Please help with this gunto mei translation

[Minseito1941]

This is the tang of a type 98 gunto. Please help me translate this

[Bugyotsuji]

No Shu no *Kunikane, if there are no more Kanji below... (?) (Kunikane from No-Shu)

 

If there is or was a kanji below (please provide a more helpful photo) however, then No-Shu no Kuni, Kane +XXX (something). (Kane-something from the region of No-Shu)

 

Please help us see the whole area.

 

*Edit. This was wrong. See 'Nobody' (Moriyama San) post below.

[Minseito1941]

That’s the full thing

[Nobody]

濃州國廣 - Noshu Kunihiro

[Minseito1941]

Thank you

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, Moriyama San is correct. Kunihiro. 

[Minseito1941]

Was he a gendaito smith?

[mecox]

Don, following Moriyama san and Piers: 

Mei is likely to be "Noshu ju Kunihiro"  but is roughly cut, and the "ju" is only one stroke , maybe like "no".   There is an example in Japanese Sword Index which shows clear mei (left fig).  Also another (middle fig) which is possibly (?) the same smith  (this has also been read as Kunikane).

Hard to find info on this Kunihiro smith, and he is not in the registration records for Seki swordsmiths.

There is another smith that is similar, Kunihiro Kataoka “Kunihiro” (国広),  who does a similar "Hiro" on his mei, but in the Seki records they use a shorter version of "Hiro" .  His mei example (at right) also has a Seki stamp.

KUNIHIRO (国広), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kunihiro” (国広), real name Kataoka Itoshi (片岡愛), born am April 1 st 1895,  worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō and died December 2 nd 1965.  In 1942 list of smiths he is ranked in 7th of 7 levels  (ryōkō no retsu) (by Hikosaburo Akihide). 

I could not find any more on your man at the moment.

 

 

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kunihir3.jpghttp://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kunihir2.jpghttp://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kunihiro.jpg

[Kiipu]

On 4/16/2023 at 11:14 PM, mecox said:

I could not find any more on your man at the moment.

 

I may have a lead for you on this smith.  He may have added his last name on this tang.

Need info on Japanese’s type 98 officers sword tang markings

 

Edit:  It is Kataoka Kunihiro.片岡國廣.  Besides the link above, there is another one below.

Grandfathers Type 98 Tang Translation

 

Case closed.