translation please

[neil09]

attached

 

thanks

[Bruce Pennington]

Date is June 1938.  Someone else will help with the mei.  Very unique diagonals at the top of the nakago.  Yasurime? but bare nakago below the lines.  Hmm.

[Bruce Pennington]

Pics righted

[neil09]

3 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Pics righted

Seen another pic up this way and said it was upside down. So I posted this way, lol

I defiantly needed help, thank you

 

 

[neil09]

pics attached

[Bugyotsuji]

東大王神正光作

 

[neil09]

4 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

東大王神正光作

 

Thank you.

is this the makers name.

[Bugyotsuji]

The way it is written with 作 Saku (work of) at the end, suggests that this is the name of the maker.

 

Having run some searches on that name though...

To Dai O Shin/Jin Masamitsu, I am not too optimistic as to its validity. Willing to learn, though. 

[raaay]

hate to say it , but it looks like another fake sword , need more photo's  to be  100%  Mei looks like it has been done with engraving tool  ?? 

[neil09]

3 minutes ago, raaay said:

hate to say it , but it looks like another fake sword , need more photo's  to be  100%  Mei looks like it has been done with engraving tool  ?? 

do you need better photos of Mei

 

Thank you for your help

[neil09]

To me it looks like the metal has been pushed to the side as if it was chiseled but im far form an expert.

[Bruce Pennington]

How about some pics of the metal fittings on the tsuba (handle).  Is that a military kabutogane (end cap)?

[neil09]

14 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

How about some pics of the metal fittings on the tsuba (handle).  Is that a military kabutogane (end cap)?

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Well, the tsuka looks legit, with real age and wear.  Admittedly, these can be pieced together, but if the fit is good, it's probably original.  Seems odd the leather saya cover is so new looking with a heavily worn tsuka, though.  Strange piece.

 

I agree, I was bothered by the look of the cut in the mei, too.  But I have seen some mei that looked so terrible on other blades that I would have sworn was fake, but confirmed by the Translation Assistance guys to be legit.  So, who knows. 

 

There were over 300 smiths working during the war, many of whom we have no records on.  Also, the date "1938" puts this right in the timeframe mentioned on the Seki website where "bad showato" were being made, requiring them to establish an inspection protocol, creating the stamping practice.  This could very well have been one of the bothersome pieces.

[DTM72]

As best I can tell,

Todai 東大 = Tokyo Collage or a school

o Shin/Jin 王神 = King, God, Emperor

Masamitsu Saku 正光作 = Masmitsu make

 

As mentioned above, the kanji does not appear to be inscribed with a chisel, it looks to be done with a single stamp for each kanji.

 

[neil09]

7 hours ago, DTM72 said:

As best I can tell,

Todai 東大 = Tokyo Collage or a school

o Shin/Jin 王神 = King, God, Emperor

Masamitsu Saku 正光作 = Masmitsu make

 

As mentioned above, the kanji does not appear to be inscribed with a chisel, it looks to be done with a single stamp for each kanji.

 

I cant find anything on this signature. Is it strange to have a reference to king, god, emperor sounds like a sales pitch added in .

 With my no experience with nihonto but common sense it does look stamped, even displacement of material around each kanji, and not chiseled, but defiantly not an engraving tool.

 

thank you for your time.

[neil09]

10 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

 

 

There were over 300 smiths working during the war, many of whom we have no records on.  Also, the date "1938" puts this right in the timeframe mentioned on the Seki website where "bad showato" were being made, requiring them to establish an inspection protocol, creating the stamping practice.  This could very well have been one of the bothersome pieces.

 

Would the stamping of the mei on the nakago indicate a bad showato or that it passed QC and was acceptable quality.

[Bruce Pennington]

Neil,

I'm just doing some wild speculation.  The cutting style of the mei is crude compared to the majority of blades we see, and the nakago is strange in that the majority of them have angled lines all the way down the tang, not just at the top.  I'm not saying it's a bad sword.  It's just a bit of a puzzle. 

 

Something not mentioned yet, is that the blade may have been originally unsigned (mumei) and someone has added this later "faking" a mei.  This has been done to many legitimate blades, both during the war and after, by sellers wanting to enhance the value.

[neil09]

3 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Neil,

I'm just doing some wild speculation.  The cutting style of the mei is crude compared to the majority of blades we see, and the nakago is strange in that the majority of them have angled lines all the way down the tang, not just at the top.  I'm not saying it's a bad sword.  It's just a bit of a puzzle. 

 

Something not mentioned yet, is that the blade may have been originally unsigned (mumei) and someone has added this later "faking" a mei.  This has been done to many legitimate blades, both during the war and after, by sellers wanting to enhance the value.

Thank you

Appreciate your thoughts. Its all speculation at this point with no matching mei that I can find. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

5 Gendai smiths signing Masamitsu: http://www.jp-sword.com/files/seki/gendaito.html  ctrl + f 'Masamitsu'

 

[neil09]

better pics mei

[neil09]

Found reference to a smith Masamitsu. 

 

Tokyo Ikkansai group Masamitsu (正光)

 

http://japaneseswordindex.com/tokyosmi.htm

[DJVCuda]

In that link they describe this  - 

Quote

Occassionally a sword will be found with a cutting attestation carved in the nakago (tang). It may state how many bodies were cut with what strokes. These are most commonly found on late Shinto and Shinshinto era blades. Many are later "additions" to the blade and should be viewed with some skepticism.

 

 

Found here : http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/sharp.htm

 

Is that the lines referred to on this blade?

[Geraint]

Dear Dave.

 

Forgive me if I misunderstand you.  The marks on the nakago we are referring to are the diagonal, deep marks.  Usually nakago are finished with finer file marks over the whole nakago, not just these.

 

Cutting tests are recorded with an inscription stating what test were done and who by, the strokes referenced in your link are the type of cuts made during the test.  There is no connection with the marks on the nakago on this sword.

 

All the best.