Kanji Translation Assistance | Nihonto Club

Kanji Translation Assistance

Submitted by daric75 on Sun, 2015-11-22 05:06

Nihonto

I am looking for some help identifying this mei.

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	#1Submitted by Looper on Sun, 2015-11-22 10:11. image The image attachment hasn't worked. You might need to try again. Login or register to post comments


	#2Submitted by daric75 on Sun, 2015-11-22 15:05. new image Thanks Looper. Just uploaded a larger version of the mei. Have been searching the database and haven't had much luck. Login or register to post comments


	#3Submitted by saipan59 on Mon, 2015-11-23 01:30. Yoshiharu Signature is: "TOuTO JUu MINAMOTO YOSHIHARU SAKU". A very similar one is here: http://www.artswords.com/Imperial_Japanese_Gunto_Mounted_Katana_101107.htm Pete Login or register to post comments


	#4Submitted by daric75 on Mon, 2015-11-23 01:55. Definitely on the money Pete, you were on the money. How did you find it so fast? Login or register to post comments


	#5Submitted by saipan59 on Mon, 2015-11-23 02:34. with help I figured out HARU and SAKU by myself. The YOSHI was tough. I thought it was 2 separate kanji, and I couldn't find either of them. Then I asked my wife to look at it, and it took her about 10 seconds to identify "Minamoto Yoshiharu". Then I used Google... So, the real secret is to have a spouse that is native Japanese and from a family with a strong literary interest. :-) Note that if you show this type of thing to an employee of your local Japanese restaurant, most likely they'll be clueless. For a WWII blade, this one is signed in a rather classy style, which is nice. This type of writing is probably "Gyosho" (semi-cursive). But that also makes it hard to read. Some WWII blades are hard to read because the signature is so choppy and over-simplified ("bad handwriting"). Pete Login or register to post comments


	#6Submitted by daric75 on Wed, 2015-12-09 03:03. I have really got to stop buying so many swords Pete, I just bought another one and this one would be difficult for me to translate. It is a civilian mount with a surrender tag. Some of the characters are numbers and I am sure correlate to the date it was surrendered. Would I be able to trouble you for some more assistance? Login or register to post comments


	#7Submitted by saipan59 on Wed, 2015-12-09 03:51. Masazane The signature is "MASAZANE" (or MASASANE). The date is Showa 19 (1944). I can't read much of the surrender tag, but the upper-right on one side says "SHOuWA-TOu". Pete Login or register to post comments