Homemade Choji Oil and Registration Papers

[Humbleshogun]

This is a two part question and since none are strong enough to stand on their own - I decided to combine them.

 

After reading, studying and attending nihonto seminars for the past 5 years, I finally purchased my first tanto. I've been using a Paul Chen cleaning kit because of its availability and general "better" quality feel to it but after doing a bit of literature reading, I read that one can make their own choji oil. I read that mineral oil can be comibined with clove oil in a ratio of 10 to 1 to produce choji oil. I was able to purchase mineral oil at a local pharmacy but the only clove oil I could find was clove bud oil. It's 100% pure essential oil. I was wondering if this is an acceptable substitute?

 

The second part of my question deals with a translation. I have attached a copy of the registration papers that came with the tanto. My local attempts to translate them have failed and if anyone could provide a top level translation, I would be most greatful.

[Rich S]

A 10 to 1 ratio on the mineral oil to clove oil sounds very

high to me (too much clove oil). I just put about 5 ml (1 teaspoon)

in a pint of mineral oil. All the clove oil does is give a nice

aroma. It really serves no protective purpose that I know of

and too much could make things a bit gummy as the clove oil

eventually dries on the blade.

 

Rich S

[John A Stuart]

Hi Guys, I tried that once. Mixing clove oil with machine oil (light). The two were not miscible and stayed in seperate layers. Coincidentally trying to be traditional I had used pure clove oil on a shinken. It seemed to go purplish coloured but did not stain the blade, although I discontiued its use, just in case. John

[Nobody]

The paper is a registration which was issued by Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education on April 28th of 1971. The features of the blade are described on it.

 

Type: tanto

Blade length: 22.9 cm

Curvature: 0.4 cm

Number of holes of mekugi: 1 (or NA?)

Mei: Meitoku (明徳: era 1390-1394), Wakasa (若狭: province name), Fuyuhiro (冬広: smith name)

 

note: regintration papers do not necessarily mean the authenticity of the mei.

[Rich S]

John -

 

Machine oil and mineral oil aren't the same. React

quite differently.

 

Rich S

[John A Stuart]

Hi Rich, You have me there.I was under the impression that oil for lubrication of machinery was machine oil whether natural oils like rapeseed, synthetic or petroleum derived (mineral oil). I could see the clove oil perhaps mixing with a plant sourced oil. Anyway I just buy it now. John

[Humbleshogun]

Mr. Muriyama, thank you very much for the translation, it will help guide me on my quest to find out more about the tanto. A signed tang is a great start and I look forward to continuing my research. I did have a question relative to proper cleaning: What is the most practical material that one should use for removal of old oil, uchicko powder and the application of new oil. Is rice paper ok for all three as long as it's crumpled first or is sterile gauze the prefered choice?

[Ichi]

Any high quality tissue will work, wp40 lubricant instead of choji oil and benzene instead of uchiko.

 

Here's a clipping from Aoi Arts homepage...

 

1. Generally, Chyoji oil has been used to treat Japanese swords. This is a sticky vegetable oil traditionally used in cleaning swords. It promotes ozidization of the blade that will result in rust in the future. In our opinion, and based on our experience. We not advise you to use chyoji oil. We suggest that you use high-quality machine oil on your sword. This is the same type used when maintaining guns or sewing machines, and it is the only oil that we use with our swords at Aoi Art.

 

 

2. A kind of Japanese paper called nugiu-gami can be used to wipe off the swords, but we find that high quality tissues work just as well. [Make sure if you are using tissues that they are free of any sort of additive (such as scented, aloe vera, vitamin E facial tissues, etc)].

 

 

3. If you appreciate the same sword frequently, it is not always necessary to repeat this entire process. The Japanese sword does not rust easily, so it is not necessary to apply uchi-ko too often. In fact, using the uchiko too frequently could result in slight scratches and over time the texture of the jitetsu will lose its brightness. Please realize that the uchi-ko is made of a fine powdered whetstone known as uchigumori-to. Occasional care and caution when maintaining your sword is good. Excessive cleaning however, will cause damage, so please be careful.

[sencho]

First I have heard about WD40... that would be great... anyone else have experience with it or care to endorse this??

 

Benzene is what I use too, for cleaning old oil and dirt...

 

Cheers

[Humbleshogun]

Registration question. Unless I am mistaken, Fuyuhiro worked in the mid 1400s. How is it possible that the era is Meito (late 1300s)? Is it possible it's refering to the school?

[Nobody]

Registration question. Unless I am mistaken, Fuyuhiro worked in the mid 1400s. How is it possible that the era is Meito (late 1300s)? Is it possible it's refering to the school?

I believe that Meitoku is a name of era.

First, you should look at the mei on the nakago. The mei on the registration is usually identical with the mei on the nakago. But I think the description on the paper is rather strange. There might be omission.

[Humbleshogun]

Mr. Muriyama, here's a picture of the tang. Perhaps it will help in our translation.

[Nobody]

Thanks for the photo. The mei on the nakago is identical with that on the registration paper except “十 (ju)†between 狭 and 冬. But it does not seem to be so important. Although I do not know its exact meaning, it might be intended to be “住 (ju)â€.

 

Generally, 明徳 could be a person’s name “Akinori†or a name of era “Meitoku (1390-1394)â€. In either case, it is strange that the name was chiseled at that position of the mei, and moreover, it looks to have been added later to me. I also suspect the genuineness of the mei because it looks a little crude.

 

Needless to say, I could be totally wrong.

[Ford Hallam]

I would tend to agree with Koichi on this one.

 

The mei does in fact appear to have been engraved, ie; actually cut into the nakago. Genuine mei are chased, this is more of a matter of pushing the metal out of the way of the punch rather than cutting it away. The edges of the kanji strokes are generally slightly raised as a result. Obviously much older swords may have this feature worn down but you may still see the characteristic overlapping, elongated punch marks in the groove.

 

cheers, Ford

[Humbleshogun]

I see what you are saying, the first two kanji do appear significantly different than the rest. It could be possible that they were added later to predate the blade or perhaps the entire mei could be faked. The blade has a horimono that looks quite different from the mei. I've attached a few pictures that may help.

[Stephen]

all impression I get is the mei and the horimono....which kills the blade for me, not very well done...were added later its a shame as the blade looks to have been a nice one. The carving my have been done to cover up ware.

[Humbleshogun]

Although I can't say I like what you are saying - it sounds like the truth. When I first saw the horimono it felt a bit off, I couldn't place my finger on it but it didn't seem as nice as the rest of the blade and appeared to be newer / shinier. My gut instinct pointed me in that direction but my lack of expertise couldn't provide any substantial claims. The mei didn't look ideal either. I remember reading that tantos are rarely signed but this one had the complete package: era, province, school + registration papers. What more could I ask for? My original goal was to use the signatures / registration papers to see if I could pin point information on the maker and perhaps some of its history. I paid $900 on Ebay sustaining the "market cost". Not sure how much it's worth now but I never bought it as an investment. In the past week, I've already learned a ton - something that five years of book reading cannot substitute for...experience. Also proves my previously thought philosophy: It's hard to argue with facts.

[kusunokimasahige]

one thing about WD-40, if yu are spraying it on your sword be sure you wrap the nakago carefully since it will take some of the patina away due to some cleaning chemicals in the oil.......

 

and you wouldnt want to ruin your nakago now would you......

 

KM