Kanji Information for Mei and Nengô and other Japanese characters.

The sections throughout this web site contain some of the Japanese characters required for the translation of Mei (signatures), Nengô (dates) and other inscriptions that can be found on the Nagako of Swords and the Seppa Dai of Tsuba and other Polearms and fittings.

On this page you will find information that I hope will help you understand mei and what writings you can expect to find on a japanese sword, You will also find Titles awarded to swordsmiths such as Kami, Daijô etc, numbers needed for translating dates and the characters for day, month and year as well as the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

For many collectors, the Mei, pronounced "may" or the sword signature, is the very first thing we look for when we are presented with a japanese sword to view. Although we aspire to move on past this flaw in our study, it is a habit hard to pass by, as we are always looking for the magical kanji of a swordsmith like the legendary Masamune ³@ or perhaps the famous Shintô Hizen Tadayoshi School ’‰‹g or countless other smiths whose swords we aspire to own. There is also the possibility that the mei could be gimei, that is, a false signature. This is very common. It is a popular theory that 9 out of 10 mei we see by supposed famous swordsmiths are gimei. Then there are also the countless excellent swords that are not signed at all, these swords are described as mumei ( unsigned ) and may be Ubu ( original ), or suriage ( cut down ). Ôsuriage swords are swords that have been greatly shortened, generally losing the mei and most of the original nakago. This was a common practice in the early Edo period. Only the long and earnest study of Nihontô will hopefully one day teach us to read a sword first, and the mei last.

However, if there is a mei, then we must be able to decipher it. The mei can be written in many ways including different styles. It could be written with just 2 characters as was the usual case in the early periods of sword history. It may have had 3 characters, the third being something like Saku μ or Tsukuru ‘’ meaning "made by". Sometimes, personal names were added, much like our christian names or there may have been anywhere from 5, 7 or even 20 or more characters as seen in very long inscriptions and cutting tests.

Japanese swords may also have inscriptions on both sides of the nakago. The Omote (outer side) on a Katana, Wakizashi and Tanto may show the smiths name, province and title if he had one. The Ura (inner side) will sometimes show the date the sword was made. This is the reverse for Tachi mei. The Tachi was worn cutting edge down so it could be drawn from the horse in an upward sweeping motion. Thus the mei and the date would be on the reverse side to that of the Katana. The general belief is that the swords mei was always worn facing out, so as to display the swordsmiths name, even though it could not be seen. There are several different types of mei, the most common are the Tachi Mei and Katana Mei.

An example of a mei could be as follows.


˜Q•½sŒυμ
NAMINOHIRA YUKIMITSU SAKU
Yukimitsu of Naminohira made this.

another example may also be

ˆΙ“€Žη‘ε“Ή
IZU KAMI DAIDO
Daido, Lord, Izu Province.

When we say this, we actually say it as Izu no Kami Daido. The gnoh means gofh as in lord of Izu province, however, it is only spoken and is never written. Also, it is generally only used with the title Kami, and is not seen very often with any other title. Another example of using "no" would be

ŽRι‘ŽOπ‹g‘₯
YAMASHIRO KUNI SANJÔ YOSHINORI

When we say this, we would say Yamashiro no Kuni Sanjo Yoshinori and it would translate to Sanjô Yoshinori, Lord of Yamashiro Province

Another sword may have both mei and date ( Nengi ) and could read like this

ŽRι‘坁“‘Œ΄š ŽŸ
YAMASHIRO DAIJÔ FUJIWARA KUNITSUGU
Fujiwara Kunitsugu, Assistant Lord, Yamashiro Province

Š°‰iŽO”N“ρŒŽ‹g“ϊμ”V
KANEI SANNEN NIGATSU KICHIJITSU SAKU KORE
This made on a lucky day in February in the 3rd year of Kanei. 1626

Important: when counting years, the first year of the era is always inclusive so, if we have for example KANEI 3, or KANEI SANNEN or the 3rd year of KANEI and we know that Kanei started in 1624, then 1624 is the first year, 1625 is the second year so 1626 must be the 3rd year.

