Translation Of Tang Needed Please.

[mauser99]

not my photos but, its a sword Im being offered.  tang looks old so I wanted to ask to see if its something special.

[vajo]

Yes it is special. It is invisible

 

Yet is see it.

 

Looks old

[mauser99]

ok, lets wait and see for translation.  I can own this or pass it to someone who wants it if they can come up with a reasonable price.

Im working with a seller.  has four swords the other 3 are wartime mass produced blades.  this was the only one I saw that looked old and different.

[John A Stuart]

Looks like 泰次 Yasutsugu, not sure of second kanji. John

[mauser99]

ok, thanks . Hopefully others will chime in.

[Kronos]

??越國泰次作

 

It doesn't make any sense to me. 3rd kanji could be tetsu 鐵

[Shugyosha]

The first kanji may be 赤 (aki) and then a long shot on 心 (shin, kokoro). But that don't make no sense to me neither. Got nothing sensible for the third kanji  - I think the left hand radical is 車 but still couldn't find anything of use. 

 

I'm backing John on Yasutsugu for smith's name. There were a couple of Showa smiths signing with this yasu 泰 and so it may be one of those. Not a common way of writing this name.

[mauser99]

so do you feel its gibberish or legit ?

[Brian]

Something wrong with it.
Looks recently done too. Not sure...but I would be wary.

[mauser99]

Something wrong with it.

Looks recently done too. Not sure...but I would be wary.

 

really ?  Im sure anything can be faked but, that's the last thing I would think ?  This tang shows what I thought to be real natural age.  I have seen may than looked brand new. 

[Shugyosha]

Hi Wayne,

 

How long do you have to make a decision?

 

Based on the tang my feeling is that age wise it may be a gendaito (can't see a stamp) and I suspect that the mei actually makes sense and that the first part refers to a place name, but I can't work it out at the moment and if someone contradicted me I wouldn't argue over the point.

 

Consequently, what I'm saying is that I wouldn't buy based on the information currently available.

 

Some pictures of the blade itself or a better view of what the other parts of the signature says might clear the issue up, but without this I'd hang on to my money but you may get better views than mine.

 

Best,

John

[mauser99]

I have time.  No need to rush.  Even if I didn't buy it its not the end of the world.   Always interesting to see minds at work..  I do a lot of authenticating of German ww2 items and know not everything is cut and dry. Swords amaze me as to the depth of knowledge needed to translate these things.

 

All your help is greatly appreciated.   I will ask for shots of the blade.

[John A Stuart]

Maybe 赤心報 Sekishin Hou. Reward for sincerity. ?? Maybe. John

[SteveM]

赤心報國 = This is a WW2 or pre-WW2 era patriotic slogan. Sincere devotion to country 

[Shugyosha]

The cavalry arrived. 

[mauser99]

Thanks all.  How common or un-common is this ?   I assume its only marked on one side ?  Im getting more photos. Its in standard type98 mountings. 

[Shugyosha]

Down to "feelings" again rather than actual knowledge but...not usual though not uncommon either if that makes sense. A bit like ancestral blades in military mounts - they crop up fairly often but not every day.

 

If it's geniune then someone has gone to the trouble to have an additional motto carved on the tang as opposed to being happy with what was being churned out as standard by the factories and also whoever carved the motto wasn't so pushed that he had the time. People with time on their hands are more likely to have better swords so it might be a pointer to something better than usual.

 

You might want to ask the mods if this thread can be moved to the military swords section now that you have your translation - I'm assuming its been overlooked by the guys there as they havn't chipped in. 

[mauser99]

I will as soon as I have more photos of the overall sword and fittings.

[SteveM]

I have seen this slogan on yosegaki flags from the war. It doesn't strike me as being weird, although it is the first time for me to see it on a sword. 

I guess the smith is Yoshimi Yasutsugu from Hokkaidō (from Ohmura's site).

 

http://ohmura-study.net/025.html

(search for 泰次 on that page and his name pops up).  

[mauser99]

The blade is heavily rusted.  So, Im not going to move forward with it.  If anyone is interested I can forward his info to you.

[george trotter]

These slogans are rare but do appear from time to time. I have one "Jinchu Hokoku" (Loyalty protects the country) on a gendaito by Yoshisada of Osaka.

 

Regards,

[Bazza]

I've seen HISSHO (HISSHOU???) - means "certain victory"

 

 

BaZZa.