Hello, I'm new to this forum, took me awhile to find a sword forum dedicated to just Nihonto. I love them. Any way, was wondering if I could get some help here. A friend asked me to translate a Mei for him, and honestly I'm not having much luck. I think it says Mihara Sadamune, but I'm new to this translation stuff. I know the signature is on a NoDachi if that helps. Here are some photos, sorry for the horrible quality. Please bestow upon me any knowledge you may have and I look forward to be a fellow forum mate here. Any help you can give on this is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Sadamune
Hi Razith, and welcome to the club!
It's an interesting one. Mihara Sadamune looks like a good guess at first glance. However, there doesn't seem to be any reference to such smith and also I'm not so sure about HARA. It's beyond my skill to read it, but it doesn't look like HARA to me.
Also, it may be not SADA 貞, but SANE 眞/真. Sometimes where are written in quite similar way.
You should try and ask guys on Nihonto Message Board as well, they are very helpful.
Here's a more conveniently presented signature based on your photos:
I must say the signature looks suspicious. The style is not very elegant. It reminds me of make gimei (fake signatures) out there. Of course it's hard to make any judgement based on the photos. Try to look at the sword as a whole rather than just from the signature point of view. Identify era and style, and this will narrow down the realm of smiths to look at.
Regards,
Stan
Okay thanks for the help,
Okay thanks for the help, I'll give that a look.
“I do not love the bright sword for it's sharpness, nor the arrow for it's swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend”
-J.R.R. Tolkien