yari mei

[tokashikibob]

Gentlemen,

Checked out this small yari the other day in a antique shop, but having trouble with the last character. Is it Seiji X? I'll post some more pictures if I purchase it.

 

Thank you very much,

Bob

http://www.okinawarelics.com

[Nobody]

I think that the mei reads Seijiro (清次郎).

[tokashikibob]

I think that the mei reads Seijiro (清次郎).

Could it possible it is a Kaneyoshi made piece?

 

"Kaneyoshi was a Yamato Tegai maker who signed Kaneyoshi (包吉). His given name was Seijiro, and having been a believer of the Hokke sect of Buddhism, had a Buddhist name of Zenjo(Zenryo) and belonged to …..temple that was located in the western part of Seki which at some point relocated to the center of Seki later. Among the mino-mono, his has the most beautiful sugata and has a very strong Yamato den influence."

 

According to the Nihonto Meikan there are then at least 9 generations of Kaneyoshi smiths until the Bakumatsu period and the last Kaneyoshi who would become one of the men who sewed the seeds for modern sword-making.