wakizashi mei translation

[GregM1]

hello everyone. i have recently acquired a wakizashi that i really like. i have been looking through the kanji help section for days, but can not determine what this says. any assistance will be greatly appreciated. all i can read is the saku at the end.

 

 

[Nobody]

宗近作 - Munechika made

[GregM1]

thank you Nobody. that was the name it was listed as when i bought it. i was just not able to verify that on my own. the kanji you have posted compared to what is on the sword look very different to my untrained eye.

 

would you have an idea of age? full lenght is 54cm with a 1cm sori.

[Geraint]

Dear Greg.

 

For the length of a Japanese sword measure from the tip, the kissaki, to the notch,  the machi,  at the start of the tang, the nakago.  In your research you will find that the name is well known but expect a false signature, gimei.  It's a bit like finding  violin with a Stradivarius label, suggests it's a great fiddle and it turns out it is as the man himself never used paper labels.

 

Enjoy.

 

All the best.

[GregM1]

Thank you Geraint. the length without nakago is 44 cm. the machi is 3.2cm tall while the blade is .42cm thick at the machi.

 

i picked the blade up from komonjo, but was expecting a fake signature with a name like that also.

 

the nakago has been altered also. l think some one neutralized the rust with chemical before trying to remove more. it has patches of consistant pitting on both sides. file marks along one of the edges on the backside.

 

 

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Greg,

It is a given that the signature is false; the important Munechika never made a wakizashi (the form didn't exist until centuries after his period of work) and no wakizashi was ever legitimately signed on the tachi side of the nakago.  What you have is, most likely, a low quality sword with a fake signature; sorry.

Grey

[GregM1]

thanks Grey Doffin. no need to be sorry. i always appreciate an honest, educated opinion. i bought it so cheap, i expected it to be gimei. unless it has intentionally  accelerated rust damage, i am thinking early 1900s on this one. i picked this up along with a few really bad condition mumei wakizashi as well. i will practice polishing and adding koshirae to make complete swords.

[Toryu2020]

Greg -

Thank kind of chippy disparate signature is more indicative of the Showa era, also a time when big names were put on blades to bolster the spirits of young men going off to war...

-t