-098129.htm Here are a few more. I just did a random search for 粟田口藤原忠綱. You can copy and past into a search engine and may get different results.