Ken-Hawaii Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 I received an e-mail via my Web-site this afternoon with nothing more than this photo of a nakago: The translation is well beyond my abilities, but I'm equally interested in the kao. Is there a Web-site or some other resource that provides a comprehensive list of kao? I have all of the Honami kao, but nothing else. Thanks! Ken Quote
kunitaro Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 It is Kinzogan Tameshi(giri) mei 寛文四年十月一？日山野加右衛門永久 (花押) 貳ツ胴裁断 Kanbun 4-nen 10-gatsu 1?nichi Yamano Kauemon Nagashisa (kao) Futatsu-do sai(setsu)dan (2 bodies cut off) The mei looks good. Yamano Kuemon Nagahisa was an official sword tester and executioner of Tokugawa bakufu in early Edo period. He build a temple "Nagahisa-ji" in Edo(Tokyo) after he executed more than 6000 men. There are many of his Kinzogan mei on Nagasone Kotetsu, Izumi no kami Kaneshige, Kamiosa no kami Kaneshige, Hojoji Masahiro, etc. He was closed friend of Nagasone Kotetsu, advicing sword making to Yamato no kami Yasusada. He retired Kabun 6, passed kanbun 7. After that, his son Yamano Kanjuto took over the position. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 20, 2015 Author Report Posted April 20, 2015 Many thanks, Kunitaro! Was Nagahisa a tosho as well as tameshi? Or is the tosho mei on the opposite side of the nakago? Ken Quote
kunitaro Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 No, he is not sword smith, but, he was very famous master cutter, so, he was giving advice to smiths. It could be Tosho mei on the other side (then Tachi-mei), or it could be (osuriage) Mumei sword (see nakago-jiri).However, the Kinzogan-mei looks Shoshin, so, the blade must be good ! If it is osuriage-mumei sword, then it is interesting koto blade ! Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 20, 2015 Author Report Posted April 20, 2015 Thanks again, Kunitaro. I sent an e-mail back to the person who sent me the photo, & hope that he gets back to me, as now I'm really interested in what he wants to do with that blade! About half of the messages I receive like that through my jssh.com Web-site are from people who want to sell, but this is only the second blade I've been interested in. I'll keep you posted. Ken Quote
Nobody Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 .... 貳ツ胴裁断 .......................... A little correction... 裁断 ---> 截断 (setsudan/saidan) 1 Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 20, 2015 Author Report Posted April 20, 2015 Thank you, Moriyama-san. Oh, this is getting interesting! the tosho may be Izumi no kami Kaneshige, looking at the third set of photos on Robert Cole's site: http://www.sho-shin.com/edo-kaneshige.html. Ken Quote
Stephen Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 Now this is a thread you can get your teeth into.... Quote
Ed Posted April 20, 2015 Report Posted April 20, 2015 Ken, Reading this post and looking at the photos you linked to on Shoshin, I realized that was once my sword in the 3rd set of photos. Funny how they go around, I bought that sword in Japan, sold it back to a dealer in Japan and now see it on Robert's site. Though he may have only used the photos for reference. Just curious as to how you have concluded the sword you posted "may be Kaneshige" (perhaps I missed something) ? Nagahisa and the Yamano family tested many, many swords by many different smith's. Note in Kunitaro's post Nagahisa executed some 6000 men. I can not see anything in your photo to lead to that conclusion. Perhaps you can obtain a photo of the other side of the nakago from the owner. If you are lucky enough for it to be signed that would help tremendously. Otherwise from that one photo, not much can be determined aside from the obvious test information. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Posted April 21, 2015 Well, unfortunately, no response from the guy who sent the photo even after my two e-mails, so it may remain a mystery. Do any of you happen to know a Benjamin Francis?Ken Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Posted April 24, 2015 I am pleased to say that I did get a response from the sender, who happens to live in Myanmar, & recently bought this tachi & a tanto from a villager who had them since World War II, from a soldier whom the villager killed. Once again, I would appreciate any translations, as well as other information pertaining to the smith. Stephen, I hope you're happier now that the game is back afoot! Aloha, Ken Quote
k morita Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 Hi, Ōsawa Kanehisa is a Showa period smith. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Posted April 24, 2015 Morita-san, if Kunitaro's translation is correct, then how can a blade by a Showa tosho have an inscription by a Kanbun era tameshi? Something's wrong somewhere! Ken Quote
k morita Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 You're confused. I just translated the sayagaki. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Posted April 24, 2015 Of course, I'm confused! It's my normal state of mind! That being said, please explain how the sayagaki can refer to a Showa tosho; does the tachi mei say the same thing? Ken Quote
Guido Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 ...; does the tachi mei say the same thing? No, it says HIZEN JŪ HARIMA DAIJŌ FUJIWARA TADAKUNI. Not a tachi, Hizen smiths signed on the "wrong" side of the nakago. 1 Quote
k morita Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 Ken, Isn't the sayagaki for a Tanto blade? Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Posted April 24, 2015 Ah, thank you, Guido! So, a Hizen katana with an inscription that the blade was used to cut two bodies, & a sayagaki that still confuses me. I can't tell if the sayagaki is for the tanto, Morita-san, but the photos of the tanto make it look very short: Does it look like the sayagaki matches the tanto to anyone?Ken Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 The shirasaya looks to be tanto size. The pics aren't great, but the Harmon does look like Seki is a real possibility. Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted April 24, 2015 Report Posted April 24, 2015 Additionally, while I'll not say that horimono is fabulous, it is certainly better than most (all that I've seen) applied to a Seki blade - if this is in fact Seki. Quote
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