Markus

Another guess Could also be a badly written "Kanemori" 兼盛

Yes, the written characters on the nakago look like 完 and æ — to me. I just cited how Suzuzki Takuo stated them in his "Sakutô no dentô-gihô", trying to bring more info to solve this problem. Also the Tokubetsu-hozon papers of this ken write "å®Œæ —" in the quotation of the mei. @Jacques Seems that Hisamichi was particularly fond of this kind of steel I made a quick search for the spelling, and I think it should read "Shiso". (http://www.city.shiso.lg.jp/) Present-day Shiso City is located what was once Harima Province. Although it would be interesting why Kataoka read it as "Sôkura". In my opinion, it is likely that the characters for this location could be written either with å®ç²Ÿ or å®Œæ — in those days.

My final interpretation/try for this one is: 生éœå®ç²Ÿéµé€ 之 "nama-gitae Shiso-gane tsukuru kore" Whereas "nama-gitae" (lit. "purely forged") refers IMHO to that fact that the forging was done just by the use of Shiso-gane.

There is a slightly other interpretation of the 3rd and 4th kanji mentioned in "Sakutô no dentô-gihô" (作刀ã®ä¼çµ±æŠ€æ³•, page 3-34): å®ç²Ÿ Which read as "Shiso". A brief translation of the text (it refers to a ken by Ômi no Kami Hisamichi) reads: "He made swords just by the use of high-quality steel which came from Shiso district of Harima province. For tantô, ken, or yari, inserting a shingane is not absolutely necessary. This ken was made from so-called ´Shiso-gane´, which is steel of the supremest quality and which he proudly states via the signature."

FYI: This kozuka depicts the fleeing oni Shôshitsuki (æ·ç–¾é¬¼) after he had stolen the ash of the cremated Buddha. Often, the god Idaten (韋駄天) is depicted too, pursuing the oni even into the clouds.

Ah, enlightenment on this case! Thank you for the final correction. å´©å­—ã®é”人 訂正ã«ã‚ã‚ŠãŒã¨ã†ã”ã–ã„ã¾ã—ãŸã€‚

I think the missing xx might read just "sakana-bori" (魚彫), i.e. "is good at carving fish [motifs]" Sorry for poking my nose into everything

Probably "Enohisa / Kôkyû" (江久)

Hi together, The term in brackets reads just "haki-omote" (佩ã表). The one after the date is - as Piers stated - "Hirado-kei" (平戸系, "Hirado lineage") Markus

This is what I see: I think, together with the fact that there is the tag, we can agree that the mei on the sword should correspond to the tag. IMHO, the finishing of the nakago (that means the slightly rounded edges, as well as the jiri) and the "tight" meiburi is very typical for Showa. And of course, I am not 100 % sure.

Although almost illegible, the mei reads just as the tag "Maeda Hiromichi". IMHO a Shôwa-like meiburi and nakago...

Almost. Heisei 19 = 2007 (1989+19-1, the first year counts too)

Hi Rick, The papers state the motif as "tôryû-mon" (ç™»é¾é–€), which means about "the gateway to success". It derives from a legend which says that a carp who is able to ascend (tô, noboru ç™») the rapids of Lóng-mén (é¾é–€, jap. pronunciation "tôryû") - at the middle course of the Yellow River - turns into a dragon.

For those who wanted always to know: the art-historical background of Super Mario Bros. http://www.aoi-art.com/fittings/550-599/05571.html Sorry, I couldn´t restrain...

Hi Piers, My guess would be "Masahiro" (政広), but if the sôsho is not conscientiously written - like here or maybe like always - it could be nearly anything.

Here some additional pics of nanako-tagane which were also used for tôsôgu (to omou). The lower right one creates a "kikkô"-pattern (亀甲文) but cames also under "nanako-tagane".

BTW: This motif is called "mubyô" (六瓢・無病), a Japanese wordplay for "no illness" (mubyô, 無病) which is represented through "six gourds "(also mubyô, 六瓢).

Hi Brian, Because it is on such an unusual area of the blade (not even close to the machi or rather the nakago), is it possible that just some object shaped like this hitted the blade (or the other way round)? Markus

Hi Milt, the text reads as follows: "Brief review: It is said that the tsuba craftsmen engaged to the Atsuta-jingû lived and began to work at the forest of Kanayama. They mostly made small- dimensioned and thick pieces with scarce niku. This excellent tsuba uses a well forged jigane and shows skillfully opened sukashi in the shape of wild geese (karigane) and others."

Hi Simon, The mei on your blade reads in detail: "Noshû Seki-jûnin Kaneuji kinsaku" 濃州関住人兼氏謹作 "Made reverently by Kaneuji, resident of Seki in Mino Province"

Hi Brian, The signature is sôsho for "Shigeyoshi" 重美.

I think, Brian is on the right track. Looks like the tip area of one of the earlier generations Paul Chen "Shinto katana" to me (especially the shape of the kissaki with its monotoneous boshi [not to confuse with original boshi of this kind], as well as the large o-maru). Just some thoughts by me...

Yes, definitely starts with "hekisui" (碧水), then probably "uku" (浮く)

Not to forget that Tadaoki was one of Rikyû´s seven pupils, so also the esthetical sense of tea taste had very great influence in his artistical alignment.

I just meant a later "well-meant" and/or layman attribution, therefore I put it into quotation marks.