This is my first post. A friend has a wakazashi that her father brought back from Japan in the 1950s. I'd appreciate any help on translating the kanji.

Aloha from Hawaii.

Harada

With Andy's information I was able to find a similar Mei. Added an additional slide (Eureka) that was accompanied with the following writeup:
Katana: Musashi Daijyo Sakon Korekazu (1st generation)
Katana in Shirasaya(NBTHK Hozon Paper)
Signature: Musashi Daijyo Sakon Korekazu (１st　gen)
The blade was polished.
Habaki: syakudo single habaki.
Blade length : 69.6cm or 27.41inches.

Hi everybody,
I have this sword with a signature of Tada Katsu. On the other side of the tang is the kanji indicating the date....Please could you help in translating the first two kanji.

thank you

Andy

I made a mistake and put this under the wrong heading at first, this is my attempt to correct it.

Hello everyone , sorry for my english I 'm french and not easy for me to write in English.
I bought a katana kind efu no tachi with a signed noshu ju Kanemoto blade, nakago was shortened and folded signature on the original silk kind orikaeshi mei, the blade measures 71cm long but probably more in the beginning, it is 2.9 cm motorcycle haba tempering resembles a sanbonsugui which stops just before the boshi , tempering back on the tip which stops before shinogi .
I wanted to know if the signature was good and what is this blade Kanemoto
thank you

Some time ago I ran across a table online that listed Japanese sword smith names by the number of strokes in their kanji. I believe it was from the "Meiboku" website. Since then, I am unable to open that site anymore, I believe it was shut down. I was able to find a limited number of kanji stroke counting smith names on the JSSUS site, but not anywhere near the number I found on the Meiboku site. Does anyone know where I can find a large number of Japanese smiths kanji stroke counting table. I have a Chinese girlfriend who is able to do an accurate kanji stroke count for me.

So I've read and partially agree with the saying, "Buy the sword, not the smith/mei." But my disagreement with that sentiment is; if I want to send a sword to Japan for a polish or a shinsa, I would rather it not be a gimei. If I have a $1000 sword and a possible $10000 sword, it's easy to see which one I'd want to invest $3000 in. I have a couple of the better smiths named swords. Blogs tell us that 90% are gimie, which is probably correct. So how do I tell for sure? I've done my internet searches with mixed results.

Hello everyone,
I just grab a blade with a orikaeshi mei I translated without certainty I need your help to give me information on this signature marked Kanemoto.
71cm blade measuring 2.9cm and nasaga of motohaba.
I enclose a photo to make you notice.
thank you

Hello Pete,

I have this military sword, a sword that used to belong to a Japanese aviator during WWII, that I think is remarkable.
As I understand some Japanese men, mostly officers, who participated in the war, brought along with them swords that belong to their families for generations. This sword appears to me to be one of them.

Hello,

I have this long wakizashi, I managed to translate the mei:
越前守藤原國次 Echizen No Kami Fujiwara Kanitsugu

but have trouble with the otehr side, are the kanji these? 於熊本以南蛮鐡
It does not look like a date, perhaps a location to refer to?

I found a similar sword, a katana, might be its match for a daisho :

https://translate.google.hu/translate?hl=hu&sl=ja&tl=hu&u=http%3A%2F%2Fw...

Can someone help me with the other side, what it might be?
regards
Peter G.

Pete,

Here is another sword (Katana) that I acquired recently. It is attributed to Yamato no kami Motohira, from early 19th century. What do you think about this one?

Here are its specs:
Jidai date: around Bunka Era (1804-1818)
Sugata structure: Shinogi-zukuri
Mune: Iori-mune
Boshi head: O-maru, beautiful!
Kitae hada: Nashi-ji hada
Hamon temper line: Gunome irregular temper lines, awesome!
Nakago tang: Kuri-jiri
Yasuri-me: O-suji chigai
Mekugi hole: One
Habaki collar: Single piece copper
Cutting Edge Length: 62.8 cm (24 3/4")
Sheath Writing: