Translation Assistance - Child's Katana (I Think)

[TroyCHunt]

Here is a curiosity, which I hope may prove to be more entertaining to you all than the kai gunto that I posted earlier: A lightweight little blade in shirasaya that I bought back in about 1994 for $60. The seller was a woman who inherited it from her father, a former Marine tech sergeant, who picked it up somehow as he fought his way through the battle for Saipan as part of a tank crew (this cat also left a Nambu Model 14 in leather clamshell holster which I also bought, and a foot locker full of .50 caliber machine gun belts, about 6 live grenades, and a live mortar round, which flat freaked the woman out, with the result that unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to buy them). It is pretty clearly hand forged, but so delicate that it almost seems meant for a child. I didn't very highly regard this blade for many years, since it is too delicate for practical use, but I have begun to wonder if I may have misjudged it. As before, any assistance that you all could provide would be vastly appreciated. I am attaching a very poor photo of the entire blade, and somewhat better photos of both sides of the nakago.

 

 

 

 

Many thanks again.

 

Troy

 

[Ask]

top to bottom looks like,

iga no kami fujiwara kin or kane michi    伊賀守  藤原 金道

the other side looks like

nihon kaji ? sou shyou or syu sou    日本鍛冶惣匠

[SteveM]

Probably not a child's katana per se - that is to say, not one that you would give to the kid so he can run around the house with it, terrorizing the cat. But it might be something made for a wealthy family for "Boy's Day" (端午の節句). There is a similar katana that shows up every year at one of the dealer's stands at the Daitoken Ichi here in Japan. A very small katana (actually wakizashi size, but it is meant to be a miniature katana) in a kairagi scabbard.

 

I've looked at it a couple of times, and I think the dealer explained to me that it was a festival sword as above. Always tempted because the scabbard is lovely, and it is reasonably cheap, but since I've seen it there year after year, I can only conclude that its not a popular item.

 

As Ask says above the other side says Nihon Kaji Sōshyō　日本鍛冶宗匠

[Ask]

Thanks for fixing that second last kanji Steve, i never noticed till now.

[TroyCHunt]

As before, many thanks for the assistance. This is one reason why I was thinking of it as a child's katana: http://ryujinswords.com/sukesada3.htm. I am not completely uninformed about traditional Japanese culture, but I don't know enough about this specific case to know if this man's assertion about swords on Boy's Day is correct or not.

[kusunokimasahige]

It might even be for a Bunraku doll. They sometimes have the size of small kids.

[Guido]

Although these sort of swords are often referred to as Boy's Day swords, this is a misnomer. This is a katana for a child; samurai boys were givn swords to own and carry. The tradition of children wearing swords for the Boy's Day festival didn't start until the Meiji period.

 

This is also not entirely correct. Tango no sekku was celebrated on May 5'th since the Nara period; it became children's day in 1948. Until the end of the Edo period, it was celebrated only by samurai families, and mostly helmets were displayed (and carp streamers), but not swords.

 

At the age of between 10 and 16, usually at 13, boys participated in gempuku, the coming-of-age ceremony. They were presented with their first adult clothes, an adult name, and their hairstyles were changed to the adult style; at that time they also received their sword(s) (and maybe armor).

 

Gempuku at an early age was in most cases celebrated only in higher ranking families to make succession to a title easier etc., and it also meant a higher financial burden, because the (expensive) adult clothing and swords had to be downscaled; when the boy grew, appropriately sized items had to be substituted for the smaller ones.

 

If we encounter a downsized sword, we therefore can assume that it was made for a young boy from an important family; that it was made for the boy's day is indeed highly unlikely.

 

[TroyCHunt]

More fascinating information. The above reply about gempuku is the most detailed information I have yet encountered concerning the potential cultural context for this unusual sword.

 

In case anyone is curious, I have been pursuing a second line of inquiry with a friend in the San Francisco area who has some knowledgeable contacts in the NBTHK America. This was my friend's initial response:

 

"This is a very nice blade. The mei reads: "Iga (no) Kami Fujiwara Kinmichi". I believe this is likely from the 10th generation, which would place it at right about 1850. I say this because of the shape and condition of the nakago as well as the suguha hamon which was typical of 10th generation. Not to mention, 10th generation was the only Kinmichi to sign with the kiku mon after the 3rd generation, so that makes it rather easy to identify."

 

And:

 

"The inscription on the ura reads: "Nippon Kaji Sosho" which means "Master Swordsmith of Japan". Congratulations, if it's genuine, you may have stumbled on something special."

 

And this was supplied by his friend in the NBTHK:

 

"The Kinmichi line of wordsmiths was well known for making what we would call miniature swords. This was especially true of the later generations of this line of smiths (1700’s and 1800’s). These small swords were used as Boy’s Day gifts and also as traveling souvenirs for people to purchase and bring home. Your friend’s sword is probably genuine. As to whether or not it would pass shinsa, I am not sure. I have never tried to shinsa one of these swords."

 

I make no representation concerning the accuracy of their speculation, of course, but both of these people know vastly more about Japanese swords than I do. I have been trying to get better photos of this sword to document that hamon and hada. If anyone is interested, I'll try to post them here.

 

Troy

[Ask]

Troy I just typed into google iga no kami fujiwara kinmichi and got numerous sites with varying info on wakizashi and other tyoes of short swords, have a read.

Theres a few that look exactly like yours.