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I was wondering if anyone could help me translate the signature on my wakizashi

Submitted by Amolak on Thu, 2008-12-04 23:49

Hello,
I recently bought this wakizashi. It is in decent condition and has a pretty long signature. I'm not too firmiliar with signatures on swords before WWII at this time. If anyone could help i would really appreciate it. I'm gonna post a few pics. Thanks alot.

Nino

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#1Submitted by kazarena on Fri, 2008-12-05 00:06.

Photo of the nakago

Hi Nino,

Would it be possible to make a photo of the nakago (the tang of the sword) in the following way with a higher resolution:

The  end of the signature is clear, while the beginning is very hard to grasp from that photo.

Kind  Regards,
Stan

#2Submitted by Amolak on Fri, 2008-12-05 03:45.

Thanks alot for checking

Thanks alot for checking this out. I'll take some new pictures of the nakago and post them soon.

Thanks again,
Nino

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Nino
#3Submitted by Amolak on Fri, 2008-12-05 23:09.

I tried taking some new pics

I tried taking some new pics to show the top of the mei better but it didnt work out too well. I was thinking of taking a rubbing of the tang instead. I'll do that in the next day or two.

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Nino
#4Submitted by kazarena on Sun, 2008-12-07 00:32.

Some thoughts

Hi Nino,

I had a closer look at your images. Even though the top 2 characters are hard to read properly, it seems like reading the rest might be enough. The signature reads:

播磨大掾藤原重高


(HARIMA NO DAIJÔ FUJIWARA SHIGETAKA)

There were few generations of smiths called Shigetaka. You may find an example of the signature of the first generation Shigetaka here. It looks different to yours. However, when I looked in Fujishiro (Shinto Volume), the second generation Shigetaka looks very much similar:

Shigetaka Nidai

Particularly have a closer look at the slanting and at the way the smith writes JÔ (掾).

That's what Fujishiro says about this smith:

SHIGETAKA HARIMA NO DAIJÔ NIDAI [KANBUN 1661 ECHIZEN] SHINTÔ CHÛJÔSAKU
His works have a ji of mokume tachi, hamon is suguba or gonome and midareba. These works are closer to the style of sandai and yondai Yasutsugu of the same era rather than the shodai Shigetaka.

It's impossible to confirm if your sword was really made by Nidai Shigetaka without seeing the blade. I would suggest showing it to a specialist.

Regards,
Stan

#5Submitted by Amolak on Mon, 2008-12-08 06:35.

Thanks a bunch!

Stan,
I really appreciate the help as I am still learning. It's hard to find people who are willing to help. I am glad I found this website I'll definitely be around. I am going to write down all this info. and keep it with the sword. Where would be an ideal place to look for an expert to check the sword out? I was thinking shinsa but the sword does need a bit of work nothing too serious though. I'd like to find out an average worth on this sword. I'm pretty sure I got it for a good deal either way.

You have been a big help thank you very much and i'm sure we will talk again,

Nino

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Nino