400 Year Old Japanese Knife ?

B

B.V.

Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
194
A friend of mine is the owner of this knife. He allowed me to take some photos of it to post here for us to enjoy....and for some possible input on it as well. According to him it belonged to a Japanese General who was in Hospice care. Before his death, he passed it on to his father who was caring for him, as he had no one to pass it on to. It is said to be over 400 years old and there is a poem etched into the side of the blade that has not been translated. The text is belived to be old and not so common anymore. What ever it is...it is definately beautiful and in very good shape. The photos do not do it justice, but you can see the hamon on the blade. Your input is welcome.......

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Voyles6/IMG_0943.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Voyles6/IMG_0944.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Voyles6/IMG_0946.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Voyles6/IMG_0947.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Voyles6/IMG_0949.jpg
 
Looks legit to me. The carvings are sharp and not stamped like the Chinese fakes. 400 years old? Beats me. The only thing that would help with the aging may be to remove the shirayasa and see if there's a maker's name underneath it as this may set a date for the item.

Now for the bad news....that tanto is in pretty bad shape. It really needs a good polisher to get rid of that rust and pitting, but that isn't going to come cheap. Lot's of the better polishers charge something in the neighborhood of $100+ per inch of the blade. There's few guys over at Sword-Buyers-Guide that should be able to give you an in-depth analysis of the blade.

Awesome blade!
 
I can try to translate the poem if you wish, i dont see any date markings on it though.
There might be something on the tang but that would require removing the handle which may not be a good idea.
 
The case looks to be shirasaya, so if it's legit then it seems the fittings were lost or never ordered after it was commissioned. It seems like it would be in higher polish, considering the shape the characters are in.

Someone knowledgeable in Japanese swords should be able to date it based on the rust on the tang as well as a signature.

I'll send the photos over to my wife to see if she can read the inscription. If it's really artsy and really 400 years old she probably won't be able to read it, she's told me many times that some writing is just "too beautiful" to read.
 
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The wife says it's a "tanka" poem which is a 31 verse poem. She says the writing style is older, so someone like her grandparents could read it, but not her. She says it's something about nature and a mountain is named in it. Hope it helps.
 
Yes, he said that all that he has been able to find out about the poem is that it mentions a mountain. Thanks for the input!

Brad
 
It's called Shikishima no Uta and was used repeatedly during the war years to inspire the troops and the general populace;


Shikishima no Yamato-gokoro wo hito to waba
What, people ask, is that thing called the Japanese spirit
Asahi ni Niou Yama-zakura hana
It is the fragrant mountain cherry flower in the morning sun


Your writer has used different kanji for Shikishima, which is an old poetic name for Japan itself and used hentai-gana the older form of hiragana with a beautiful hand making this a very elegant presentation overall. From the photos it appears this was done in ink and is not a carving.
 
Thank you very much for your response, sorry I was out for a while due to some surgery. I will pass this on to the owner and one of us will make contact with Mr. Helm. Also, I am quite sure that the writings are engraved into the steel as I took the photos myself in the backyard and, as a result, have seen them myself. Thank you again.
 
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