Nakago Marking Meaning

[hddennis]

Just got a new tanto I bought for the fittings. The blade may not be restorable but I wonder about a mark on the nakago. Does it mean anything? Seems like it was intentional.

Thanks for any help,

Howard Dennis

[hddennis]

Not even 1 single opinion????

[Franco]

  On 3/21/2024 at 7:18 PM, hddennis said:

Not even 1 single opinion????

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It looks like nothing more than an alignment mark. 

 

Regards,

[hddennis]

  On 3/21/2024 at 7:48 PM, Franco D said:

 

It looks like nothing more than an alignment mark. 

 

Regards,

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Thanks, I understand your meaning but with all the hundreds of  swords I've handled since 1985 you would think I'd have seen at least one other??

[ROKUJURO]

Howard,

if it had a meaning like a KANJI, it would have to be read vertically. You may already know that after having handled so many swords. But I think it is something accidental.

[Bruce Pennington]

Howard,

The likely reason no one has commented is that no one has any idea what that mark is from, or why it's there.  It's not the only mark, either.  There is another smaller mark, horizontal just at the top of the ana.

 

There are 3 other marks around the area.  They almost seem intentional, and the lowest one has the appearance of the "pitchfork" portion of the Gifu stamp, but they are all too tiny, in my opinion to be stamps.

 

[Matsunoki]

Vice or clamp marks?

[hddennis]

My first post used the sellers picture so that was all I had to go by. I now have the tanto in hand and there are only two marks on the nakago the one pointed out by Bruce in the mekugi-ana and the one in front of that I originally asked about. The other ones Bruce pointed out are just wood dust on rust. There are no vise marks. The mark was filled with dust and when cleaned out appears to be the same color as the rust on the rest of the nakago. 

 

Howard Dennis

[Scogg]

Just a wild, and likely wrong guess: 

Perhaps a preliminary mark for the placement of the mekugi-ana; or for a new mekugi-ana that never came to be. But if that were the case, I imagine we’d have seen it before 
 

-Sam

[Scott JM]

Was it kanji that was mostly removed a long time ago and only these traces are left?---Scott M.

[hddennis]

  On 3/23/2024 at 11:49 PM, Scott JM said:

Was it kanji that was mostly removed a long time ago and only these traces are left?---Scott M.

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Scott, now thats an angle I hadn't considered. I'll take another look.

 

Thanks,

Howard Dennis

[hddennis]

Scott, I just took another close look at the nakago and even though the patina seems uniform all over the taper seems a tiny bit flatter on the side with the mystery marks suggesting you may have found the answer.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Howard Dennis