SteveM

Hello Ford, I did a simple search for 四分一 and 室町 and Google gave me the following: http://is2.sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp/fks-db/txt/20011.002/html/00113.html #429 is attributed (but not signed, therefore it doesn't quite fit your criteria) to Goto Yujo. The clamshell is listed as being shibuichi.

Hello Xander, There are some uncomplimentary names for lower-quality pieces It seems rather small, so, as Fuuten says, maybe it is for a tanto. With the two hitsu ana on either side, it seems it might also be for a miniature sword, the kind that was posted on here recently. Actually, I was looking at pictures of other tanto tsuba and I came across one that looks similar in style to yours. Same paulownia crest on the rim. Paulownia was the family emblem of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and it exists today as the seal of the government of Japan. (It's a common motif on sword furniture.) http://s-touken.com/?pid=77497105

A kind of fue-maki (笛巻), I think. Very nice. Here's another example. http://www.finesword.co.jp/sale/touken/htm/0704/169/wakizasi_kosirae.htm

I hate to say it, but the signature looks suspicious. My guess is that the kanji are supposed to be as follows; The reasons I think this signature is suspect are 1. Amateurish (childlike) execution of the kanji. 2. The problematic squiggle in the center. I can't imagine what this is supposed to be. 3. The third identifiable kanji (the one below the squiggle) is an odd kanji that was not in general use prior to the last century. It was considered a "new" kanji in the middle of the last century, but then fell out of use again after kanji were standardized in 1947. Its a bit of a worry. Edit: I just realized the third kanji (the one after the unidentifiable squiggle) is so obscure that it is not displaying properly on the screen. The difference is the uppermost horizontal line is shorter than the second line in the kanji used on your sword. The actual/official way to write it is with the uppermost horizontal line being longer than the second horizontal line. To say this another way, the top of the kanji should be 士 but instead in your sword it is 土. 4. Together, the identifiable kanji form a plausible Japanese name, but this name is not found in any reference. Any one of these problems in isolation isn't enough to prove anything. There are lots of signatures which look very amateurish to me, but in reality they are just highly stylized. There are a lot of signatures that look very squiggly. There are also a lot of strange kanji in use on signatures. And lastly, there are surely some signatures which don't appear in any reference materials (in other words, very obscure smiths). However, taken all together, those issues leave me thinking that the signature is a big problem. It is almost unthinkable that a smith, even a novice smith, would create a sword and then muck up the signature on it. But, this is just my own amateur musings on the signature, what really matters is the sword itself.

This is the bit that intrigues me. I think if it was in this condition in 1946, it must have been in similar condition throughout the war. It isn't in military mounts, and so it is clearly not a WW2 sword, and not an heirloom that was retrofitted for WW2 mounts. I agree with some of the posters above who said the tsuka is a write-off. From what I can see in the photos, it has no aesthetic value, and no value as an historical artifact. (Don't fret over this. The tsuka is generally made of materials that degrade over time anyway, and it is completely normal for the tsuka to be replaced in part or in whole throughout the life of the sword). I think you will find the blade and the tsuba will be just as valuable without the tsuka - but if it will not come off without a good deal of force, leave it for now. As you probably know, a proper WW2 gunto tsuka would look like the photos at the sites below http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/eggrider/diary/200602200000/ http://tanosiiseikatu.hippy.jp/katananotuba/?p=932 The tsuba won't tell you anything about the sword or who owned it. They are accessories, as are the other parts of the sword furnishings, and it is quite normal for them to be fitted on different blades through the years. It would be entirely possible for a very old tsuba to get put on a very new blade, and vice-versa. Even the blade itself, unless it comes from a prestigious collection and is accompanied with meticulous documentation, will not likely tell you much about who owned it. So, its fun to imagine who might have owned it, but any speculation as to things like rank or status would be...just speculation. Edit: I should probably add that it is entirely possible that your sword was purchased by a merchant or someone who bought their way into society, so you couldn't even really say with much certainty that a samurai owned it. It could have passed in and out of samurai families. Unfortunately status was quite fluid at the fringes of society, so, again, nice to think about what family owned it and what their history is, but it would be hard to conclude definitively the status of the owner. If you can get the tsuka off, and then take a photo of the entire sword so that we can see the shape, we might have some better idea. But be prepared for the possibility that the sword is of little historical value, as it could very easily be a mass-produced sword.

