"Weed Whacker" Katana Translation help?

[JeffreyM]

Hello!  Long time lurker, first time poster.

I had my mentor and friend and martial arts instructor pass away suddenly.  He had an old katana he found at a garage sale.  It was leaning against a barn and he asked about it.  They said it wasn't for sale because it was their weed whacker!  He offered them $25 and got it, his own special weed whacker.  haha.

 

He had the tang deciphered and said it was a 2 1/2 man sword.  Meaning it was tested by cutting through 2.5 corpses.  My mentor was prone to embellishment, but I always loved the story.  So in the process of cleaning out his house, I bought the sword off his wife.  I am thinking of mounting it with a plaque that reads "Weed Whacker".  

But I want to really read the kanji and know what the story of the mei is.  So I have some pictures and a SUPER lame attempt to start deciphering it.  Also, I might maybe have a dyslexic sword maker because the "Shu" or "Province" character is backward?  lol.  I kid, but it's a fun journey so far and I would be incredibly grateful if you folks could help me continue it.

 

[JeffreyM]

Sorry, I forgot to post my beginnings of a translation. But I think that the first part might say

 

Awari

Province

[ROKUJURO]

Jeffrey,

welcome on board of the NMB!

Is there another sword you are possibly talking about? This one looks like an oil hardened WWII blade made in MINO province. (NÔSHÛ)

[Babu]

For translation purposes this is fine, but at some point you will be asked to remove everything and just show the sugata of the blade. That's a full length shot from head height with it laying on a towel on the floor with habaki etc off. Are there any kanji the other side of the Nakago? Only if it's got a cutting test inscription it would face the wearer.your mei faces away from the wearer as the cutting edge would be up.its looking like a gunto mei though.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I believe signature is 濃州関前川助房作

 

Smith is WWII period smith Maekawa Sukefusa.

[uwe]

Compare here:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19623-having-trouble-translating/

[JeffreyM]

Thank you everyone!!! I will look into this and check back in!!!

[ChrisW]

Excited to see the nakago! I am glad you saved this one. Clearly the family had no idea what they had. Good save!

[JeffreyM]

Jeffrey,

 

welcome on board of the NMB!

 

Is there another sword you are possibly talking about? This one looks like an oil hardened WWII blade made in MINO province. (NÔSHÛ)

 

Thank you!  No, this is the sword, haha.  It's just the story I had received.  

 

For translation purposes this is fine, but at some point you will be asked to remove everything and just show the sugata of the blade. That's a full length shot from head height with it laying on a towel on the floor with habaki etc off. Are there any kanji the other side of the Nakago? Only if it's got a cutting test inscription it would face the wearer.your mei faces away from the wearer as the cutting edge would be up.its looking like a gunto mei though.

I will attach the picture I think you want below!  thanks.

 

I believe signature is 濃州関前川助房作

 

Smith is WWII period smith Maekawa Sukefusa.

Thank you very much!  How exciting!  Is there anything that can be learned from reading up on smiths?

 

Compare here:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19623-having-trouble-translating/

 

 

Excited to see the nakago! I am glad you saved this one. Clearly the family had no idea what they had. Good save!

Thank you! while I am very proud and grateful to have the sword... and I know how to use it... and have studied Japanese art and history...    I don't know what this means on the basic level.  I understand I have a WWII era sword.  I appreciate it being an officially made Japanese Katana from an authorized smith.   But what now?  What's the next step in appreciating this swords part in history?  I know it's a fairly modern piece, but worth preserving.  But why?

 

Jeff

[JeffreyM]

I believe these are the pictures requested?

[Tom Darling]

Like to see both sides of tsuba. Thanks.

 

 

 

Tom D.

[ROKUJURO]

Tom,

it looks a bit like a SAN-MAI TSUBA, I think. Better photos may reveal what it is. The rest of the KODOGU seems to be be very simple/cheap stuff.

[Bruce Pennington]

Jeff,

There were private purchace swords made during the war, not used for the war. This seems to be one of those.

 

The "why" and "what's next" really depend on your interests. All collectors have their own reasons for collecting, and often have certain specialties they collect - WWII military, ancient nihonto, some follow certain smiths, some love the fittings, etc. I see you are already into martial arts, so you already have a respect for fighting skills, precision, discipline, honor. You'll find all of that and more in the history and craftsmanship of Japanese sword-making.

