Ray Singer

https://swordsofjapan.com/product.../supplies/flashcards/ For anyone who might be interested in learning how to read Japanese sword inscriptions, and have not seen my earlier posts, I created several educational sets in the form of flashcards, with the intention of teaching both how to read kanji, and also to provide study material related to the Japanese sword: schools, time periods, smith's mei, terminology, etc. Set 1: Commonly seen kanji for swordsmith mei, with an average of 4 examples using that kanji Set 2: Provinces, with information on each and including some representative swordsmiths and schools Set 3: Time periods from late Heian to present, with material on each era Each set is US25 + shipping & PP. If you would like to order, please message or email me directly with your name, shipping address, email address and which set you would like. Examples of each type are attached here.

Gwyn, the upper portion appears to read 西本家 - Nishimoto-ke (Nishimoto family). The kamon (family crest) appears to be a variation of those you can see below. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=073be19fff1ea87f&sxsrf=AHTn8zqyiEzVROnwoDpRvKNgJa3RGgprDg:1741605670112&q=丸に蔦&udm=2&fbs=ABzOT_CWdhQLP1FcmU5B0fn3xuWpA-dk4wpBWOGsoR7DG5zJBjLjqIC1CYKD9D-DQAQS3Z598VAVBnbpHrmLO7c8q4i29MHIoj62rC0KLNSn9Sz5z21EEXLYPrirt-CNWhNAN6Edz2gDLUupOZz08EpaPxxYRoWHLtXI9IAmZ-HAT8GoGf6iWFwBCAC1EhtX31sa2kkgqyuh8unt2H9L9lEi7cKOBZnNBg&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiB5bjasv-LAxWBTTABHTK3EOsQtKgLegQIExAB&biw=1920&bih=911&dpr=1

Noshu Seki ju Kanetaka kore saku Appears to be a WWII era showato arsenal blade.

I believe 治喜 could be read Haruaki.

It appears there may have been some significant flaw there such as a large fukure or kitae-ware. By and large, the majority of these bone mountings contained either poorly made blades that were metal tsunagi (placeholders to hold the mounts together) or lower quality antique blades that had condition issues. From that latest close up photo I suspect this is one of the latter, a tired / flawed blade, but still an older one.

Can you add the photos into this post rather than the external link?

The handle (tsuka) is from the type of carved bone mounting produced during the Meiji period. The blade is authentic, Edo period or earlier, osuriage mumei (greatly shortened and unsigned). The seppa are also clearly authentic antique elements. Do not do anything to clean the nakago trying to expose a mei. Doing so will destroy any value the blade itself has. It seems fairly clear that the blade has been shortened and any mei that might have been there was lost.

Ignoring the mei, there are yasurimei present and a nakago surface consistent with Shinto. Lighting is poor but it can be seen here. I would likewise want to see better photos of the blade itself.

This may be an authentic antique Japanese sword with the very crudely inscribed gimei added recently. The nakago, its shape color and texture, appear legitimate. Perhaps something like Kaga shinto.

Mei: Seki Kanemitsu Date: a day in the 8th month of Tensho 2 Unfortunately this inscription does not appear to authentic.

Soshu ju Tsunahiro. Likely, late Muromachi period. Sue-Soshu school. https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=相州住綱廣

Noshu Seki ju Kojima Katsumasa saku https://www.google.c...sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Noshu ju Sukenobu Dated April 1942 https://www.google.c...rome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

The mei is Masatsune, but the mei looks considerably more recent than the nakago itself. The mei is on the katana side (katana-mei) but it looks like there was previously a mei on the tachi side that was removed.

I will add that Osafune Kanemitsu is a bizarre attribution for a sword with this deki, and the seller is doubling down on the attribution being correct. I talk a lot about the pitfalls of buying off the Japanese auctions and this is a great example to bookmark. "This is a miraculous sword made by Kanemitsu that is not inferior to the national treasure "Okanohira", which is the treasure of the Ikeda family, and has all the three features of workmanship, condition, and history, so please do not miss this opportunity and let someone who will cherish it keep it as a family heirloom for the rest of their life."

My first call would have been an ubu Shinshinto blade, something like Shinshinto Mito (such as Norikatsu) doctored to look like something much earlier.

Lewis, my impression is that the corrosion is more recent. The pitted and pockmarked appearance of the nakago has, to my eyes, more of the look of something where the age was chemically accelerated. It does not look like a naturally aged koto nakago.

It is also possible that the gaku-mei was false (it had a gimei inscription) and the mei was removed while the plate was left inlaid into the nakago.

Kanemune, dated 1943.

As you see more and more mei, your eyes will become better trained to 'see through' all the kanji variations and recognize a character when it is on front of you. The best thing you can do is practice translating as many inscriptions as you can, it is a steep entry point in the beginning but I promise that this process gets much faster and easier over time. And my apologies if this sounds self-serving, but I do have a series of flashcards that I developed to help with that initial entry point. If this sounds like something that might be of interest, please see below. https://swordsofjapa...supplies/flashcards/ Best regards, Ray

https://www.Japanese...dindex.com/emura.htm

The zokumei appears to be 七兵衛 (Shichibeijo).

That is unclear from just these photos. Show a clear vertical photo of the nakago down to the end (not cut off at the bottom). If I were to give you a gut feeling, the blade is osuriage and the mei we are seeing may be questionable.

The other side is: Bishu Osafune junin

Hironaga