Translation Help Please.

[Mark G]

Hello and thanks for accepting me to your group. Hopefully somebody can help me with the markings on this wakizashi. Customer of mine came in today and told me his grandfather came back from the war with it which we've all heard before but this guy is extremely honest and I don't disbelieve him. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Stephen]

one more and youd have it the right way up

 

 

 

ill dig out my stroke count book if someone doesnt add translation soon

[Mark G]

Thanks. As you can see I'm no expert on these as I own a small antiques and collectibles shop in Plymouth and have a knowledge on many item's but not Japanese. But wanting to learn hence joined the group. Thanks again.

[leo]

The name is "Hoju"  寳壽

Probably shinshinto smith from Dewa.

 

Best, Martin

[Mark G]

Is it possible to elaborate as I'm still learning about these items. Thanks.

[Stephen]

Thank you Martin for saving me on that one. LOL

Very nice sword. You should go for it.

[Shugyosha]

From Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:

 

HŌJU (宝寿), Bunsei (文政, 1818-1830), Dewa – “Yonezawa-jū Katō Hōju kore o tsukuru” (米沢住加藤宝寿造之), “Katō Hōju tsukuru” (加藤宝寿造), real name Katō Sukeshirō (加藤助四郎), according to tradition the son of Katō Kunihide (国秀) who was active around Bunka (文化, 1804-1818), dense and somewhat standing-out ko-mokume, gunome-midare, suguha, chūjō-saku.

 

To explain - the listing uses the simplified (modern) versions of the kanji on this sword. It gives the period of his work, some examples of his signature and lineage, his work style (refer to the glossary in the "Research" tab above if this doesn't make sense) and his ranking according to Fujishiro in Nihon Toko Jiten, some information can be found here: http://www.nihonto.ca/ratings.html

 

Best,

John

[Mark G]

Thanks for the help guy's, but I'm still in the dark here as I'm a newborn to this field. Could you explain as if I was 5 please. Is that the full translation? Also I appreciate the difficulty to tell by photo's but any particular value? It does have a broken tip.

[Mark G]

Sorry to be a pain.

[SteveM]

The two kanji characters on your sword are 寶 and 壽. (Hō + ju). Together they are pronounced Hōju. This is the name of the swordsmith who made your sword. The information posted above is from an English compendium of most known swordsmiths, and gives a brief outline of what we know about Hōju.

 

The individual meanings of the kanji are not especially important, as they are meant to be read together as a name.

However, just to give you the complete picture, the first kanji (寶) means treasure, and the second (壽) means felicitations or long life.

Note that it isn't the real name of the swordsmith; its his "artists name". His real, or birth name is Katō Sukeshirō, as is mentioned above. Typically swordsmiths adopt an "art name" as they emerge from apprenticeship and begin forging swords on their own. 

 

As above, Hōju was a swordsmith active in the 19th century. The scabbard and other mounts in your pictures are not war or military mounts, and they look like they predate the 1900s. The broken tip on the sword is a slight problem, but it should be repairable if you are willing to pay the $1000 or so to go down that route. Other than that I cannot help you with valuation. Normally this requires a good, long look by an expert: to judge the quality of the sword, and to determine if the signature is authentic (not necessarily in that order)

 

Hope this helps. 

Also note the forum rules that ask you to sign with a real name so we know what to call you. 

[Stephen]

I cant tell from photo but if there is pleanty boshi (look it up) it can be fixed, a trained togi needs to see it in hand he'll let you know.

[Mark G]

Thank you guy's for all your help.

[Geraint]

Hi Mark.

 

It's easy to add your name to your posts so that it comes up whenever you post.

 

I'm not that far away from you if you fancy a trip down west for a hands on look and a chat.

 

All the best.