Sword Translation

**MonLily** · 10-30-2018, 09:33 PM

Hi all,

I have just extended my hobby of collecting Japanese antiques (9 years of kimono & satsuma) to Wakizashi's... I picked up a beat up wakizashi (because I liked the old beat up case) & found this on the tang - Im pretty sure its a Showa Era ( year 9 would make it 1935) however Im not entirely sure & would appreciate any help to properly identify it.

My long term goal is to learn as much as I can about the Wakizashi's so that I can become a better collector !!

Many thanks.

**Nick Komiya** · 10-30-2018, 09:49 PM

You should first buy a camera that can focus before changing from a Kimono. The fuzzy inscriptions look quite non-Japanese and dubious to me. They were hardly making Japanese style swords in 1934 commercially, and the Army was still in the Saber era and only about to change to Japanese style that year.

**MonLily** · 10-30-2018, 09:59 PM

Thank you for the advice on the camera ... perhaps the characaters will show better then ..in actual real life the characters are very Japanese ( I can translate some of them myself ... For example the top character in the first two is 国 (Kuni ) still working on accurate identification of the second .... the top two characters (even tho they are side ways say 昭和 (sho wa) the 3rd 九 (9) & 4th character Im still working on

I was hoping for some guidance so that I could learn more not advice to stick to Kimono & Satsuma( although my collection is very very nice -金駒山 (kinkozan s , Gyokuzan 玉山, 緑山 Midorisan -thank you) which is how I learned to read the script for the Masters within that field. This is a new field for me - one would think that one would encourage new comers not tell them to stick to Kimono but thanks for that

**Nick Komiya** · 10-30-2018, 10:19 PM

I have been a native speaker of Japanese for 63 years, but if you are sure you know better, good luck. Many swords carry fake Japanese done by non-Japanese, who screw up the stroke order, which is decisively important for authentication.

**Sporter90** · 10-30-2018, 10:57 PM

I don't own a kimono, but I've been watching Satsuma for 9 months. I can tell you straight. Chesto! It is a fake Japanese sword. Fake tsuba too.

**MonLily** · 10-30-2018, 11:01 PM

Yes -I know which is why I was asking for assistance in the first place not advice on tea & scone making but thank you for responding - as I said I have mastered my other fields & this is a new one for me hence the request -I wont trouble you all any further - I lived in Japan many years ago - my only regret was I wasnt interested in swords at that time _ I could have learnt so much there rather than now having to rely on the internet