bond_fan

Dear Nobody, You are amazing to be able to discover the meaning of the blade translation so quickly! I wonder how you were able to do it and do you know what the chant means? Thanks so much Tim

Hi Forum I was wondering if someone could please help me with the translation of the inscriptions on both sides of the blade and the tang? Thanks! Tim

Steve, Thanks for trying! Interesting enough print though.

Hi Nihonto Forum! I found an even better surimono I was thinking about getting. This one has a cool looking katana and raven on it. I was wondering if someone could please tell what what the surimono says, who the the artist is and what the symbols of the raven and katana might mean? Thanks! Tim California, USA PS. I am sorry about the poor quality of one of the images. http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt41 ... /suri1.jpg

Hey guys, Thanks for all the additional information! I don't know how you guys find out this information, but you are all very good! Hey, supposedly they have a similar artwork with a katana being the main focus. I hope to get an image of that soon. Best regards! Tim

Kenkaku & Steve, Thanks for your further insight! Tim

Steve, Thanks for the assistance! I find sometimes in both Chinese and Japanese it is very tough getting translations on stuff, because the grammatical structure of both languages doesn't follow the same format as English. It sounds like it's pretty tough to know exactly what is meant based upon your thorough search. I really appreciate your help! Any idea what this maybe worth? Thanks! Tim

Hi All! This print is from the early to mid 19th century and I was told it is a Surimono, which was specially produced by poets and artists to be given at New Year's to friends. Here's another fuller photo. If someone can translate the Japanese characters that would be helpful! Thanks! Tim http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt41/bond_fan/print.jpg

Thanks for your help! I'd have to go back to the store and shoot more photos, so maybe this Tues. or Wed. when they are open?

Hi Nihonto Forum! I was interested in buying this beautiful Japanese artwork, but the seller couldn't tell me the name of the artist or what the writing says. I believe it is a poem and was wondering if someone could please tell what what the poem says and who the the artist is? Thanks! Tim California, USA PS. I am sorry about the poor quality of one of the images. http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt41/bond_fan/5579.jpg http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt41/bond_fan/5582.jpg

Hi forum! Thanks for your responses! Sorry the photos were not good enough to make a determination on the tang age. I hope that my friend will be able to send me better ones and I can post those? I wonder if forum members would agree that Japanese sword tangs show less deterioration due to the ability to remove the tsuka and polish and oil the tang or not more than the quality of the steel or say the climate of Japan? I've seen purported photos of Japanese Katana from 16th & 17th century with file marks still visible on the tang and on a Chinese sword the file marks are likely to have been eaten away after 100 years. It is interesting to note my friend said that Tibetan sword tangs didn't show a lot of deterioration for their age from what he thinks is due to the dry climate in that country. Best regards! Tim

Hi Forum, A friend of mine suggested I ask an opinion on how Japanese appraisers determine the age of Japanese swords based upon the age of the tang He explained to me how an estimate of the age of Chinese swords is made based upon the patina of the tang. He said for their age Japanese sword tangs are nearly not as corroded as Chinese sword tangs. This is probably, because it is so much easier to remove the tsuka from the blade and the complete blade and tang can be cleaned and oiled preserving the condition of the tang, while it is hard to remove the grip from Chinese blades, so the tang tends to exhibit greater deterioration with Chinese swords than their Japanese counter-parts. So pictured are four Chinese dao (Saber) tangs. I am curious to see what forum members think the age of these swords are? dao_tangs1 - Are close-ups of the two on the right of the first photo containing four tangs. dao_tangs4 - Are close-ups of the two on the left. I am also curious to know how Japanese appraisers determine the age of Japanese swords? Thanks! Tim

If what Peter said is true I wonder how then the judges make a determination on a sword then? To me this is almost contrary to what would be needed to determine traditional methods or not, but I don't know, because I'm not a judge. Thanks for the new additional post. Getting more confused... Tim

Billman said, If oil quenched this would not be a gendaito sword then and less valuable than if it was done with the tradition clay method then? Thanks! Tim

Do these images show nie or hataraki consistent with traditional construction methods?

Brian said, I tried to see if I can see nie/hataraki but it is very hard. I think I can see a little, but for the most part is not as easily seen as most people's swords I have seen on various website. Maybe if it was polished better? Maybe it's just not that visible on this sword? The hada appears to be either masame or muji, but maybe based upon the photos I took someone can see better? I find it hard to get the close-ups I need with my camera lens and even through a 10x jeweler's lope it is hard to see the hataraki. The hataraki looks more like ko-nie or jie nie, though on the bottom small bits look like chikei. According to the seller he bought this katana by someone who had two swords. The other was authenticated by a Japanese Sword society member to be a very early sword made by a famous maker. The seller bought this sword and I don't believe the parts were mixed up. The sword fits very tightly into the saya, but will go all the way. My picture was taken with a bit of the sword showing, because I didn't want to push the blade all the way in as it is hard to remove. Like many are saying the saya probably got mixed up, because it takes more than the left hand thumb to pull the sword from the saya. I'm just wondering if I bought this and had to sell it later if having a WWII saya with a civilian blade, even if high quality will be a hard sell? Thanks for all your help! Tim

