Understanding my Sword

[jmpainter]

I've been given a translation to the Mei

FUKUOKA JÛ ROKURÔZAEMON no JÔ HIROMITSU

 

One side of the Tsuba looked to me like a reference to Fishing which would go along with Fukuoka. I wonder also though if it is a Rokurozaemon reference

 

The other side of the Tsuba looks like Four Volcanoes. A reference to the Mount Aso Range? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Aso

 

I would like to learn more about the age of this sword.

Any ideas?

 

THANKS!!!

 

 

[Nobody]

This is my guess without concrete evidences.

 

I think that the smith could be the father of Kajiwara Hiromitsu (梶原廣光). Kajiwara Hiromitsu was a WWII smith in Fukuoka. According to the information on the web page below, his father was also a sword smith and the father’s smith name was Rokuro Hiromitsu (六郎廣光).

http://www.sanmei.com/shop_e/media/I108 ... _PUP_E.htm

[jmpainter]

Interesting....do you think the Tsuba is really that "young" though?

The edges are very hammered. There is a little inlay on the tops of the "Volcanoes" and the Spear (if that is what it is). Also maybe another color of inlay on the man.

 

In other details...the Butt End is Kengyo.

The Blade is about 68cm

The Tip is O-Kissaki

The File marks seem Sujikai except there is some crosshatch pattern where the File marks also go in the opposite direction.

 

Also..the placement of the Mei is Katana-Mei?

 

The Hamon is fairly straight with a flare up on occasion.

I haven't studied it closely. Unfortunately I think the edge has been ground by a knife sharpener

Was wondering if there is a way to 'bring back' the Hamon.

 

THANKS for your expertise.

This is a great forum

 

John

[jmpainter]

I took a few more photos.

Here is the Blade shape

 

Here is what is left of the Hamon

[Brian]

John,

The tsuba will usually have very little to do with the blade, and due to the amount of times fittings were changed, are usually from a different period. In this case, it looks like the tsuba might be older than the blade which happened often with remounts.

 

Brian

[Ford Hallam]

The "volcano's" on the reverse of the tsuba are most likely fishing nets set out to dry. The little chap on the front is a fisherman pulling a net in.

A famous print by Hokusai showing a fisherman hauling in his nets...

 

and this print by Hiroshige shows some nets drying

 

 

...and while I hate to be the "bad cop" but is it only me who thinks this mei is a bit "wobbly" ? :?

[jmpainter]

The engraving on the Mei is quite deep if that tells you anything.

The only Mei I have ever seen in person were of the REALLY sloppy variety on factory Gunto so my frame of reference isn't so good.

 

I love the "Fishing Nets" painting.

I don't know if you can see it well in the photo but the top right of that side of the Tsuba has kind of a Dragon looking figure on it as well.

There is a bit of inlay on that bit too but it is hard to see it unless I remove some rust.

 

john

[Stephen]

the first mei is reversed so it does seem out of whack, lower shot looks confident to me.

[Brian]

Lol..good catch Stephen :D A mirror image..yep. (Wierd camera or too much photoshop? )

Moriyama san seems to have it as usual. Maybe a WW2 gendaito. Needs a polisher to do a window to see what lies underneath and see what the hamon and hada if any looks like.

Tsuba and cord are fairly irrelevant as they are added at some stage, maybe during WW2 and not original to the sword as first made.

 

Brian

[jmpainter]

RE: The mirror image...

 

There was a goofy "Flip Image" command in Photobucket.

It SHOULD have been fixed but I do know the original post was flipped.

 

Just in the interest of getting images correct (which is pretty important in this case!) try reloading the page and/or emptying your Browser Cache and then reload.

 

It is displaying correctly on my Computers and my Phone.

 

Thanks

John

[Ford Hallam]

I wasn't referring to the first image being flipped. The second image clearly shows a number of very obvious errors and sloppy stroke alignments. The actually punch marks look very hesitant and irregular to my eye. Could this be evidence that whoever made the mei hadn't had much practice?

[jmpainter]

If it helps, I have a better closeup of the Hamon and Grain

 

 

One other clue is the Flare at the Kissaki.

 

And a closer Crop of the Boshi

[Ford Hallam]

the Flare at the Kissaki.

 

which is a good indicator of the blade being a gendaito....I don't think the blade itself is in question. My hesitancy is with reference to the mei. My contention is that it is a fairly recent, and spurious, addition.

 

 

Ford

[jmpainter]

I first saw the sword in 1990. There was a pretty thick layer of rust on the Mei and the Tsuba. The Mei was very hard to read and the engraving on the Tsuba wasn't apparent...unless you were looking for it you wouldn't even have noticed it.

 

The Rust was dark brown/red. My friend cleaned it off to better see the Mei.

 

jmp