Help With Kozuka/kogatana

[Peter Bleed]

Dear Friends,

Please allow me to beg the help and insights of the Board.

This week I acquired a kodzuka - kind of 'out of the woodwork" but not really at the 'undiscovered treasure' level. It is in FAIR condition but it still begs for careful cleaning.

Here is the surface and the ura with a signature. .

It has nice fine nanako and seems well crafted. I make the signature to be MITSUKATSU with kao. I checked KINKO MEIKAN but I find no listing of a kinko by that name. Am I reading the signature wrong? Or do I need more books?

And then there is a rather interesting kogatana.

I have not had a lot of experience with fancy signed kogatana, but this one seems pretty nice.I am not sure how to read the mei

It has what looks like a panel of very finely cut kanji in the middle. These seem to say

right "Oite Noshu something something,"

left "something something Minamoto KANEYOSHI"

Then there are larger kanji above and below that section

Top might say something like

KANEYUKI, or at least KANEsomething

and then bottom might say something like

YAMABAYASHI something

The small characters look like a swordsmith's name. And there are a couple of Shinto Mino guys who signed that ways.

The larger characters look like names, but not swordsmith type names.

Can anyone offer suggestions.

Thank you!

Peter

[Ford Hallam]

Peter

 

the column of characters (hard to properly make out in the photo) on the right appear to suggest this is a Goto school work. Questions of authenticity aside. Mitsukatsu isn't ringing any bells here either.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello,

 

agree with Ford's post, it's certainly trying to be Goto .....

 

 

FWIW, http://www.aoijapan.com/kozukamumei-goto-mitsukatsu-kao

[Peter Bleed]

Thank you Ford and Franco!

I suspected this fitting had a Goto look, but I have developed neither the experience nor the library that could support suspicion. With you guidance I have done some digging, learned a bit, and enjoyed sword collecting! I deeply appreciate your help. The NMB certainly worked on this one.

Peter

[John A Stuart]

Goto Mitsukatsu is Kaijo. The mei is close. John

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello,

 

John, do you have any additional examples to post?

Ty.

[John A Stuart]

Aoi art, http://www.aoijapan.com/kozukamumei-goto-mitsukatsu-kao  John

[SteveM]

The kogatana says

 

金華山麓　於濃州長良川邉藤原兼長

 

Kinkasanroku (in large letters, "Kinka" on the top, "sanroku" on the bottom)

Oite Nōshū Nagaragawa / hotori Fujiwara Kanenaga 

[Peter Bleed]

Wow, look at this. We've been here before!

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4404-kozuka-inscription/

P

[Brian]

Wow, look at this. We've been here before!

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4404-kozuka-inscription/

P

And THAT'S why Facebook is disposable info :rotfl:

Try researching something going back more than a day there.

Are we going to have to come up with a "have you searched the forum yet" smiley? 

[Peter Bleed]

Thank you all, especially Steve in Tokyo, for these additional discoveries.

I've learn a lot in this adventure. My naive assumption was that a rather nice kozuka on what seemed like a nicely tempered kogatana with a a "naga mei" could be a collectible item. Now, tho, I am seeing this as a tricked out souvenir a mid-Edo period traveler got to remember a  weekend to an Onsen along the Tokkaido. Kampai!  It is like a commemorative letter opener from Yellowstone Park with a Tiffany's handle.

Peter