ShinShinto Katana with Lengthy Mei
 

I recently acquired a ShinShinto katana dated to the 1854 as per Rich's nengo inscriptions (thank you Rich for the wealth of information on your web site!). In fact, as per the date inscription, it is dated to the 5th day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the Ansei nengo.

Which begs the question... was there an auspicious significance to a swordsmith's first sword of a given year? Of a period?

Which leads me to my next question. The mei inscription is rather lengthy - I am hoping someone (Rich?) might be able to decipher it... given the length of the inscription, I am wondering if the mei contains more information beyond the province and name of the maker.

I apologize for the slight overlap of characters, and have provided a picture of the full tang for reference.

Thank you to any and all who can be of assistance.

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/2965/blade.jpg
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/7219/fulltang.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8350/sigpart1.jpg
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5007/sigpart2.jpg
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7300/sigpart3.jpg

That is a standard way of dating a sword. Nothing really special about it.
Sorry, but the signature is way beyond my meager abilities of translation.
I suggest you post the inquiry on the Nihonto Message Board at:

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/index.php

There are a lot of very knowledgeable folks on that board, many from Japan, who I'm sure can help you. Sorry for my limited knowledge and ability :-(

Rich S

Hi Rich,

No worries... thank you for the attempt, and once again, thank you for the wealth of information you have posted on your site. :)

Re: the date, I get that the date is presented in a common form, but was it common to date one's work to the beginning of a period, regardless of the date the sword was completed?

Regards,

Chris

There were certain months, Feb and Aug, if I remember correctly that were considered auspicious dates. But normally the date is just that, when the smith completed forging the blade.

Rich S

Well, using the reference material on the Nihonto site to which you referred me, I was able to translate the last two characters on the Mei, "Tsukuru Kore," or "made this."

Thanks for the reference - I have the photos of the Nagako posted over there and will patiently await a response.

Regards,

Chris

Chris -

I see you've already gotten a response or two. I'm sure there will be more.
Sounds like a really neat sword from what I've read on NMB.

Rich S

Hi Rich,

Yessir, it does indeed appear to be quite the find. Thank you once again for the recommendation.

From what I have been able to gather, not only was Takahashi Naganobu a well-known Shinshinto swordsmith, but he was unique in that he was left-handed... :)

Cheers,

Chris