Characters on Blade

[Samba]

I was wondering if anyone can give me a rough translation for this piece.

[Bugyotsuji]

Am I seeing

三条宗近 Sanjo Munechika

　?

 

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89% ... 7%E8%BF%91

[sanjuro]

Thank God for that! I thought I must be wrong.

Hmmmm... Must have signed it on one of his 'off' days..... He missed the nakago by a fair margin. :D

 

Closer pics of the blade and nakago may tell more. The current pics are hard to see anything by.

[Grey Doffin]

I believe this was made during WWII. Either the nakago is too short or the mekugi-ana is placed too low; either way this odd nakago configuration is a common trait of tanto made during the war. The sugata at the kissaki puts me in mind of that period as well.

Also, it is not unusual to find "Sanjo Munechika" carved on the blade above the habaki. Certainly not an attempt to fool anyone into believing this is by Munechika; not sure why this was done.

Grey

[cabowen]

These were made by the boat load in Seki as souvenirs.......

[Basho12]

Whew. I spent more time than I should have last night staring at the pictures. "Something just isn't right." Thanks for the explanation.