Having trouble with translation

[Ashmhartz]

Hey everyone, I was directed here to get some help with translation. I got a few of them (whether they’re correct or not is another story). My dad inherited the sword and his grandfather had it at least 60 years prior. His grandfather said he took it to a gun show and someone who knows Japanese translated it and said it was about 300-350+ years old. We can’t verify that at all, but we’d really like to know what we can. 
 

What I’ve got is 加州(Kashu/kaga)金澤(kanazawa name and when I google it changed it to Kanawaka or something like that?)  the fifth character I’m not sure. Then 藤原　(Fujiwara also a name?) then I couldn’t find the final two.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Mark]

kaShu Kanazawa Ju Fujiwara Nobutomo

[Ashmhartz]

Thanks Mark! I’m glad I wasn’t way off. Does any of the translation have any meaning(if possible) to find more information or ways to find more information on it?

[Mark]

yes you had most

 

Nobutomo - maker

of Fujiwara clan

resident of town or Kanazawa in Kaga privince

[Ashmhartz]

Thank you so much for your help! 

[Bruce Pennington]

Forgive my efforts, as this is way out of my league, but Sesko lists 10 generations of Nobutomo from Kaga.  The 5th and 9th used this same mei (although, I've learned smiths' mei can change over time, so it's not a solid time reference to go by):

 

NOBUTOMO (信友), 5th gen., Jōkyō (貞享, 1684-1688), Kaga – “Kashū Kanazawa-jū Fujiwara Nobutomo” (加州金沢住藤原信友), first name Ihei (伊兵衛)

 

NOBUTOMO (信友), 9th gen., Tenpō (天保, 1830-1844), Kaga – “Kashū Kanazawa-jū Fujiwara Nobutomo” (加州金沢住藤原信友), “Kashū-jū Rai Fujiwara Nobumasa” (加州住来藤原信政), “Kashū-jū Fujiwara Nobumasa”

[Ashmhartz]

Thank you so much for your helpful, Bruce. This is the type of info we’re looking for! Now we just have to go the next step and have it looked at!

[Bugyotsuji]

Remember never to clean the tang. Good black rust gives an indication as to age, and can add value.

[Ashmhartz]

We haven’t done anything except remove the hilt/tsuka per my previous professors instruction. But that’s good to know and I’ll let my dad know! We really just want to know the history, or as much as we can since I’ve studied Japanese and Japanese culture both in the states and in Japan. I’ve always been interested in Tokugawa era and previous, so this has been really cool for me so far. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Ashley,

I just noticed the tsbua/seppa in the first photo.  You likely know they are WWII Army fittings, right?  Probably Type 98 officer?

[Ashmhartz]

I honestly have no idea. The original info we got my my great grandfather was that it was much, much older, but I wasn’t as sure about the information since my dad couldn’t remember it completely and they talked to someone at a gun show who sent the translation back to Japan. But any information on date ranges or ways to get the whole thing looked at, I’m completely open!

[Bruce Pennington]

Ok, sorry, didn't mean to confuse.

 

The blade IS old, but like many swords during WWII it was refitted for an officer for use in WWII.  Could you post a photo of the full rig?  Many men who had family blades brought them and had them refitted.  There were sword shortages a couple of times, and the military asked for donations, so this could have been donated, or even sold to the military.  Finally, there were over 1,000 sword shops during the war and many of them had old swords that they had refitted and then sold to officers.  So, there are various ways this older blade wound up with WWII fittings.

 

You can see the various types on Ohmura's site:

http://ohmura-study.net/931.html