Kantei then Translation and donation to NMB

[FZ1]

DeepL translator gives:

 

Norimitsu Nagafune, Bizen Province
This sword was made in the 9th year of the Bunmei Era, and was made by Goro Saemon, who was 72 years old at the time.

 

This sword is an excellent example of a relatively short sword with a fine grained surface and a gentle, medium straight edge.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[mywei]

 

 

備前国長船則光

Bizen Osafune Norimitsu

文明九年製作而五郎左衛門尉也惟時同工七十二歳同工ハ祐光ト並ビ応永備前カラ末備前へノ過渡期ニ活躍ツタリ

Made in 9th year of Bunmei，this smith Goro Saemon (no) Jo was 72 years old at that time. This smith as well as Sukemitsu were active during the transition period from Oei Bizen to Sue Bizen.

 

本刀ハ比較的短寸ノ打刀デ精良ナル板杢ノ肌合ニ穏ヤカナ中直刃ヲ焼キ刃ニ近ク直映ガ立ツナド其ノ一作風ヲ示ス優品也

This sword is a relatively short in length uchigatana, with a refined itame-mokume mixed hada, calm chu-suguha yakiba and close sugu-utsuri which stands out. This is an excellent work which demonstrates one of the workmanship styles of this smith

 

Hope that helps

 

[SteveM]

Outstanding. I think the sentence should be split as below, but its a minor thing and doesn't change the overall meaning too much. 

中直刃ヲ焼キ、刃ニ近ク直映ガ立ツナド

 

And the length and date? Only mildly tricky. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ooitame]

Thank you all, for your time, efforts, and inputs! I hope everyone has enjoyed this fun little exercise.

[mywei]

  On 9/5/2021 at 3:16 PM, SteveM said:

Outstanding. I think the sentence should be split as below, but its a minor thing and doesn't change the overall meaning too much. 

中直刃ヲ焼キ、刃ニ近ク直映ガ立ツナド

 

And the length and date? Only mildly tricky. 

Expand  

Thanks Steve

 

Length 1 shaku 6 sun 6 bun

 

余干时辛丑季葉月 - 2021 August

[SteveM]

季✕

秊〇

 

时　I'm never sure if he is deliberately using this kanji, or if he is using 時 in a highly calligraphic style - but he uses it all the time.

I know he tends to reach for the obscure words/kanji when it suits him.

Anyway, this is a highly specialized translation job: a mixture of kanbun, sword jargon, and weird kanji...and you absolutely nailed it. Very impressive. 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Amazing Matt

[Swords]

Really nice is Bizen Osafune Norimitsu 

I did a side by side of my Norimitsu with yours to see if there’s any similarities