Request For Help Translating Kanji

C

coral99

後輩

16 Jun 2014

57

5

• 10 Nov 2021

• #1

Hello,

I would like to request help translating the kanji on the tang from a Japanese sword. I included a picture below.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much for your help with my requests. I greatly appreciate it.

Matt

 

Attachments

• Tang1.webp

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Majestic

先輩

Ten-year veteran

12 Oct 2013

4,071

5,023

• 10 Nov 2021

• #2

大東亜聖戦之初

Dai-tōa seisen no hatsu

"Dai Tōa seisen" means the great war in the Greater East Asia (aka Pacific War, aka WW2).
I'm not sure about the last kanji. It appears to be 初, which means beginning or first, but that doesn't make grammatical sense. I mean, it could plausibly mean that the sword was made at the outset of WW2, but that's not really how the syntax, word choice, or the grammar works. Anyway, it appears to be an inscription from WW2 - or a fake inscription that is trying to get passed off as a WW2 inscription.

 

C

coral99

後輩

16 Jun 2014

57

5

• 10 Nov 2021

• Thread starter
• #3

Thanks for the prompt reply and extra insight, I greatly appreciate it and this is very helpful as well as interesting. Sounds like it may be a patriotic saying?

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 10 Nov 2021

• #4

It might mean Dai-tōa seisen no hajime, i.e., at the beginning of the great war in the Greater East Asia.