Translation assistance and identification

[Dconekin]

This is cross posted to get translation and detailed information, perhaps Smith, family name, and geography of origin. This was passed down to me when my father died. He acquired it sometime between 1944 and 1961.

[Dconekin]

[DTM72]

Tango no Kami Kanemichi  丹後守兼道

Opposite side is Kiku mon at the top. I can't translate he rest at the moment.

 

There were multiple generations of Kanemichi so I cannot say exactly which one this is.

 

丹後 = Province where smith lived

守 = Honorary title of smith

兼道 = Smiths name

 

Just to let you know, this is a very famous smith, and there are many fakes. Not saying this signature is faked, just wanting you to know this is a possibility. See ing pics of the blade itself will help all of us give you more information that you seek.

 

Dan

[SteveM]

於摂州以南蠻䥫造之

Made with nanbantetsu in Sesshū province.

The first one should be a variant of 於 and the third is a variant of 州

[DTM72]

Nanban tetsu (南蠻鉃) literally means "Southern barbarian steel"

 

[Bruce Pennington]

That's the second Kanemichi I have on file with the Kiku + Ichi.  Same mei:

 

[Nobody]

12 hours ago, DTM72 said:

Tango no Kami Kanemichi  丹後守兼道

Opposite side is Kiku mon at the top. I can't translate he rest at the moment.

 

There were multiple generations of Kanemichi so I cannot say exactly which one this is.

 

丹後 = Province where smith lived

守 = Honorary title of smith

兼道 = Smiths name

 

 

 

丹後守 (Tango no kami - Governor of Tango) is his honorary title.

And it does not mean that the smith lived there.

[DTM72]

My mistake Moriyama san.

[Surfson]

He is a well regarded smith from the Mishina group.  Like Yoshimichi, they often use sudareba, kikusui, Fujisan and other artistic motifs.  Here are a couple shots of one in my collection.   Also, here is a nice article about the school.

 

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html

[DirkO]

Here are some shodai (1st generation) Kanemichi for comparison - to me, yours has a good chance of being authentic, the mei checks out.

 

[Surfson]

Dirk, two of those are Naomichi

[DirkO]

Naomichi was one of the names the shodai Kanemichi signed with, so I included them.

[Surfson]

Thanks, didn't know that. b

[Dconekin]

So, my question now is: Is there a way to identify the family this sword was forged for, carried into battle with, get in contact with?

[Jean]

With only these elements, I’ll say : No

[SteveM]

It's like finding a coin at the beach, and trying to track down its former owner. Even with an atomic-level examination of the sword, we have no way of knowing who it belonged to without any provenance, or specific dedication marking on the sword. 

[Surfson]

Dave, sometimes there will be a "surrender tag" that lists the name of the swords owner at the time of surrender.  Although there are exceptions, efforts to reunite a sword with the family that once owned it are often very difficult and sometimes that is because the family on the other side is not interested.  

[DoTanuki yokai]

The smith worked in the early edo period around Kanbun 1661-72.

So it was some time from when it was forged and when it got carried in WW2.