MikeyJ Posted June 2, 2024 Report Posted June 2, 2024 I would appreciate insight on the specific translation and meaning of the NBTHK (Hozon) for an unsigned katana I purchased a few years ago. I believe the the attribution (below) is to "Tango no kami Kanemichi." Can anyone please confirm this translation? Second question, if translation is "Tango no kami Kanemichi" does that mean the attribution is to that specific individual, or is it more likely just a general attribution to the Mishina school? (I understand that it is difficult to distinguish 1st and 2nd generation even when signed). Thank you! Quote
MauroP Posted June 2, 2024 Report Posted June 2, 2024 Hi, your translation is correct. No idea about its meaning. 1 Quote
Mark S. Posted June 3, 2024 Report Posted June 3, 2024 Usually NBTHK will only give what they are comfortable with. If they only thought Mishina, they would have stated only that. In this case, they are probably stating “one of the Kanemichi smiths” but no hint as to which one. If they wanted to be more specific, they would have stated the generation or given a time period. With mumei blades, this is usually pretty good. What can be a little more frustrating is when there is a mei but they don’t help with the date or generation. 1 Quote
MikeyJ Posted June 3, 2024 Author Report Posted June 3, 2024 33 minutes ago, Mark S. said: Usually NBTHK will only give what they are comfortable with. If they only thought Mishina, they would have stated only that. In this case, they are probably stating “one of the Kanemichi smiths” but no hint as to which one. If they wanted to be more specific, they would have stated the generation or given a time period. With mumei blades, this is usually pretty good. What can be a little more frustrating is when there is a mei but they don’t help with the date or generation. I don't have the experience to make an intelligent guess as to what NBTHK meant, so I appreciate your perspective! I didn't think "Tango (no-kami) Kanemichi" had been used by any generation except the founder, so I was "hoping" it was attributed to the him specifically. But as you point out, seems like they would have included the known dates Tango no kami Kamemichi was active Quote
MikeyJ Posted June 3, 2024 Author Report Posted June 3, 2024 4 minutes ago, Mark S. said: According to Sesko, there were a few: Thank you for sharing this, it all makes a lot more sense to me now. I was looking at https://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html and at https://www.Japanese...ndex.com/mishina.htm and not connecting the dots on the number of "Tangos" in the Mishina school. Quote
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