Help with characters on yajiri?

[Stever]

Hi folks,

 

I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with translating some characters I found on a yajiri I have. They may or may not be kanji; I'm totally useless when it comes to recognizing/interpreting asian script. Anyways, without further ado, here are the pics. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Stever]

Guess not. Is anyone able to tell me if they are actually kanji or not?

 

I'm also hoping someone might give me some advice on what to do with this piece, i.e. should I have it polished; is there even anyone who works on yajiri that anyone knows of? Or is it too small a piece for anyone to bother. Should I just keep it oiled and not worry about it?

 

Thanks for any help you can give me on this, folks. I really like this piece (for no apparent reason) and may eventually have it fully restored, if warranted.

 

I know this isn't strictly nihonto, but it's somewhat related, so I hope it's ok to post this here (should've thought of that first, eh?).

 

Thanks

[Stephen]

we really cant tell if it deserves a polish without seeing the blade portion. sorry I cant help with the kanji...I'm sure someone can or make that Nobody can. It fits right in on this board as it is a yari, most togi can do it....lets see some pix of the blade part.

[Stever]

?Confusion? - this is the blade. It's not a yari, but a yajiri - arrowhead (edit: I think?). Not sure if the tang is signed, I can't get it out of the arrow body without taking apart the laquered string, which I don't want to do right now.

 

Thanks, though.

 

Cheers

[Mike]

You might consult with Bob Mccoy who is yanone collector and can be very helpful. He is the editor of To-Ron the monthly newsletter of NCJSC. His email as published on the newsletter is mccoy@mccoyweb.org.

Mike

[Brian]

Steve,

 

I also like yajiri (yanone) and IMHO, these do look like kanji to me, but it looks like they possibly wrapped the mei around the point, which is odd.

Interesting one though, and it may be worth the effort to restore it.

I would love to hear any other info you do find out about it.

 

Brian

[Stever]

Great. Thanks for the info. I'll try contacting Mr. McCoy.

 

Good to hear there are others with similar interests around here, Brian. I'll be sure to keep you posted on anything I find out.

 

Cheers

[Stever]

Well, after being stumped on this for some time, I caught a lucky break. I believe this yajiri to be signed by Sukemune. The interesting bit (and the part that made this so tricky - especially for a newbie) is that he signed it across two of the edges, so there's only a partial kanji on any side. You have to look at it edge-on to see the kanji properly. I took a couple new snaps of this revelation, thought you might be interested.

 

Let me know what you think; if anyone has any info about this smith (which sukemune, for instance?), it would be appreciated.

 

cheers,

/steve

[Nobody]

It looks Sukefusa (助房) to me, though I am unsure.

[Stever]

Thanks, Moriyama san. I think you're right. I got stuck on 'mune' after seeing this (warning: large image file): Sukemune yajiri

 

cheers,

/steve