 

Or maybe you won't get hooked. But you are asking the questions so I suspect you're already in! Prowl around the some of the forums, maybe you'll see something that catches your interest:

 

Nihonto: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/3-nihonto/

 

Military: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/45-military-swords-of-Japan/

 

Fittings: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/4-tosogu/

 

Excellent free education at Ohmura's site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

and at the Japaneseswordindex: http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm

[JeffreyM]

Like to see both sides of tsuba. Thanks.

 

 

 

Tom D.

Coming right up!  :-) See below

 

Tom,

 

it looks a bit like a SAN-MAI TSUBA, I think. Better photos may reveal what it is. The rest of the KODOGU seems to be be very simple/cheap stuff.

Btw, I am learning a LOT on this thread.  I have had a pretty good knowledge of katana parts before, but there have been so many new names that I have been looking up and learning about.  Thanks!

 

Jeff

 

 

[JeffreyM]

Jeff,

There were private purchace swords made during the war, not used for the war. This seems to be one of those.

 

The "why" and "what's next" really depend on your interests. All collectors have their own reasons for collecting, and often have certain specialties they collect - WWII military, ancient nihonto, some follow certain smiths, some love the fittings, etc. I see you are already into martial arts, so you already have a respect for fighting skills, precision, discipline, honor. You'll find all of that and more in the history and craftsmanship of Japanese sword-making.

 

Or maybe you won't get hooked. But you are asking the questions so I suspect you're already in! Prowl around the some of the forums, maybe you'll see something that catches your interest:

 

Nihonto: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/3-nihonto/

 

Military: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/45-military-swords-of-Japan/

 

Fittings: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/4-tosogu/

 

Excellent free education at Ohmura's site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

and at the Japaneseswordindex: http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm

Bruce, You nailed it!  And I am definitely hooked, lol.  I feel a bit like Indiana Jones on an intellectual adventure.  You're the best, I will be reading these articles while I pretend to work.  hahaha

[ROKUJURO]

It is a SAN-MAI TSUBA indeed, and not a bad one!

[JeffreyM]

It is a SAN-MAI TSUBA indeed, and not a bad one!

That's cool!  What makes you say that?  I like the wave design and it seems nice to have copper inside.

[ChrisW]

A san-mai tsuba is made from a few layers of material put together in a sandwich fashion.

 

This link can explain it much better than I can: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba/sanmai.htm

[Bruce Pennington]

Jeff,

Nobody has mentioned it yet, but do yourself a favor an never touch the blade with your bare fingers. The skin oils can make permanent stains. Be sure to wipe the blade with a soft cloth and a light oil. You can buy blade maintenance kits that come with a great smelling oil, pretty cheap.

 

Here is a page on general blade care: http://japaneseswordindex.com/care/handling.htm

[ROKUJURO]

Jeffrey,

SAN is the Japanese word for three. A SAN-MAI TSUBA has three layers, easily visible in your TSUBA's NAKAGO-ANA.

[JeffreyM]

Jeff,

Nobody has mentioned it yet, but do yourself a favor an never touch the blade with your bare fingers. The skin oils can make permanent stains. Be sure to wipe the blade with a soft cloth and a light oil. You can buy blade maintenance kits that come with a great smelling oil, pretty cheap.

 

Here is a page on general blade care: http://japaneseswordindex.com/care/handling.htm

 

Yes, thank you!  I have been wiping it off regularly after handling.  I am going to read that page now.  Do you think I should look to have it lightly polished?  Something to clean it up a bit and let it last longer?

 

Jeffrey,

 

SAN is the Japanese word for three. A SAN-MAI TSUBA has three layers, easily visible in your TSUBA's NAKAGO-ANA.

 

Yes, thank you!  

[Bruce Pennington]

Jeff,

That's a personal decision only you can make, as to polishing, and will depend upon your budget ($100 per inch) and plans for the blade. The guys think this was a mass-produces blade, so the value added by a polish will have to be simply your own appreciation, as the polishing cost will exceed the market value of the whole sword. I don't know enough about that world to know if a polisher can simply de-rust the blade at a cheaper price and not do a full polish.

