outlier48

Here are new pics of the inscription on the nakago. The first pic is of the entire inscription. THe next three are the top, middle and lower parts of the inscription. One translation (from my wife) is, in part, that the sword was made in the 11th month of the 10th year of Kansei. It was very hard for her to read, however, and I am wondering if this blade may have been made in the Kan-ei era. Thanks in advance for your assistance. Charlie If you are going to climb a mountain, begin at the top!

Thanks to all for the input. Getting a good clear pic of the inscription has been a real challange. Hopefully I will succeed this weekend. The nakgao is obviously not clean so the characters tend to disappear or become blurry. Even seeing them clearly requires moving a light source around to examine each character carefully. Any suggestions on how to best photograph this would be appreciated. Also, I could have the characters transcribed and post that copy if anyone thinks this would be of value in identifications. Thanks in advance! Charlie

I recently inhereted a wakizashi and would appreciate any assistance I can get identifying swordsmith, date, etc. and any help with translation. I only have photos of the nakago, bonji and horimono. I will add photos of the other key elements of this sword as I take them. Thanks in advance for any assistance.