Help with mei

[Tom Clancy]

Hi

Any assistance with this translation would be greatly appreciated.

Tom.

[huntershooter]

Smith appears to be MasaMichi.

No help on the rest.

[Mark]

date is feb 1942

[Nobody]

I suspect that the original owner was given the sword by his parents at his departure.

 

為宗平博殿 – for Mr. Munehira Hiroshi

備後國住正道鍛之 – Masamichi in Bingo province forged this.

 

昭和十七年二月吉日 – a lucky day in February of 1942

父母 常在與爾 – [nonliterally] From father and mother; Always with you and give this to you.

[k morita]

hi,

 

i believe that this sword was gift for the son from parents.

 

The 1st pic:

For Mr.MUNEHIRA Hiroshi.

Bingo no kuni ju Masamichi kore o kitau.

 

The 2nd pic:

Feburuary,1942.

Parents always be with you.(fubo wa tsune ni nanji to ari)

[Stephen]

Tom

 

More pix please id like to see his work, always like these kind of mei, how proud the parents were

very nice.

[k morita]

May be good sword. :D

[k morita]

hi

This swordsmith won the fourth seat (kasaku prize) in swords exhibition in 1939. Phot is the Tanto oshigata.

His real sure name was Shinoki ,lived in Hiroshima pref.

[george trotter]

Morita san...I really like how your book (Nihonto oyobi Nihonshumi) has the actual oshigata of the winning swords...fabulous!

If only this book (and journals) could be re-printed...Wareware no gendaito no shushuka wa, kono hon ga, irimasu yo!

Thanks for these pics...

Regards,

George.

[Tom Clancy]

Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay in my reply, and I would like to thank everyone for their help.

What would us mere mortals do without you guys

Stephen here are a few pics you asked for

 

Many thanks again

Tom.

[Stephen]

wonderbar!! just a magnificent pick up. Looks like he did very fine work. how do you guys dig these up,what a find!

[george trotter]

wunderbar indeed! Was the sword in this polish when you got it Tom, or did you have it done?

Regards,

George.

[Tom Clancy]

Glad you like it Stephen.This is the only blade by shinoki masa michi that I have come across.

If any members have any info regarding this smith it would be much appreciated.

 

George: The sword was already polished.

 

Tom.

[k morita]

Good sword,Nice jigane. :D

 

Check Dr. Stein's below link and search "Shinoki".

http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/tosho.htm

 

中上作 (CHUJO SAKU)

上工の上位 (Joko no Joi)

[James]

That's an awesome gendaito! Love it!! Thanks for sharing the additional photos!

[george trotter]

Tom,

I had a look through my Japanese Gendaito references and can't find any trace of him in any of the post-war ones, so I suppose he didn't continue in swords after the war (or I missed him). I did find his name and address for Hiroshima Ken in the Nihon Token Shimbun 1942 publication "Dai Nihon Token Shoko Meikan" Page 304-17 (which is the reference quoted in the Rich Stein Tosho list linked by Morita san). No other information is given, but at least it is a source/page/date/reference for your files.

George.

[Stephen]

http://search.freefind.com/servlet/free ... =masamichi

[Brian]

Very nice Gendaito indeed!

And wonderful work by Moriyama sana and Morita san, almost at the same time :D

What would we do without you..truly.

Tom..please tell us you own this, and not just one that is passing by. It would be a very nice find.

 

Brian

[Tom Clancy]

I would just like to thank NMB members for their kind comments and help.

Brian: I took delivery of the sword on Monday the 1st March, glad everyone finds it an interesting blade.

 

Tom.

[sensei215]

Congratulations its a fine looking blade. I have just started to take an interest in gendaito and realize I have not fully appreciated the skill of the makers. When I first started to collect it was all about Koto blades and some Shinto ( god forbid if the machi had been moved ). I first became interested in swords because of a Japanese friend of mine who asked me to look for them at the gun shows that I regularly went to on the weekends. I became addicted but I think I also adopted some of his opinions. I learned a lot by handling blades. It wasn't unusual to see 20 to 40 swords at a big East Coast and there were very few buyers. Now if you

see 1 or 2 clean blades its a lot.

 

Tim S

[lonely panet]

thacongardulationst buy the pic's show is a fantastic gendai, i have a yusakuni gendai by kenzo yasunori and its not that good. congradulations, i hope it brings your alot of pleaser.

Regards Hamish

[Tom Clancy]

Hamish,

As I have said earlier on this thread I have tried to compare his work but have failed to find another blade by him. Was this a one off? or was most of his work done in similar style and quality.

As you know Yasukuni-to are regarded as some of the best blades produced during that period so it is interesting that you find the Masamichi of better quality, because he is only rated Chujo Saku

 

Regards

Tom.

[James]

Just remember flamboyancy doesn't equal quality. The Yasukunito and the Masamichi would have to be held in hand and compared side by side to be able to make a call like that.

[cabowen]

Just remember flamboyancy doesn't equal quality. The Yasukunito and the Masamichi would have to be held in hand and compared side by side to be able to make a call like that.

 

 

Bingo......

[Tom Clancy]

That's an awesome gendaito! Love it!! Thanks for sharing the additional photos!

 

Just remember flamboyancy doesn't equal quality. The Yasukunito and the Masamichi would have to be held in hand and compared side by side to be able to make a call like that.

 

Sounds like that would be a bit of a contradiction. I am also a big fan of Elvis, Ali and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

 

Just remember flamboyancy doesn't equal quality. The Yasukunito and the Masamichi would have to be held in hand and compared side by side to be able to make a call like that.

 

 

Bingo......

 

I thought bingo was a game for old women.

 

Tom

[loiner1965]

indeed a lovely well made sword....for the nihonto purists do you class this as showato or gendaito or just a hand made war time sword.

[Brian]

It has nie, hataraki and hada. So not a mass produced Showato obviously.

I would call this Gendaito unless I had reason to believe that tamahagane wasn't used.

 

Brian

[Tom Clancy]

Hi Steve

 

for your comments. WW2 swords and smiths seem to be a can of worms and no one is exactly sure who made or signed what. It all appears to be guess work.

A very eminent collector recently explained to me that collectors of Yasukuni-to do not want blades signed Kunimori to be associated with the hand of Miyaguchi other than the mei as this would devalue their blades.

 

Regards

Tom.

 

UTD did well I am a Town fan.

[Jamie]

Very nice!

Great activity.

That looks well made.

[cabowen]

Hi Steve

 

for your comments. WW2 swords and smiths seem to be a can of worms and no one is exactly sure who made or signed what. It all appears to be guess work.

 

Well, things aren't always what they seem/appear! Some of us have a pretty good handle on the situation without a whole lot of guesswork involved....

 

 

A very eminent collector recently explained to me that collectors of Yasukuni-to do not want blades signed Kunimori to be associated with the hand of Miyaguchi other than the mei as this would devalue their blades.

 

Lots of people, some who know better and many who don't, like to call blades signed Kunimori yasukuni-to-usually for sale purposes. This is incorrect and since they were not traditional blades, causes a bit of indigestion among those who appreciate traditionally made blades, Yasukuni-to inclusive...