Japanese marks on a Chamorro knife

[not2sharp]

Here is an interesting Chamorro knife, probably from the Marianas. Can someone read these Japanese markings.





n2s

[koto]

looks like kitchen chop knife?
Two files with kanji (Chinese characters) there, the round one 美means 'beautiful' or 'nice'; the retangular one 清炊 roughly means 'clear cooking', literally.

[not2sharp]

Originally Posted by koto

looks like kitchen chop knife?
Two files with kanji (Chinese characters) there, the round one 美means 'beautiful' or 'nice'; the retangular one 清炊 roughly means 'clear cooking', literally.

Thanks for the translation. The markings are always varied and interesting on these things. Here are some other examples.



These traditional knives are still being made in the US territory of Guam where the primary industries are Japanese/Asian tourism and the US Military.

This photo was taken at a shop there about 10 years ago.



n2s