Shinsakuto and date on their nakago

[Bruno]

Hi 

 

Many years ago, I have been told or read somewhere that in Japan, shinsakuto must be dated by law on their nakago.

 

Indeed during, years every shinsakuto I saw had a date of production engraved on their nakago.

 

Yesterday, I saw a shinsakuto by a top smith for sale on a well known Japanese seller website. The sword has no date engraved, only the mei.

 

Hence I asked the seller why no date and he replied the following : " I do not know from where you obtained such information, but while it is mandatory to engrave the name of the swordsmith, it is not legally required to engrave the date of production. Currently, there is a 50/50 split between those who engrave the date and time and those who do not."

 

If someone of the NMB has a documented answer about this, I would love to read it.

 

Thanks

 

 

[SteveM]

Hello Bruno,

 

I asked the Nihon Tōshōkai this question last year (2023). Their reply to me was:

 

There is no legal requirement for swordsmiths to put the date of manufacture on their swords, but it is done as an "unspoken rule". Recently there has been an increase in the number of swordsmiths who do not put the date on their swords.

Most swordsmiths put their names on the nakago in order to indicate that they are the manufacturer of that sword, but strictly speaking there is no requirement for them to do so. However, the prefectures are in charge of sword registration, and there are apparently some prefectures which require names on the swords. There are still some inconsistencies within the registration procedure.  

 

Steve

[Bruno]

Hello Steve,

 

Very interesting answer, thanks. 

 

It could be more the case for very recent shinsakuto from the 2000' et later. The ones I used to see from the 70' to the 90' had all both mei and nengo.

 

One learns something new every day...

[Jussi Ekholm]

Thanks Steve that is extremely valuable info and I have thought incorrectly before.