Mei Translation

[WillBevan]

Hey guys,

 

This sword has been laying around my house for a while and I have tried (unsuccessfully) to translate the mei. No idea whether the sword is authentic or not but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[mecox]

KINMICHI (金道),  real name Hibino Ichiji (日比野一二), born May 6th 1917, he worked as guntō smith and died August 20th 1945.    Seki stamp

[WillBevan]

Thank you!

[mecox]

Can you post pics of whole sword and fittings?

cheers

[WillBevan]

Unfortunately I’ve never found any fittings to go with it but here is the whole sword.

[WillBevan]

With the date of death being August 20th I’m assuming he committed seppku after the Japanese surrender? 
 

After looking about online a bit this particular smith’s swords seem to have popped up in various places around the world. Despite the Japanese defeat its very cool that these craftsman can be remembered so frequently through their work.

[robinalexander]

  On 3/16/2025 at 11:25 PM, WillBevan said:

With the date of death being August 20th I’m assuming he committed seppku after the Japanese surrender?

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That's some assumption Will ....I don't think so.

[mecox]

William and Rob, hard to know circumstances.   (the surrender of Japan was announced by Emperor Hirohito on August 15, 1945)

Hibino Ichiji (日比野一二)  was born: Taisho 6 (1917) May 6 Reg. Seki tosho: 1942, Sept 10
Address 1942: Oyama, Tomida-mura.
Died 1945, August 20 (age 28).

Meiirin Sangyo Co Ltd has a sword for sale, also with this text (translation):

 

Originally, it is a valuable sword that should be displayed in a museum in Seki City. Kindo swordsmith, whose real name is Ichiji Hibino, was born on May 6, Taisho 6, and lives in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture. On August 20, Showa 20, he was a brave martyr of the Showa Restoration who took responsibility for Japan's defeat and judged himself at the age of 29 on August 20, Showa 20. At that time, many martyrs felt responsible for Japan's defeat in the war on August 15, Showa 20, and went to the square in front of the Imperial Palace or the Imperial Palace to apologize to the Emperor. The creator of this sword, Kindo swordsmith, is also a brave man in the spirit of bushido. It's a shame to think how many wonderful Japan swords he would have made if he had been resurrected as a swordsmith after the war

 

The mei Is Kinmichi and date appears to be Showa 18 (1943) September

                                                                        

[Bruce Pennington]

With the large Seki stamp, your most likely date of manufacture would be 1943.  They are seen between 1941-'45 but the massive majority were made in '43.

[WillBevan]

Thanks for the information, any ideas how it would’ve ended up in England and what the handle would have been made from?

[Geraint]

Dear William.

 

A significant number of Japanese swords came back to the UK at the end of WWII, most were swords produced specifically for the war using different manufacturing techniques to the process used to produce traditional swords.  The Seki stamp on yours and the date range make it one of these.  In more recent years such swords have been collected and examples have been brought into the country but given the missing mounts yours has probably been here since the end of the war.

They were little regarded during the time following 1945, one collector's story speaks of going to see a sword and finding the fence beside the garden path made up of blades stuck into the ground with a wire threaded through the mekugi ana, the fittings had been stripped off and sold for scrap.  Your sword would once have looked like this:

 

 

If all you need is this thread then so be it but if you find yourself interested then perhaps consider joining the Token Society of Great Britain, easy to find on the web.  If you want to do some research then this sword would be a Shingunto, pop that in a browser and you will find a ton of information.  Great place to start would be: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

 

All the best.