So KANEI 3 = 1626


Titles seen in Mei

In the mid 16th century, it became common practice to add official and honorary titles to mei. These were usually in the form of Kami, Daijo and Suke for official titles and Fujiwara, Minamoto, Taira and others for honorary titles. These titles were sometimes handed out by Daimyo and other lords for services rendered, but it is also believed they were sometimes purchased, or given out as bribes. There is some conjecture as to their significance, some say they have varying degrees of importance, others think they are all much of a much ness.

Some Official Titles are

Žη
Kami
‘坁
Daijô

‰ξ
Suke

The book, "Hawleyfs Japanese Swordsmiths" by W. M. Hawley ( see www.wmhawley.com )
lists the titles in this order.

1. Kami - Kami means Lord and would be seen in a mei that may read for example, Mutsu Kami Kaneyasu, this would be said as Mutsu no Kami Kaneyasu and translate to Kaneyasu, Lord of Mutsu Province. Hawleyfs lists Kami as the highest rank or title that a smith may possess.>

2. Daijô - Daijô refers to a Second or Assistant Lord. So in Mutsu Daijô Miyoshi Nagamichi, Mutsu Daijô would be spoken, and would translate to Miyoshi Nagamichi, assistant lord of Mutsu province. Hawleyfs lists Daijô as the Second highest rank or title that a smith may possess.

Other titles are Jô and Suke. These are pretty much the same as far as rank goes and would rank as Third Lord or Second Assistant Lord.

Honorary Titles

Honorary titles were mostly old Clan names that were taken from the earliest times in sword making. They were used on there own or were sometimes mixed with other titles. These titles were most commonly represented by the following

“‘Œ΄
Fujiwara
ŒΉ
Minamoto
•½
Taira
‹k
Tachibana
›Œ΄
Sugawara

 

Some examples of these types of titles could be

ˆΙ›w‘坁‹kŸ‘
IYO DAIJ
Ô TACHIBANA KATSUKUNI

or

–LŒγ‚“cZ“‘Œ΄–ΎŽ‘μ
BUNGO TAKATA JU FUJIWARA AKIHARU SAKU

Or a combination of both

”μ‘O‘Z‹ί]‘坁“‘Œ΄’‰‹g
HIZEN KUNI JU OMI DAIJ
Ô FUJIWARA TADAYOSHI

Osafune

’·‘D

The title Osafune refers to the village Osafune in Bizen province. This area has been prolific in sword production right thoughout the ages. An example of Osafune used in a title would be

”υ‘O‘Z’·‘DŸŒυ
BIZEN KUNI JU OSAFUNE KATSUMITSU
Katsumitsu from Osafune Village, Bizen Province

Other titles seen in Mei

‘
Kuni
Province
B
Shû
A Province
Z
Resident of
μ
Saku
Made
‘’
Tsukuru
Made
”V
Kore
This
’b
Kitau
Forged
‹g
Kichi
Lucky
“·
Body
ŠŽ
Shoji
Owner
l
Nin
Combined with Jû ( Jûnin ) = Resident of





Japanese Numbers

ˆκ
Ichi
1
 
\ˆκ
Ju-ichi
11
“ρ
Ni
2
 
\“ρ
Ju-Ni
12
ŽO
San
3
 
\ŽO
Ju-San
13
Žl
Shi
4
 
\Žl
Ju-Shi
14
Œά
Go
5
 
\Œά
Ju-Go
15
˜Z
Rokû
6
 
“ρ\
Ni-Jû
20
Ž΅
Shichi
7
 
ŽO\
San-jû
30
”ͺ
Hachi
8
Œά\
Go-Jû
50
‹γ
9
”ͺ\
Hachu-Jû
80
\
10
•S
Hyakû
100

 

 

The Calendar

“ϊ
Hi
Day
ŒŽ
Gatsu
Month
”N
Nen
Year
Copyright 2006. Richard Turner.