Sword inscriptions

M

medic34

後輩

7 Feb 2014

5

3

• 7 Feb 2014

• #1

I've searched and searched and tried to match these markings with those on various spreadsheets and translation sites and I've failed miserably. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is very important to me and my family.

 

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Majestic

先輩

Ten-year veteran

12 Oct 2013

4,071

5,023

• 7 Feb 2014

• #2

I think the left is: Kiku Ichi Monji （菊一文字）

and the right is: Seishin Mano Masayasu Kitae Kore （誠心 真野正泰鍛之）

 

M

medic34

後輩

7 Feb 2014

5

3

• 7 Feb 2014

• Thread starter
• #3

Now supposedly one of these is supposed to be a date and one is supposed to be a swordsmith and his province. That's of it were common/military issue and followed standard marking patterns. What is that in English?

 

Majestic

先輩

Ten-year veteran

12 Oct 2013

4,071

5,023

• 7 Feb 2014

• #4

Hmmm, well, not exactly.

Kiku Ichi Monji is the name of a particular school (group) of swordsmiths. You can read up on this group here
Kiku-ichimonji - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seishin Mano Masayasu Kitae Kore is the inscription given by the smith Mano Masayasu, whose name is included in part of the inscription. Family name is Mano, and the given name is Masayasu. Seishin means sincere, trustworthy, reliable, etc. The last two characters "Kitae Kore" basically just means "forged by" (if I can loosely translate it this way).

There are no date markings on either of these swords that I can see. Generally speaking, swords have all different inscriptions and marks (and often no marks whatsoever), so its not unusual for there to be no date inscribed. And as I've mentioned in previous threads, putting signatures on modern, or cheap, or defective swords to try to increase their value (in other words, forgery) is very, very common.

 

M

medic34

後輩

7 Feb 2014

5

3

• 7 Feb 2014

• Thread starter
• #5

These are opposite sides of the same tang. The sword is very genuine although it probably wasn't obtained under the best circumstances. You have been incredibly helpful.

 

M

medic34

後輩

7 Feb 2014

5

3

• 7 Feb 2014

• Thread starter
• #6

My family has found out more on this forum than we have in the 70+ years we've had this sword.

 

Majestic

先輩

Ten-year veteran

12 Oct 2013

4,071

5,023

• 7 Feb 2014

• #7

If you put the sword smith's name into a search engine, you can pull up some pages that show some of his swords. There is even a facebook page with some great shots of a sword by him (in similar sword fittings to yours). If you want to cut-and-paste... 真野正泰

 

M

medic34

後輩

7 Feb 2014

5

3

• 7 Feb 2014

• Thread starter
• #8

My father recently passed and this came to me. He used to carry it around with him when he was little. Mind is blown. I have no words.

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 8 Feb 2014

• #9

It's 漢文. 真野正泰鍛之 is read "Mano Masayasu kore wo kitau" and means Mano Masayasu forged this (sword). (Sorry for nitpicking again.)