There are no arsenal stamps on the nakago, but there is some handwriting (See image below). The kai-gunto fits the saya, though it is tough to push the last part of the katana into the saya. The seller told me this sword was purchased from the son of a U.S. military officer who got this during WWII and that the son had a katana made by a famous swordsmith that was worth a lot of according to a Japanese sword society member that saw both swords. The son kept the valuable sword and sold this kai-gunto to the seller. Based upon the above I believe that this sword and its parts came directly from Japan this way.

More photos.

More photos.

Hi Forum As promised here are the photos of the katana that I had posted in the Translation Assistance section requesting help with the mei translation (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4110&p=30958). I am told this is a naval katana made during WWII. This katana is unlike the typical WWII swords I have seen, because while the saya appears with military ashi fittings the covering appears to be ray skin and not the material normally seen on WWII saya (KAI-GUNTO - http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/military.htm). The wrap is not the unusual color I have seen for WWII swords either in that it is a dark blue color, while most WWII swords I have seen are an yellowish color. Perhaps this is a naval sword with naval saya, but typical civilian blade? Does anyone know the estimated date of manufacture? There are some Japanese characters that are in black on the tang left of the mei and I was wondering what they mean? (See circled area of IMG_0748a.jpg, 2nd post.) The TSUBA, SEPPA & FUCHI all have the number 251 stamped on them and a Japanese character above the 251 and I was wondering what that meant? I am considering buying it and was wondering if someone could give me an idea what the value is in USD and if it was likely to have been made in the traditonal manner and how one can tell? From what I read about GENDAI SWORDSMITHS AND OTHER SWORDSMITH INDEXES (http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/gendai.htm) the smith, Kato Koichi, would have made swords in the traditional manner. I wish to again thank Darcy Brockbank (http://www.nihonto.ca/) and Koichi Moriyama for their help with the mei translation and for the details on the swordsmith, Kato Koichi, the 23rd generation Kanefusa's who was born in 1900. Ref. http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/kanefusa.htm Noshu Seki ju Ni Ju San Dai Fujiwara Kanefusa saku kore I am not sure if I got the below characteristics correct, so if I made a mistake in my description or terms please let me know. I am just learning about Japanese swords. Thanks! CHARACTERISTICS GENERAL APPEARANCE: Medium width and thickness. MEI: Noshu Seki ju Ni Ju San Dai Fujiwara Kanefusa saku kore (The 23rd generation Fujiwara Kanefusa made this) NAGASA: 26 7/8" TSUKA: 10.75" HABAKI: 31.75 mm FUCHI: 15.875 mm Thickness at the habaki: 6.5 mm Thickness at the KISSAKI: 5 mm KISSAKI: O. Shinogi-Zukuri. BOSHI: Omaru HADA: Masami or Muji HAMON: Gunome, Midare or Gunome-Midare. MUNE: Maru NAKAGO: Funagata NAKAGO-JIRI: Haagari YASURIME: Taka-no-ha PS. I will be posting images separate posts to keep the size down.

Dear Mr. Koichi Moriyama, Thanks for explaining to me the meaning of the Japanese word "Kore"! Other than the Geocities link do you know where on the Internet I may find more information on the 23rd generation Kanefusa bladesmith, Mr. Kato Koichi? Tim

Dear Mr. Koichi Moriyama, Thank you so much for your swift reply and information about the sword mei! I understand all the translation except for the last Japanese character for "kore". What does the word "Kore" mean? Essentially I translate the complete mei to mean that the smith, a 23rd generation descendant of the Kanefusa sword making line, who lived in the city of Seki of Noshu province made the sword. The 23rd descendant being Kato Koichi, based upon the Geocities link you provided me. When I have further pictures of the sword, which I saw in person on Nov. 1, I will try to post them in the Nihonto section of the Nihonto Discussion forum. Thanks again! Tim

Hi Forum! I am posting here for additional translation help for a mei on a purported gendaito WWII Japanese katana. Darcy Brockbank provided the below translation, but suggested I contact the forum for a complete translation of the character she wasn't sure about and for a further clarification of the smith and his history by one of the many gendai collectors. According to Darcy it says: Noshu Seki Ju Niju San dai Fujiwara Kane [?] Saku Where I put the [?] in I'm not sure of the character. The whole thing means: Noshu (province) Seki (city) Ju (lives) Niju San (23rd) dai (generation) Kane-whatever (name) saku (made this). She said it is probably going to be one of Kaneuji, Kanesada, Kanemoto, Kanefusa, or one of the other Mino line smiths. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Tim