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Confused with mei reading: 武山

Acoyauh

後輩
1 Nov 2016
25
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16
Hello again,
I have seen this sword mei:
s-l1600.jpg

It's supposed to be seki buzan yoshikatsu.
But that would be 関武山義勝 right? What do the last 3 kanji actually say?

Also, 武山 can be read takeyama if it's a surname? I don't know of any buzan smiths, but there are plenty takeyama/takayama - am I in the right track here?

Anyway, I'm all confused, since none of my clumsy reading combinations return an actual smith in any index I know... would someone kindly help me out?

Thank you!
 
That's 関武山義作, reading Seki Takeyama Yoshinao saku, meaning Made by Takeyama Yoshinao in Seki.
Incidentally, Takeyama and Takayama are different in kanji. 武山 can't be read as Takayama.
 
Great, thank you so much, again, Totoribe!
A WWII smith that made both gendaito and showato... need to have a closer look at the blade. It looks well made, but if showato then it is not made of tamahagane, no matter how nicely made.

I don't know if it's an urban legend, but supposedly showato are destroyed in Japan. Is this true? This one is in Hiroshima and has its Ministry of Education registration, so I guess it's a good sign...
 
Shōwatō aren't automatically destroyed, although military swords used to be as they were seen solely as weapons without artistic merit. Nowadays I don't think the authorities are so strict. I think they take a more lenient view of these items. As you surmise, if this one is already registered it is either a sign that the sword is traditionally made, or that the person registering the sword wasn't bothered by the composition of the sword.
 
Thank you, Majestic. I am not familiar with Board of Education registration cards; I know they're not judgement papers, but do you know what information they have? Do they identify the sword at any detail? I mean, if I ask to see it, would it tell me anything other than that it is Japanese?
 
The registration card tells what the item is (sword, wakizashi, spear, etc.), how long it is, how deep the curvature is, how many peg-holes there are, and what inscription is on the blade.
It will have a unique registration number, and it will identify which board of education is issuing the card.
 
THOSE are the cards? I thought there was a different one for the export of a sword. That would do, I guess :) thank you guys!
 
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