mdiddy

To start, I want to state that I may try and sell this katana. I'm not a regular trader, but I do sell swords from time to time. The katana in question confuses me. I read the mei as "Mino (no) Kuni ju Yasu Kuni Saku" (see attachment) which would suggest that Yasukuni from Mino made the blade. Easy enough, but here are additional facts I'm trying to reconcile: 1. When purchased, the blade was in Shin Gunto mountings and the rusting on the tang seemed in order with Showa period (i.e. not heavy, no very dark iron, etc). 2. I do not know of any other mei's from Showa period starting "Yasu" save those of the Yasukuni shrine where one smith was known to sign "Yasukuni". 3. Comparing to a "Yasukuni" mei from the site http://www.jp-sword.com/files/yasukuni/yasukunito.html (page devoted to NTK) yields differently shaped kanji and location on the tang, however, the yasurimei near the mune-machi look identical (may not be evident in my pics). 4. The hamon on the katana looks suguha with ashi to me. 5. Yasukuni shrine is ~150mi from Gifu (modern-day Mino) All of this adds (or rather doesn't add) up in my mind to probable gimei. But gimei of WWII smithing during the same time period the smithing was going on? Were the smiths at Yasukuni already recognized for their talent during the time period? I don't get it. Is there an older Yasukuni from maybe Shinshinto? Have I incorrectly translated the kanji? Please help. All insight is greatly appreciated.

I am struggling with the 2nd character on this mei. The sword is in Gunto mounts, probably seki, but there are no stamps or other marks on the tang besides these three kanji. I've got the 1st and 3rd as 'Kane' and 'Saku' respectively, but can't seem to pinpoint the 3rd. I can't seem to find a similar example either from Slough or Stein's Oshigata page either. Maybe 'Tane' or 'Shige'? I dunno. Attached pics of the blade/mounts too. Thanks for all help!

One more pic of kissaki

Here are pictures of a mei I believe is signed as 'Norimitsu' but that I suspect as gimei (or at least not 'Norimitsu' from the Muromachi period). There are no add'l kanji and the mei does not align with other 'Norimitsu' signatures from the Muromachi period. Are there any 'Norimitsu's occurring after Muromachi? The blade is a wakizashi w/ active gunome hamon and was a vet bring-back. I suspect it may be Shinto period but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on how to best identify who/where this came from? Thanks for all help!

Thanks very much for your assistance! Time to get out the call-list and start saving I suppose...

Thanks for the help! I too think this could be the Kambun era Yoshimasa. I guess the only way to fully authenticate is via shinsa?

Here are the rest of the pics...

Hello, I am just discovering this site and would be very grateful with some help interpreting the attached pics of a tang from a recent katana I purchased. It is in pretty rough condition - rust on the blade and tang - but I think the mei is discernible. I come up with "Chikuzen ju Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshimasa". I'm familiar that he would've been a smith in the Shinto era but I'm not sure if this blade is real or gimei, if this is 1st/2nd/3rd gen, and if I'm at all interpreting the kanji correctly. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated! I've attached pics of the tang as well as the best pics I have currently of the blade, tsuka, tsuba, kissaki/boshi. I do not have a good shot of the hamon, but have attached the best I have come up with. It's definitely there, just hard to photograph. Also, here are some links to mei that I was comparing against. The 2nd one seems pretty close. http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/0610_2015syousai.htm http://sinogi.dee.cc/katarogu/2005/yosi ... 25921.html