Grevedk Posted February 27, 2022 Report Posted February 27, 2022 Dear NMB specialist’s, I need your experience and expertise. I bought the wakizashi blade as a study project in order to gradually be better in my own judgement of real or not so real Nihonto swords. The blades dimensions: Nagasa: 42,5 cm Nakago: 14,5 cm Rust on Nakago: fine / velvet black Mekugi-ana: 2 Ha-machi: 2,6 cm Fukura: 2 cm Sori: 0,5 cm Mune: 0,5 cm Harmon: O-Choji Midare there are Mei on both sides of the Nakago, probably translated as: “Bishu Osafune Normitsu” and maybe the province on the other side: “Bunan”? The blade is in fine condition, and that is where I’m in seriously doubt about my translation as that (if correct) indicates a rather old blade. Question: Have I translated correctly? Does the correct translation correspond with the blades dimensions and look? Hope you can find time to offer some comments 😎🤙 Best regards Soren Quote
uwe Posted February 27, 2022 Report Posted February 27, 2022 Your reading of the mei seems right. The nengo (other side) is “文安ニ年八月” (August 1445). I’ll leave a judgment to the sword experts here…. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 27, 2022 Report Posted February 27, 2022 I read the MEI as BISHU OSAFUNE no JU NORIMITSU. Date is indeed BUN-AN NI NEN HACHI GATSU (HI?). Quote
Grevedk Posted February 28, 2022 Author Report Posted February 28, 2022 Dear Uwe and Jean, Thank you for taking both the time and the effort. It’s a bit awe inspiring that the date indicates a more than 575 year old blade. But seemingly the practice of having Mei (name of province and smith / date of manufacture) on both sides of the Nakago is corresponding well with a date of August 1445 🤓👍 Jean - would you happen to know the meaning of the “no Ju” in front of NORIMITSU? Again - your input has and is both valued and very much appreciated👍👍 Best regards. Soren 😎 1 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 28, 2022 Report Posted February 28, 2022 Sören, the MEI is only the name of the smith and often the location. The date is called NENGO. 'no JU' in connection with a MEI means 'inhabitant of'. Concerning the age of a blade, this does not mean so much as quality is much more important, at least for serious collectors. There are many 'old' blades in existence which are kept in good condition. This shows the appreciation of collectors in Japan and elsewhere for these 'objets d'art'. Lastly I would like to mention that not all signatures on blades are authentic; on the contrary, there are probably more fakes (especially of the famous makers) than genuine ones. So, as far as your blade is concerned, an authentication panel (called SHINSA) in Japan has to confirm the MEI before you can be sure that your blade is a true NORIMITSU one! And a professional polish (probably in Japan) will have to precede the SHINSA. At last, one of the MEKUGI-ANA has been drilled (not punched) which may have been done much later in the life of the blade. 1 Quote
Alex A Posted February 28, 2022 Report Posted February 28, 2022 No expert here, but just some thoughts, difficult from images Well, Nakago certainly looks Bizen 0,5cm thickness and worn at hamachi, gives the impression of quite a few polishes/age. Am i correct in saying the hada is tight?, not much to see?, Mokume?, Utsuri? Does the patina on the nakago look natural? Always presume its gimei, especially if you picked it up cheap. You be best showing someone with knowledge near you. They made blades at the end of the Edo period to resemble very old blades, not saying yours is, just a thought. Kuwana blades (ksky.ne.jp) Quote
Grevedk Posted February 28, 2022 Author Report Posted February 28, 2022 Thank you Jean. All information, knowledge and experience is much appreciated 🤗👍 Every comment (e.g. difference between Mei and Nengo, drilling or punched Mekugi-Ana) is just widening my own learning curve 🥸👌 Best regards Soren Quote
Grevedk Posted February 28, 2022 Author Report Posted February 28, 2022 I will try and expand on the pictures. I understand the difficulty in assessing anything from unprofessional and amateur pictures 😜 From a purely learning perspective - I truly value everything you “throw my way”. 1. Nakago rust and Mekugi-ana Quote
Jussi Ekholm Posted February 28, 2022 Report Posted February 28, 2022 I am not confident on calling the signature either way, but if possible I think it should be evaluated by Japanese shinsa team at some point as was suggested earlier. Here are 4 reference signatures from Norimitsu dated to Bunan. I think I should have around 10 or so of these around in total. There are some variations in signatures so even though I see some points in yours that might not fit 100% with these examples, you can see variation within verified examples too. https://iidakoendo.com/623/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210612205552/https://www.seiyudo.com/wa-010714.htm https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r4/002/09_norimitsu.htm https://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2015/1510_2015syousai.htm You can see the last one linked has quite similar shape & size to yours. Quote
Grevedk Posted March 1, 2022 Author Report Posted March 1, 2022 Hi Alex and Jussi, Thank you for both your time and willingness to share your thoughts. Again much appreciated 👍👍 Jussi - superfine links. Last one has definitely many similarities to use in comparison 🤓 Best regards Soren Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.