Kogatana Signature Help Please

[hddennis]

I apologize in advance for these poor photos but they are all I have till this arrives in the mail. Can anyone recognize any part or all of this signature? Thanks, Howard Dennis

[Bugyotsuji]

Letter by letter one gets to Rome.

[Stephen]

yea bugs on a clear mei, this is not for the beginner ...geesh.

[Bugyotsuji]

Stephen, I jumped in with 犬 or 伏 but then noticed the lack of a dot, so erased that bit, ending up with a lone pithy saying...

[Stephen]

LOL love ya bro

[k morita]

Hi,

 

The mei says 伏見 文殊四郎包X (Fushimi, Monju Shirō KaneX).

[hddennis]

Is this a normal mei?  I can't find anything similar.

 

Howard Dennis

[Stephen]

maybe thank you first?? as the kids say: justsaying

[hddennis]

To be honest, I have NEVER failed to thank people who have helped me out. I didn't in this case for 2 reasons.

First and foremost I didn't feel we were done yet as it wasn't fully translated and I couldn't find anything that matched so was holding off while it was discussed further.

Secondly I just had a run-in on another Asian forum about a netsuke where it was improperly labeled as resin by so called experts who tainted my post because of this improper identification causing no further discussion because I had the nerve to question the false evaluation.  

 

I'm terribly sorry if I've broken some unspoken rules so please accept my apology.

 

Thank you to all who have taken time to help me out in the past, present and future,

Howard Dennis

[hddennis]

Just found knifemakers online with claimed lineage descending from Kikuichi Monju Shirō Kanenaga , would this have any bearing on this mei?

 

Howard Dennis

[Toryu2020]

Howard

Morita san has done you a favor

Since we cant read the last character he placed an X there. Your smith is Kane-somebody. Use the other info you do have and I think youll soon have your answer...

-t

[hddennis]

Did I do something to offend everyone here? First I'm told I didn't express gratitude fast enough and then I guess I need to be told a favor has been done for me???

 

I thought that was what this section is for??

 

I ask these questions because I can't read kanji and with no library I have no way to research these things so I come here for help.

 

Howard Dennis

[SteveM]

I don't think anybody is offended. They are just trying to lead you to other avenues of inquiry, rather than fill in all the blanks for you. There is a surprising amount of info on Japanese sword smiths in English on the internet. Usually google will point you to a page from Markus Sesko's Meikan, but I also find that google will direct me back here to another thread on NMB as well. This name is one of those cases.    

 

The last character on your kogatana is illegible, but in googling for other similar names, I find two strong possibilities:  永 (naga) or 守 (mori). When I google bit more, I can find a near match to this latter signature here on this very site, and submitted a few years ago by none other than Morita-san himself. 

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6302-kozuka-translation-please/

 

Bear in mind that kogatana are notoriously bad for gimei, as is mentioned in the above link. The market knows this as well, and so not a lot of people are excited by kogatana. Even big names tend to get met with a shrug.  

[Toryu2020]

sorry im of the school that enjoys the researching as much as the knowing.

 

Howard the default here is to help folks find their own answers, and we're a bit thick at times, so it helps if you state outright that you want the translation and not a lesson in code breaking. No one is offended. Keep in mind email does not show our smiling faces.

 

Fushimi Monjushiro Kanemori is a Yamato smith, there are several generations. If authentic this is most likely by one of the late generations, late Edo. Im sure there is info on this smith online...

-t

[hddennis]

Thanks everyone, I'll post better pictures when I receive this.

 

New question: It's just been mentioned above to search this forum. To be perfectly honest this is something I've never done. Mainly because I'm used to other forums having their content showing up in a Google search. Is this forum's content NOT included in a Google search?

 

Howard Dennis

[Brian]

The way the forum is indexed, a forum search wiil be FAR more efficient than Google. And of course will only search sword stuff and not a million unrelated topics.

As mentioned, no-one was criticizing you. A gentle nudge in the right direction often leads to us finding the answers ourselves, which is far more rewarding. Don't take things too literally, they are always in a friendly spirit of assistance.

As for the thanks...there are certain people on this forum that gain nothing by being here, they only contribute and without them we would be severely at a disadvantage. There are many that help...sometimes they hang out because they learn a bit at the same time. But a few that really go out of their way to help us out. And for that, there is never enough thanks that can be shown.