Can you help with the translation please

[Erwin]

Dear all,

can you please help me with the translation of the Mei please. 
I bought this sword recently and think it was made around 1927 but truly not too sure.

The sword has the leather cover ( although it has seen better days) over the Saya so fairly sure it has been around WO2. 
 

Also added some detail shots that will hopefully help
 

thank you for your help, much appreciated

best regards

Erwin

[uwe]

Seems to be signed “壽命” (Jumyō)

“十六年”

[nickm]

Somewhat new to this whole thing but have looked at a whole bunch of swords and that nakago is weird

[PNSSHOGUN]

Nothing weird, that is a style of yasurime.

[nickm]

1 hour ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

Nothing weird, that is a style of yasurime.

 Not to derail the thread but always eager to learn, what style? Can't find any examples online

[Stephen]

Nick do you have John Yamotos book?

The Samurai Sword?

 

[NewB]

Never seen such yasurime..

 

Beautiful oily steel it appears..

 

 

 

 

John

[nickm]

44 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Nick do you have John Yamotos book?

The Samurai Sword?

 

That I do not. Looking into it even now

[Erwin]

Hi all, 

 

thank you so much for your involvement and information

I agree on the Kiri style yasurime, it is the first I have in the collection as well.

 

I am more into WW2 types but bought this version to help someone out.

 

Thank you Uwe for you information: Seems to be signed “壽命” (Jumyō)

“十六年”

 

was hoping it would be dated but guess not? So Jumyo is all it states and will try to find out more info so I can somehow place it in time. The Kissaki is also very large.

 

thank you again, always extremely impressed  you knowledge and respons time

 

Best regards and a great day to you all

Erwin

[Erwin]

Hi all,

 

a bit of search revealed that the Jumyo school has its origin from Yamato. The unique name means something like life span or longevity and its tradition continued for centuries till the end of Edo in 1868.

 

i was told this sword was from around 1927 so was trying to find some clues as to where to position it in time.

can someone tell me what the second part of the signing means

“十六年”

 

thank you so much for your assistance

erwin

[Shugyosha]

16th year but don’t know what it means in the context of “Jumyo”. Am I the only one who thinks the yasurimei and signature are odd? 
 

I’m on my phone so I’m not getting details of the blade. The tang doesn’t look authentic to me but I’m happy to be shouted down. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

There was a Gendai smith "Kato Jumyo", might be a good place to start.

[Erwin]

Thank you again for the suggestions John

will certainly digg into this further and see what I can find.

there seems to be a smith Toshinaga that worked and signed under the name of Junyo 1893/1956, also known as Zennosuke Kato. 
more question marks ha ha

 

thank you all

 

Erwin

 

[mecox]

Erwin,  looks to be Kato Zennosuke, whose swordsmith name was Jumyo.   Have a look at the Naval Swords article in NMB Downloads, p. 9 and 42, summary of him.   From pics your sword looks  early war.  See the plain iron tsuba and sakura stamp on it, and green ito.   Maybe the "16" is Showa (1941)   but sword may be a bit earlier, so something else??

This Jumyo did do some heavily cut kiri yasurime like this blade.   The word Jumyo meant "long life" so often popular as gifts.  There were Jumyo smith in early Seki from Koto period, then in Shinto they moved to Owari.  

[Erwin]

Hi Mal

 

thank you so much for this information and the time you took to enlighten this further

much appreciated and as always amazed by the willingness on this forum to educate and show patience with the yet non-educated

 

will surely digg into this further so thanks agan and have a great day

 

best regards

Erwin

[Erwin]

Hi Mal

 

in addition to your remark on the tsuba and the rest of the setup, it seems to be more late Edo time period.

Could it be ( just fantasizing) that the original family sword was replaced with this later version and brought to war?

 
thank you 

Erwin

[SteveM]

This is almost assuredly a Katō Zennosuke "Jumyō", as others have said. It is not an heirloom sword. Katō Zennnosuke was born in 1893. The 16 on this sword would have to be the 16th year of the Shōwa era. While the dates usually include the era name, this one just says which year without mentioning the era. However, considering his birth date, and considering the WW2 fittings, and the way the inscription is carved into the blade, this can only mean "16 Shōwa" (1941). For another example of his work (with the same, thick, horizontal file marks) see the sword below.

 

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords6/KY331954.htm

[Erwin]

Thank you Steve for your assistance and all the information provided

amazing, brilliant and really happy with all the feedback on the forum

 

have a great day and best regards

erwin