japanese sword for comments
 

HAPPY HOLIDAY TO ALL
my new japanese wakisashi

I figured after all these years I've been reading this forum that someone
would sooner or later post something about Japanese swords :-)

Nice looking sword, unfortunately I can't tell much about it from the
one pic of the blade. Is the nakago (tang) signed? Are the fittings (tsuba,
or fuchi) signed?

From what I can see, I really like the tsuba motif of the menuki. Really neat.

If anything is signed, please post a readable pic of the signature. I can tell
you more about it if it's signed. Maybe some better pics of the blade would
also help. Sometimes the style of hada and hamon can indicate the maker
or at least the school.

Rich S

The Japanese Sword Index
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm

Rich,

I made some pictures of the tang of a wakisashi I bought some time ago.
it is fitted with miltary mountings and has a wooden katana scabbard.
Nothing special at all, but I'm curious to the signature. If you can make anything of it, please....

Hello.
Thank you for your interest.
There is no signature.
Afflicted.
galvano

Henk -

It's a WW II sword; has a Seki tang stamp. Smith is Kane something,
but I can't translate it all off the top. (Have had a couple and killed
a few brain cells this evening). I'll get back to you and post a translation.
Happy New Year everyone!
Rich S

Henk -

The translation is:

Seki junin Fujii Kanefuji saku (関住人藤井兼藤作)

Courtesy of the folks at the Nihonto Message Board.
Have a happy new year.

Rich S

Rich,

Killing some brain cells gives you just a bit headache the next morning :D
Don't worry, just before X-mas holidays I had a nice conversation with a colleague of mine who went to a lecture given by a brainsurgeon for teachers.
When the brain lost a function other parts of the brain are able to retake the lost function. You need some training for that, but the result is eventualy equal and when you train harder on it it will even become better. So, take another on me :p

Thanks for the translation. Is there a character you cann't read? If you tell me which one I might give you a better pic of that part.

Anyway, thanks for your effort and the best wishes for this new year

Henk -

It's a full translation. Commonly several Kanji are combined into one
word in the English (Romanji) translation.

I'm afraid way too many brain cells have been killed off over the years
and I'm much too old to re-train to do anything or maybe just too
set in my ways to do anything different. The wife has been trying
to train me for nearly 40 years to no avail :-)

Happy New Year.
Rich

Thanks Rich,

The question marks gave me the idea you couldn't read a kanji. I know that like chinese more kanji together are translated in one word.

About the brain cells, for me the same. My wife gave up much sooner and put her energy to the kids. Telling them that their father was a lost case and that she hoped she could still make something of them :D

Henk -

There are no question marks in my post giving the translation. If
you're seeing some, then probably you don't have the Japanese
language character set engaged on your browser. Go to the "View"
button on your browser, then character set, then add the Japanese
set. Most all currently available browsers have them built in.

Rich

Rich,
I take advantage of this thread to send a pic of the tang of a wakisashi I bought some time ago to have a translation.
Thank You in advance and a Prosperous 2007.
Paolo

Sorry for the mistake, here is the pic.
Paolo

I believe it reads "Hisamitsu"

Rich S

Thank You, very much, but knowing nothing about Japanese edge weapons, what does it mean ? Is it a sign, an arsenal, the name of a smith ?
Regards
Paolo

It is the swordsmith's name. But there have been many smiths with that
name thru various periods of Japanese history, so I can't date it closely
or tell you which Hisamitsu. I would suspect the sword is somewhere in
the Edo period, circa 1600-1860's.

Rich S

Rich,
Surely it must be of the end of XIX century, because at that time my city harbour had a regular shipping line with Japan, and many sailors took souvenirs like my wakisashi. I bought it at an auction in my city because looks to me quite good and was offered at a very good price.
Regards
Paolo

The quality of the pics isn't good, it's 5 PM and there is no sun light.

Hi,

Sorry to tell you, but to me it seems one of thoose better chinese repros... Well maybe I'm wrong, just the overall appearance talks in that direction.

Paolo, sei di Trieste?

Si, sono di Trieste, e tu ? (sorry)

Ciao
Paolo

Grandioso! You are the cloest forumite of mine :) As I've told you in PM, we are almost neighbours.... Amazing...