Help With Date On Kagemitsu Wakizashi

[Mark]

I have a shinogizukuri wakizashi. The mei is a bit faint. I can read BiShu Osafune JU Kagemitsu. I am having trouble with the first kanji of the date as there is a hole through it.  I think I read ???toku 2nd year. 

 

If shoshin it should be dated when a shinogizukuri wakizashi could be made. Or it could just be gimei.  If I can figure out the first kanji then maybe I can research further. The top of the kanji can be seen above the hole so I thought maybe someone can read it from that.

 

Any help appreciated. If we figure out the date comments about the sword or validity of the mei are welcome.

 

Thanks

[mdiddy]

Hey Mark,

 

Above the 2nd mekugi-ana on the ura, the first kanji of the nengo looks like 'Gen' (元) to my eye. It also looks to mostly be present above the mekugi-ana. I agree the second kanji looks like 'Toku'. Sounds like right timeframe, but no idea if it is shoshin. Also curious as to what parts of those kanji were obliterated by the 2nd mekugi-ana since they can mostly be seen (to my eye). 

 

Hope that helps and if shoshin maybe we can make a trade? 

 

Matt

[Mark]

Matt

 

so that would be about 1330.  I can see what you noted, I had seen that before. I thought Gentoku but that did not seem reasonable, so I thought maybe the kanji was larger and I was just seeing the top. If it says Gentoku then the hole was there or the kanji written knowing the hole would be there, meaning the original hole. That may be the case, but I had thought it may have been added later and obscured part of the mei.

 

So if it says Gentoku probably gimei.

 

Any other thoughts appreciated

[Kronos]

Shinogi-zukuri Wakizashi  didn't exist before oei, so it'd have to be signed tachi-mei to be a kodachi to even have a shot at being shoshin. I've done a little research on this as I have a wakizashi dated eiwa that I can't for the life of me see why it would be gimei given the small named smith. If the workmanship matches after it's polished I may submit it to shinsa anyway to test the waters as it were.

[Mark]

James

 

I agree.  anyone else have any suggestions for the first kanji?

 

thanks for looking

[SteveM]

徳= A fairly popular kanji for era names. A lot of candidates for the first kanji.

 

天徳
長徳
寛徳
応徳
承徳
元徳
建徳
永徳
至徳
明徳
宝徳
享徳
延徳

 

I think of all these, 元徳 looks like the most plausible candidate (visually). Looks like a fairly typical stylization of 元. As far as the sword shape and other aesthetics go, I leave it to the experts. The one thing I don't like is how the 元 appears above the mekugi-ana, and then the 徳 appears well below the mekugi-ana, as if the mei were engraved after that particular mekugi-ana were opened. It may have been retroactively carved (which sometimes happens, as I think this came up on another recent thread). If it wasn't retroactively carved, it means the original engraver left a very accommodating gap between the 元 and the 徳.