 

You might write to a polisher and ask. There are several in the "Links" tab at the forum top bar, then far right "restoration." I used David Hofhine (davidhofhine@gmail.com) for my Mantetsu. I'd ask him.

[JeffreyM]

Jeff,

That's a personal decision only you can make, as to polishing, and will depend upon your budget ($100 per inch) and plans for the blade. The guys think this was a mass-produces blade, so the value added by a polish will have to be simply your own appreciation, as the polishing cost will exceed the market value of the whole sword. I don't know enough about that world to know if a polisher can simply de-rust the blade at a cheaper price and not do a full polish.

 

You might write to a polisher and ask. There are several in the "Links" tab at the forum top bar, then far right "restoration." I used David Hofhine (davidhofhine@gmail.com) for my Mantetsu. I'd ask him.

Awesome information!  thanks!  

 

So if it was mass produced, would it me that Maekawa Sukefusa was just the smiths name lended to the factory?

 

Also, since you mentioned value, how would I know the official value of the sword?  It seems so subjective and hard to gauge, since even just searching "wwii katana value" is overwhelming.  (the main reason I ask on value is that I want to make sure my Teachers Widow was not taken advantage of when I bought the sword.  If it's worth a couple hundred, no problem.  $100k, then I might need to take out a payment plan, lololol.)  (I know it's not worth $100k, lol)

 

Jeff

[ChrisW]

Depends on the market, but usually a machine-made blade would probably be about ~$800. However this are a TON of variables that change this value. At least, that's what my guess would be. Also, while this blade is considered 'machine made;' it was still made by a smith. It was just that he used non-traditional methods to make it. I would say it might be worth a bit more also just due to the fittings. But don't take my number as an expert opinion! I'd wait and see if anyone else has a guess.

[Bruce Pennington]

I agree with Chris. We can only tell you what current market rates are for the average war sword. This one looks like it was made in the late '30s for a civilian purchase, using non-traditional methods. So, on average these run $800-1,000 right now (market has fallen with the COVID plague).

 

That could change if you get it to a professional who can really evaluate this for you, and he says it's something older, but unless it's a famous smith, it won't increase the value much more that $500 or so.

[JeffreyM]

Depends on the market, but usually a machine-made blade would probably be about ~$800. However this are a TON of variables that change this value. At least, that's what my guess would be. Also, while this blade is considered 'machine made;' it was still made by a smith. It was just that he used non-traditional methods to make it. I would say it might be worth a bit more also just due to the fittings. But don't take my number as an expert opinion! I'd wait and see if anyone else has a guess.

 

 

I agree with Chris. We can only tell you what current market rates are for the average war sword. This one looks like it was made in the late '30s for a civilian purchase, using non-traditional methods. So, on average these run $800-1,000 right now (market has fallen with the COVID plague).

 

That could change if you get it to a professional who can really evaluate this for you, and he says it's something older, but unless it's a famous smith, it won't increase the value much more that $500 or so.

 

Thanks guys!  What interesting info!!!  One thing I didn't know at all about before coming here was the value of fittings.  I see that they are their own sub-market / collector genre, which is fascinating.  

 

What is a good source for an "official" value evaluation?

 

Also, if it wasn't done in the traditional style, how was it done?  I can tell it wasn't folded, at least there aren't any indications it was.  So would it have been forged in a more modern style like getting a piece of high carbon tool steel and grinding it out?  Or cast in a mold?  or something else?

[ChrisW]

You could try talking to people here on the forum who make a living on selling Nihonto/Militaria blades like Ed @Yakiba or Raymond Singer or any number of other sellers. But there is technically no 'official' who evaluates things; the closest thing to that would be a Shinsa and they don't put monetary value on swords/deal with Showato. Your best bet would be Ed or Raymond or other sellers.

 

And 'traditional' means no machines, no oils, and no blank steel was used in the production, non-traditional can mean just an oil quench or power hammer used, all the way up to the blade being punched from a blank. There's a wide spectrum of production and its not always clear how it was done. You first have to figure who and where and then when it was made to get an idea of how it was produced usually.