markc

thank you Jean, i have ordered a copy of this book and hopefully it will point me in the right direction regards markc

dear members, i was given this wak many years ago which started my interest in ninhonto. i had this sword looked at again many years ago(can't remember who) and the consensus was that the mei is gimei which i agree. my question is what period does anybody think this comes from? after researching blade shapes etc i think this may come from Hizen province approximately tenmei era 1781-1789. the blade specs are: hada- mokume hada temper- suguha yasurime- sujikai fuchi, kashire very old? habaki- rain pattern nakagojiri- iriyama-gata negasa -21 9/16 in sori - 13/16 in mei - tadahiro (gimei) given the extreme sori of this blade does it make it unusual or typical of many periods, i am uncertain. the blade itself has some damage, chips and a slight bend and possibly a reshaped kissaki.the edge itself is extremely sharp (twice as sharp as any other sword i have) any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thank you markc

thanks George, i did fail to mention that it was on ebay, i was considering placing a bid so thats why i asked for assistance before bidding. yes in fairness i will email the seller to pass on Mr Moriata's translation so everyone has a fair go. thanks again George regards markc

thank you very much for the translation Morita san, i am trying my best to translate before posting but this one stumped me. i do appreciate the assistance by yourself and other forumites and for the invaluable information that is to be gained from this forum and its members. i am still an infant in ninhonto but trying to educate myself as much as possible. someday i hope i can make a contribution to this forum(after much education) to assist others as you do. thank again markc

hello forumites, translation assistance on this one would be appreciated, i have tried to match the mei to every reference that i have and have had no luck except for the third and fourth character 'ju kuni'. it is a star stamped nakago with the number 154 on it. thank you for your assistance markc

hello everyone, some assistance needed on this one please, i am a little confused by the second character on this tang. it reads "yoshi masa" or "yoshi sada" i am not too sure. if it is masa i can't find any reference that remotely looks like this character. thank you in advance for your imput. markc

thank you to joe and george for the reply, i have a copy of slough's and thats what threw me a bit until i found this article on http://www.ninhontocraft.com - mino gendaito that says that kanemichi did have a son kojima kanji art name kanetoki. the references used for this article do point to this fact. also as has been discussed on this forum before there are many navy smiths who produced high quality swords but there is little documentation on them as most of the research has been concentrated on the army smiths of the period. as george pointed out there is a marked difference in the style of mei between kanemichi and kanetoki therefore i think it is the latter. i am just waiting for a copy of kanzan shinto oshigata dictionary to be delivered so hopefully this oshigata will be in it. i believe this book has many oshigata of the lesser known smiths. thank you again for your replies regards markc

hello everyone, just for general discussion, i have just acquired this sword, the seller did not translate the mei, to me this was an easy one. it reads "noshu seki ju kanetoki kore saku" there is no other stamps or a date on the nakago. This appears to be the exact same nakago that was photographed in Dr Stein's oshigata translations. the hamon is sanbon-sugi,hada- mokume and boshi is omaru. i believe this to be a traditionally made sword, please correct me if i am wrong either way it is a great sword and is the work of kojima kanji - kanetoki son of kojima kanemichi. he was born in taisho 14-1925 so on the assumption that with this sword having no stamps it could have been made 1940 or before which would have made him 15 years old at the time. If this is the case could it possibly be the work of kanemichi in his early days as he did sign kanetoki as one of his early mei. the reason for posting is to share and ask the forum if anyone has any further information on kanetoki as there is not much documentation on this smith only the facts as stated above and that he was a navy smith rated at 1m yen. Some pictures attached for your viewing. thank you in advance to any forum member who replies

sorry to joe, bruno, john and others for causing this mess, my references to this forum should have been worded differently to the seller. i did not intend to bring this forum into disrepute. i value the opinions of the members of the forum as this to many ,as well as myself ,is the only way of finding out information that is normally not available in any other media regarding Japanese swords. again my apologies for causing members of this forum to be hauled over the coals in this manner. thank you markc

Thank you gentleman for your replies and effort you have put in to reasearching this post. To clear things up this sword was originally sold by the ebayer mentioned earlier in the year but this was purchased from another respected ebayer who gives 100% gurantee that items sold are completly original and as stated in the listing. After consideration of your comments you have confirmed what i suspected that this blade is gimei, with reference to sloughs and comparing the kanji for "kane" and "yoshi" they are almost identical (given a small allowance for the difference in handwriting)to kawai kaneyoshi. i determined this by doing a rubbing of the tang and slightly enlargeing it on a scanner and then superimposing it over the mei for kawai kaneyoshi on page 74 of sloughs. The suspect thing is the quality of the mei and the large gap between kane and yoshi and also the lack of tang stamps or a date. Having said that the blade is good but as you say it could be showato and completely machine made and oil quenched by a completly different swordsmith who was making blades in a hurry. I will be talking to the seller today. thank you again for your replies and assistance with this one. Goes to show education in the intricacys of Japanese swords and swordsmiths is paramount. Markc

Hi everyone, I could do with some assistance with this one please. I have just aquired a gunto signed "kaneyoshi kore saku" it has chu-suguha temper and forging grain is tight itame-hada. My problem is i have obtained a copy of sloughs (hawley not as yet) and he lists only 4 kaneyoshi in his book and to my limited knowledge there were 6 kaneyoshi operating during the ww2 period. Does anybody have any idea which one this may be or could it just be a good blade with a gimei signature.There is no other stamps anywhere on the nakgo to be seen and there is no evidence that any have been removed. This sword has changed hands a few times this year and originally was sold by a respected ebayer who sells many swords and who has been discussed favourably on this forum in the past. Any assistance or thoughts with this one would be much appreciated thanks markc

thanks i totally agree with all your comments, newbe at this, my fault entirely have learned a valuable lesson from this one thanks markc

thanks john, i did not bother to check with the seller about international post because he did state that he would post to australia in his advertisement and as i said he was concerned about loosing his goods etc after i had paid for them? to me this is very puzzleing markc

hi everyone, i recently posted in the translation section re a star stamp gunto, this sword i purchased on ebay. the seller now informs me that he is concerned about posting to australia and loosing his goods (he advertised that he posts to australia in the listing) his conditions were international bidders check before bidding and no bidders with less than 15 positive feedbacks. i have 7 positive feedbacks from ebay 100%. he has cancelled the transaction and returned my money, mind you i had instantly paid for the item, do i have any rights as far as this is concerned? and can an ebay seller do this? i wish to apologise to those that helped me in the translation section for wasting their time as now i do not appear to have the sword which to me is a great dissappointment thanks markc

thank you for your reply, i would never have got that one right as i was just looking for first and last names in the mei thanks markc

thank you joe for your comments and assistance, i have uploaded the date side of the nakago for you to have a look at thanks markc

thank you jean, markc

sorry uploaded the wrong pics thanks markc

hi just joined this forum i have just purchased this sword which i would describe in near perfect condition, the date inscription i think reads 1944? cant' be sure. i would much appreciate help please in the translation of mei thank you. thanks again mark casey