Yanagawa is not part of this mei, so it is not mentioned on the paper. However, as you surmised, Yanagawa can be inferred from the Naomitsu signature. Naomitsu was apprenticed at 18 years old to Yanagawa Naomasa (1750). Anybody who has 刀装金工銘収録 (published 1970) you will notice a typo on page 61 that says Naomitsu was apprenticed in 寛永3年, when the actual apprentice year is 寛延3年.

I've just returned to the board after a 6-year absence. I haven't lost interest, but my interest has been pushed to the background by other things in life, as happens. My swords languished in my closet for the past few years. I just took them out recently to make sure they were still in good shape, and really struggled to get them out of the shirasaya so I could clean and re-oil them. I originally joined when the board was run by Rich (going back maybe 10 years) and it is nice to see the very high standard that Brian has maintained all these years. (Just found the videos by Ford Hallam... breathtaking). I think its good to welcome a lot of new enthusiasts to the world of Nihonto. It tends to be a very small, exclusive club, with a very high barrier to entry. Everything conspires against the newbie: the language, the price, the availability, the vast amount of crappy items or forgeries out there... so difficult for beginning students/enthusiasts to get reliable information. So, I say welcome newbies even they come with questions that can be answered by wikipedia-sensei. Very pleased to see the board in great shape and has so many high-level contributors.

朧銀 Yes, "rogin" or "oborogin" as John above says. Both are correct, apparently, but in my experience I have only heard "rogin". It shows up in the Japanese wikipedia entry under the shibuichi entry. Shibuichi is an alloy of (typically) 1 part silver to 3 parts copper. The linked chart indicates also 1% gold. I think rogin may have more silver than is typically found in shibuichi, but I am out of my depth here. http://www.geocities.jp/atelier_hogaraka/shibuithi.html https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%9B%E5%88%86%E4%B8%80_%28%E5%90%88%E9%87%91%29 Note there is an English entry for shibuichi as well, but it makes no mention of "rogin". And, I'm also wondering if the kashira in the picture used in the English entry wouldn't be greatly improved if that kashira were restored to its original lustre, as shown in another thread by Ford Hallam.

Did a search for Tashiro Minamoto, and it seems that Kanemoto (兼元) or even Ichi-Kanemoto (一兼元) is another possibility. 田代源一兼元 http://entry.winners-auction.jp/productDetail/42441 ↑ Not a great shot, but if you are web-surfing with a monitor it should be OK.

Sorry, it was pedantic of me, but I thought it might be useful to make the distinction. Like in another concurrent thread I was completely thrown by what I thought was the kanji 倅 (segare), but it turns out the kanji was actually 焠 (niragu). Slight change in the radical makes all the difference in the word/phrase. And both are obscure enough to be out of daily use, yet it crops up here in the sword world. Anyway, a slight diversion, but hopefully useful or interesting to people who are studying kanji.

Yes, I think you are right. 焠 (this makes two new kanji I have learned from this thread) My gut feeling is that this is still a problematic mei. The name, the highly unusual kanji... The curious use of 勝永 on one side, and 臣 on the other. It seems a bit much... but I have been surprised before.

A slight correction. 末関 = Sue-Seki. 未 would be Mi (a different kanji meaning almost or incomplete). Confusingly similar, but the top horizontal stroke on sue (末) is longer than the stroke underneath.

Hello Daniel, You already have the name of the smith: Fujiwara Yukitoshi (藤原行俊). The kanji 行 could also plausibly be read as Iku (as indicated in your original post), but I favor Yuki as a more likely reading. So, to avoid doubt Fujiwara Yukitoshi, or Fujiwara Ikutoshi Both are possible. The former is more probable, in my estimation. Regardless of the reading, since the smith doesn't appear in any of the obvious reference sites or materials, one has to assume it is a rather obscure smith, and not as famous as the sites linked above are asserting.

Or woman

Hello Moley/Gwen, I think normally the site here likes to think of itself as a learning site, and not necessarily a free translation service. So the ladies and gents here prefer you to pick up what you can from the other resources available. Most of the official certificate is boilerplate, and the only things unique to your wakizashi would be the items #2 and #3 as shown in the nihontocraft site linked to earlier (as Jean said above). What we do do quite often is try to decipher, decode, and otherwise translate signatures on blades. These can be very tricky, even for experts. Other short bits of Japanese would also be fair to pitch to the crowd here. This is my 2 cents. I used to frequent the board regularly many, many years ago, and am just coming back after getting my interest re-kindled, so I may not be the best person to pontificate on the what is acceptable. Steve

Also, Your wife is right - the alignment of #2 is correct. And... you say this is a tanto, but the paper indicates it is a wakizashi. .

