Sayagaki Translation

[mareo1912]

Hey there,

 

recently got this nihonto with few informations about it. There's a lot to read on it, so I feel somehow helpless. There's a lot to translate, especially for one person, so every little bit would be very helpful.

 

Thank you very much guys!

[ROKUJURO]

Marco,

what are the informations you have? 

[mareo1912]

So from the tang it should be Bizen Osafune, backside saying August, but last letter I do not know...

For the sayagaki I cannot help myself at all.

 

Thats all I know atm.

[mywei]

I'll take a cursory first pass at the sayagaki

 

1st pic - 脇指　銘　備前長船住勝光　八月日

 

2nd pic - 備前勝光　初代応永頃、七代文亀頃 ＿有

- 又四代の弟時代明応及永禄頃

　俗名 「太郎兵衛尉勝光」と刻す（別？）く

　勝光の一刀＿有＿作

　時代永禄頃の勝光作刀＿＿珍重

[EdWolf]

As a novice collector, I want to give it a try. Tang signature: bishu osafune katsumitsu.

[ROKUJURO]

  On 5/30/2017 at 5:32 AM, mareo1912 said:

........So from the tang it should be Bizen Osafune, backside saying August, but last letter I do not know....

 

Yes,

 

close. It is BISHU OSAFUNE no JU KATSUMITSU, and the 'date' is 'a day in August'.... 

 

Compare http://www.sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p1546.html

[Jean]

Put it to shinsa, there are a few things to check. I have never seen such nengo. I don't like the mei and the way the kanji "ju" is put after Osafune... But I am often wrong

[mareo1912]

Thank you all, but to the shinsa point, Shinsa would bemore expensive than what I payed for the blade, not sure if this is worth...

 

Any idea where to search for a whole translation of the sayagaki?

[EdWolf]

Maybe it's not the best translation but you can use Bing Translate option:

 

Thanks to the kanji provided by Matt the translation of the second picture:

 

Bizen Katsumitsu First œi, governors Bunkai

-also generations's brother age 1498 and Eiroku

Common "Taro Yasufumi Katsumitsu" and Susu (another? )

Katsumitsu's Sword _ the work

Katsumitsu of the Age Eiroku

[SteveM]

Matt has provided a very good transcription of the sayagaki; which basically says the writer thinks this sword can be attributed to a smith named Katsumitsu working in the Eiroku era (1558-1570). The name of the person who wrote the sayagaki is Hon'ami, and if you search the internet a while you can find out more about the Hon'ami family. This particular sayagaki was written in 1978, which means the writer should logically be Hon'ami Kōhaku, but the signature does not look right to me.

 

From the way it is written, it looks like the writer is hinting very strongly that this sword was made by 4th generation Katsumitsu, first name of Tarōbei, active in the Eiroku era. 

https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KAT107

It also lists some background information about the Katsumitsu line, and it lists the sword length. 

[Jean]

Unless Markus Sesko's book "swordsmiths A to Z" is uncomplete, 4th generation (the most valuable) never signed this way (nor any other btw as I strongly suggested). Gimei.

[Prewar70]

Question on the Katsumitsu in the sanmei link. Why is the Harmon more active and different compared to the other side ? Is this a flaw or a negative?