Gassan Sadakatsu

[Jim P]

Hi Guys, A friend asked me to post this and get a better translation and ask what are your thoughts on the mei ? Unfortunately I don't have  Fuller's Sword Smiths of Japan and don't know much about  Showa smiths but I know he was a important smith with great skill   Thanks

[cisco-san]

Hi Jim,

 

the mei is Osaka Ju Gassan Sadakatsu Kin saku (大坂住月山貞勝謹作) (Kao).

The other one I don´t no exactly, but I am sure more experienced fellows will help.

 

From Markus book:

SADAKATSU (貞勝), Taishō (大正, 1912-1926), Ōsaka – “Ōsaka-jūnin Gassan Sadakatsu kinchō-dōsaku” (大坂住人月山貞勝謹彫同作, “carvings carefully engraved by Gassan Sadakatsu”), “Ōsaka-jū Gassan Sadakatsu kinsaku” (大坂住月山貞勝謹作), “Naniwa-jū Gassan Sadakatsu” (浪華住月山貞勝), “Tōshō Sadakatsu tsukuru” (刀匠貞勝造, “made by the swordsmith Sadakatsu”), real name Gassan Eitarō (月山英太郎), he was born in Meiji two (明治, 1869) as son of Gassan Sadakazu (貞一) in Ōsaka, he made a lot of daisaku works for his father, in 1917 he forged a tachi for future Emperor Shōwa (昭和天皇) on the occasion of his nomination as heir to the throne, in 1927 he forged a katana for the emperor for his then function as Generalissimo (daigensui, 大元帥), at the same time he made a mamorigatana (守刀) for the emperor too, in 1934 he was awarded by the urban prefecture Ōsaka for his merits as craftsman, he died on December 24th 1943 at the age of 74, he focused on a saka-chōji-midare in combination with an ayasugi-hada and was an excellent horimono artist, often he engraved a poem of Motoori Norinaga (本居宣長, 1730-1801) next to cherry blossoms on his blades, the poem goes: “Shikishima no Yamato-gokoro o hito towaba, asahi ni niou yamazakura-bana” (敷島の大和心を人問はば朝日に匂ふ山桜花), “If one asks about the soul of Japan, I would say that it is like wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun.”, Sadakatsu was also experimenting with the so-called Kamura-hagane (嘉村鋼), an awarded steel with ultrahigh purity that was invented in 1935 by Kamura Heihachi (嘉村平八, 1890-1967), a metallurgist who was both president of the Kyushu Institute of Technology and the Nishinippon Institute of Technology, Sadakatsu signed that in the way “Kamura-hagane o motte seisaku” (以嘉村鋼製作, “made by using Kamura steel”), shinpin no retsu (Akihide)

 

 

Klaus

[Jim P]

Thank you, Klaus this one looks like it has a chance  date ?

[Peter Bleed]

The date looks like 2600th anniversary of the imperial founding -which would be 1940. And it seems to have been made as protective weapon for a a Mr. Matsuyama.

The "penmanship" of the mei looks good. A VERY interesting nakago!

Peter

[Jim P]

Thank you, Peter this was beyond my skill level with kanji

[reeder]

That's always a nice surprise!  Would love to see the whole blade.

[mywei]

The date looks like 2600th anniversary of the imperial founding -which would be 1940. And it seems to have been made as protective weapon for a a Mr. Matsuyama.

The "penmanship" of the mei looks good. A VERY interesting nakago!

Peter

 

Yep reads as 皇紀二千六百年　為松山喜一氏守護

Japanese Imperial Year 2600 (1940) To protect/safeguard Mr. Matsuyama Kiichi

[Jim P]

Hi Matt, Good to hear from you its one that's out of the blue my friend is trying to organize some photos of the blade. Its funny what turns up around Melbourne