Nihonto Club

I think the writing says 山本 Yamamoto 亀一 Kameichi which is a signature of the smith. Unfortunately I am pretty sure it is a fake and not a real Japanese sword.

Hi Angie,

I must agree with Henry, it looks like a fake, unfortunately. The characters are like in the post above, but for signatures on replica swords it's usually pointless to seek any meaning as it may be just a random set of characters, or even some inscription in Chinese.

Regards,
Stan

While I agree with Stan that most replica sword signatures are nonsense, the characters above do mimick a Japanese name. Yamamoto is a common Japanese family name, but as for Kameichi, I think this is meant to be a male given-name but strikes me as being invented by someone not that familiar with Japanese names.

All in all, if Mr Yamamoto existed (which I doubt) he was probably a WW2 smith but I am pretty sure this is the illusion that the creator of the replica was intending.

Other things that suggest the sword is replica is the file marks (they are wrong) and the way the hole is drill. I see some filings around the hole. This would not be the case on a true nihonto.

hi folks, I'm interested to know if any of you are still engaged in this search. reason being I have recently bought a very similar piece ( for very little) and have found the same 'mei', but of a far superior quality, and with completely different file marks on a particularly well made blade with beautiful fold patters, and a billion tiny file marks, all going at the same angle and kind of flowing oveer the blade in the same direction. It is obviouslt a hand made piece, but interesting that it is the same,,,but very different to the pics that Angie has posted. I have never scribbled on one of these pages before, and I have no idea how to slap a photo onto one,,,,,yet, but if you are keen, and can talk me through, I'll try to make it happen and bang some pics on that may confuse the plot even more.
Kind regards to you all, Steve G. New Zealand.

Hi Steve,

If you create a new thread, you'll be able to attach the photos.

Regards,
Stan

great, dunnit, never done this stuff before, a real learning curve.
Thanks Stan
kind regards, Steve G.