growlingbear Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Hello all! Hopefully someone here can help me out with translating the mei on a sword my Grandfather brought back from WW2. I think the first three characters are for Bitchu Province, but any help would be much appreciated! Thanks very much, James Quote
cabowen Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Bitchu Kuni Mizuta ju Kunishige Not a WWII era blade.... Quote
cabowen Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Not to let the water out of your paddy Eric but in this case the correct reading is Mizuta..... Quote
Jacques Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Hi, Seems shoshin at first glance. Can we see the blade ? Quote
growlingbear Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Posted April 11, 2012 I have attached a photo of the blade and everything else associated with it. The second photo is of the name written on the piece of cloth - I assume this was who the sword belonged to. It also shows the blade tip. The blade itself doesn't seem to be in great condition (it has patches of rust - I think it has been stored in a cupboard for about 60 years...). I would love to hear any other information that anyone can provide. I guess it is very difficult to make a judgement based on the photos but any idea on if it would be possible to restore the blade, and a ballpark cost? Thanks very much, James Quote
Eric H Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Not to let the water out of your paddy Eric but in this case the correct reading is Mizuta..... Seems this can be translated or interpreted on two ways... Aoi comment to this smith: Suiden Kunishige was a skillfull swordsmith in Bicchu province. The founder of Kunishige was Tenbun era (around 1532), an he was called Tatsufusa. After him, Kunishige continued some generations until Genroku era (around 1688) Eric Quote
runagmc Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 James, the sword would need to be examined by someone in hand to tell for sure if it's restorable, but from what I can see in the pics, it looks like it probably is. Most professional polishers charge by the centimeter, and then you would need to have a new shirasaya, and mabey a new habaki made. I would guess around $2500-$3000. It can be a long, expensive, and somewhat complicated process, but since the sword was free and is an inheritance, it may be worthwhile for you. In the meantime you can wipe a thin coat of mineral oil on the sword to prevent further corrosion. Quote
Jacques Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 Eric, Tsuruta san is wrong in this case. Quote
growlingbear Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Posted April 11, 2012 Thanks very much everyone for your help - really interesting and much older than I thought! Quote
cabowen Posted April 11, 2012 Report Posted April 11, 2012 The standard reading in this case is Mizuta. Sometimes dealers and collectors in Japan use a different reading just to be "cool"....You will sometimes hear Miyairi Akihira called Shohei (alternate reading) or the like....yes, it is a correct reading, but not the one commonly used.... Quote
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