yamato cutting test translation

[John A Stuart]

Hi all, I wonder if I might have a hand with the ura mei and kin mei on this sword. I have left it as a 270 kb gif for maghification.The pic itself has been tweaked so that it may be read more easily. I know the kin mei says cut 4 bodies at do (torso) 'yotsu do saidan' missing something. The ura mei says somebody from Kibi did the test. Interesting stuff. So if the blanks can be filled I would be most grateful. John

[Nobody]

I can identify most characters on the nakago. But I waver in grasping the real meaning of the description. Does it also have a mei on its omote side? If so, what is the omote mei?

And I also want to see a clearer pic of the last four kanji to make sure of my identification.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Moriyama san, Indeed there is an omote mei but it has been cut off at 'Yamato no Kami....' This might help. Thanks, John

[Nobody]

Thanks John, but I could not reach a result.

 

The characters are as follows;

四ッ胴截断 (yotsu do setsudan) ------[notes]截断[/size] (setsudan)=cutting with a blade, 裁断 (saidan)=usually cutting with scissors]

吉備眞金為佩 (Kibi (no) Makane ? ?)

重郷誠之 (Shigesato Masayuki) ------ seems to be a family name and a given name

 

I cannot grasp the exact meaning of the 2nd line. I guess two possibilities related to the shortening of the blade, but I could be totally wrong.

 

(a) to bear iron of Kibi

In this case, Kibi (吉備) is an ancient name of the province which included Bizen, Bichu, Bingo, and Mimasaka. Makane (眞金) is an ancient word and it means iron.

 

(b) to be borne by Kibi (no) Makane

In this case, Kibi is a clan name and Makane is a given name.

[John A Stuart]

Thats great. Thanks. So saidan for scissors? that conjures up a whole bunch of weird mental images. The 'Tailor of Kibi' :lol: I am curious which meaning that makane passage could be. Seems strange for a name though, yes? John

[Nobody]

I am curious which meaning that makane passage could be. Seems strange for a name though, yes? John

That kind of names are not so strange at ancient times at least.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibi_Makibi

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Interesting found John.

[John A Stuart]

Thanks Koichi san. Yes. Carlo the inscriptions intrigued me and the price was good. Even though it is a suriage shinto sword by maybe Yasusada although there seem to be slight variation in the 'kami' kanji. Further investigation warranted. John