Looks like an unusual collection of kanji 臣忠夫倅之 Jin Tadao Segare Kore (with a very stylized "Tada") Which one might translate as "made by the son of Jin Tadao", but that would be a very loose translation because A) there is no "made" in that mei, and -B: "Jin" is not a typical Japanese last name C) Segare, meaning son, is not a kanji I have ever seen on a mei. A bit strange. These together with the highly stylized Tada make me think the signature is a bit suspicious. You have the other side right. 勝永 Katsunaga

I see the same design, different mei here http://www.geishasblade.com/shop/accessories/nagamushi-snake-brass-tsuba/

Did you grandfather just buy this from Yahoo Auction in Japan yesterday? Cause the same sword is showing up there. Edit: Seems like a very obscure smith. The reading might well be Yukitoshi, but that still doesn't turn up much.

Funny, I just noticed that the person who wrote 鳳凰 got the kanji reversed. On the box its written mistakenly as 凰鳳 (ō coming before hō). Could be an honest mistake, as the kanji are indeed similar, but.... the great Kanzan Sato making an error like this on hakogaki?? Seems unlikely.

Hō-ō Ryū 鳳凰竜　

Kanzan 寒山

Found two other examples of this motif 「乃字猿」 http://www.tokka.biz/fittings/TS533.html http://okazakipark.com/museum/db/kikaku/E/e041%20token.htm Still searching for an explanation... Edit: Found a third one http://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/b166820306/ 2nd Edit: Found a fourth one http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/jcbmy121/14051071.html This fourth one hints at the tsuba being from the Yasaka school. Yasaka is the name of a temple in Kyoto that is associated with the three wise monkeys mentioned above (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil). The Japanese name of the temple 八坂庚申堂 (Yasaka Kōshindō) has the zodiac character for "monkey" in it (申). May be getting close to something. Grev I think the accompanying kanji for 乃 would be 禾 (ine) instead of 末, but my guess is that this line of inquiry is a dead end. I don't think the monkey is Hideyoshi. Will keep looking.

No. It is possible that over time he changed his signature to include the Fujiwara name, which is a name that is associated with nobility. Unfortunately you also have to consider the possibility that this is a forgery, and the forger left off the Fujiwara kanji, for whatever reason. It something I can't determine from the pictures, but as I've hinted a couple of times above, I have some suspicions. Sending it for shinsa would be one way to help determine its authenticity. Good luck!

I think definitely this is supposed to be Kunitake. The mekugi-ana (peg hole) is placed such that one might suppose uji (氏) is a possible candidate for the last kanji, but from the other parts of the name it seems obvious that its supposed to be Kunitake. As to whether it is authentic or not, I leave to the experts. It slightly resembles the engraving on the lance/halberd (槍) posted above. But the kanji for Kuni and Shiro in your sword are quite strange, and strangely-rendered kanji are usually a hallmark of fake signatures. Engraving the kanji into the nakago is a very deliberate process. It's not like signing your name, where occasionally you slip or put too much strength into one part or the other. Engraving the kanji is a somewhat time-consuming process where each stroke requires some deliberation. It's almost impossible to have an "oops" moment where you would slip and screw up a kanji in an engraving. Sword-related terminology is a unique thing, and requires some study. Japanese people unfamiliar with swords would not know what to make of any sword jargon. Terms that we casually throw around: nie, nioi, shinogi, nakago, boshi, jihada, hataraki, etc... either have no meaning in everyday Japanese, or have meanings other than what they mean in the sword world. It is a specialized vocabulary. Likewise, signatures from even a hundred years past, like yours 「平安城住國武作」 means nothing to modern Japanese, and I'm not surprised that a Japanese person who is not a sword enthusiast would think it is Chinese. Edit: Actually Uji (氏) can't be a candidate because the long vertical stroke of the final kanji on your sword is piercing the top horizontal line. This isn't the way to write Uji, so we can rule this out as a candidate.