Translation of Mei on suriage blade?

[DaveM4P99]

Got another blade for everyone...seems to be O-suriage...and possibly very old? Here is the email from the owner:

 

As you can see, I haven't attempted to clean the blade etc at all. The roundish disk that the blade goes thru appears to be the same on both sides, except one of the inlays has come out on the one side. I wonder what the meaning of the 5 or 6 inlays was? It was found in the dirt and debris in Okinawa in 1945 after the Marines finished mopping up. Their was no sheath or handle left on it, so it could have been in a fire and/or in the dirt for a while before the US the Marines liberated it. My father fought with the Marines on several of the Solomon Islands and finished up on Okinawa when the War ended. He brought back a few things but not his M1 Carbine or the couple of Arisaka rifles that he had picked up, because there wasn't room on the plane going stateside etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Any thoughts?

[sanjuro]

The banana looks yummy!!!!!

 

It appears that there is a sizeable bit missing on the tip of the kissaki. This may be a big problem in that the ha is lost (if you're thinking of bringing this back to life).

[DaveM4P99]

Nah I think this blade is beyond repair...with the condition and the kissaka issues...

 

But I would like to figure out if it was once a nice blade...

[nagamaki - Franco]

seems to be O-suriage

 

If it were O suriage little or none of the original nakago would remain.

http://nihontoclub.com/node/123

[DaveM4P99]

If it were O suriage little or none of the original nakago would remain.

http://nihontoclub.com/node/123

 

Ah ok...yes...so just "suriage" is the correct term?

 

Any ideas on translation?

[mdiddy]

The few kanji in the pictures look to be 'Osafune Suke__'. I think the truncated kanji at the end of the tang might be 'Yoshi'. You may find the characters for 'Bishu' above what is in the pictures.

[Jean]

The last kanji cut at the level of the nakago jiri, could have been "mitsu".

[Brian]

Fact is, it wasn't a WW2 blade, it was an earlier one.

If in a fire, it's destroyed. same if enough is missing from the kissaki. But if just rusted...I have seen worse come back to life.

Pays to send to a togishi and ask for an opinion.

 

Brian

[george trotter]

Yes I agree...probably (Bishu) Osafune Suke(mitsu?).

Probably from sengoku jidai roughly in c.1500-1600 sort of period.

I like the tsuba.

Regards,

[Jean]

Cost of restoration for a suriage poor nakago sengoku sword far exceed the blade real value.

[DaveM4P99]

Yes I agree...probably (Bishu) Osafune Suke(mitsu?).

Probably from sengoku jidai roughly in c.1500-1600 sort of period.

I like the tsuba.

Regards,

 

Wow. Very cool. I will inform the owner...maybe he will want it restored...now that he knows it is 400-500 years old!

 

We will see what a polisher says maybe.

 

Thanks all.