Kogatana from Mount Kinko

[Janrudolph]

Hello all! I know it has been said that one needs a great deal of expertise to decipher Japanese kanji characters, and also that in reading mei one should not make too much of it. Yet I have this kogatana and I find pleasure in trying to read the mei properly. But of course I am struggling. Please see the pic below and the first of some questions I would ask you guys who are proficient, to please help me out with. Johan

[Janrudolph]

[Geraint]

Dear Johan.

 

Good to see someone who likes a challenge!!  Minute kanji in a slightly chippy style on a kogatana blade!  

 

If you can't get this one I would not be too disheartened.   May I suggest that you post it in the Translation section?

 

All the best.

[Janrudolph]

The two pics above were taken under different lighting conditions, so that all the characters should show clearly enough (hopefully). There seems to be two kanji at the top, followed by two vertical columns containing kanji, separated by a line, and at the bottom there again seems to be two kanji. Now I may be wrong by saying the two top kanji spell "Mt. Kinka", but that is what I understand at the moment. I have been advised that the signature includes "Kinka oite Nōshū Nagaragawa-hotori Fujiwara Kiyonaga". Fujiwara Kiyonaga is the name of the smith, Nagara is a river, Noshu is a province, and there I start getting stumped. Johan

[Janrudolph]

Geraint, thank you for coming in. I'd like to see what this thread delivers up, before doing what you wisely advise. Maybe it won't come to that. Johan

[Janrudolph]

I'm moving this thread to Translation like Geraint wisely suggested. I've also tried to improve on the pics of the kogatana mei, which I will show there. Johan