Nihonto Kanji Pages - Commmon Nihonto Kanji

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 正宗 or perhaps the famous Shintô Hizen Tadayoshi School 忠吉 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 作 or Tsukuru 造 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.

国	Kuni	Province	州	Shû	A Province
住	Jû	Resident of	作	Saku	Made
造	Tsukuru	Made	之	Kore	This
鍛	Kitau	Forged	吉	Kichi	Lucky
胴	Dô	Body	所持	Shoji	Owner

一	Ichi	1	十一	Ju-ichi	11
二	Ni	2	十二	Ju-Ni	12
三	San	3	十三	Ju-San	13
四	Shi	4	十四	Ju-Shi	14
五	Go	5	十五	Ju-Go	15
六	Rokû	6	二十	Ni-Jû	20
七	Shichi	7	三十	San-jû	30
八	Hachi	8	五十	Go-Jû	50
九	Kû	9	八十	Hachu-Jû	80
十	Jû	10	百	Hyakû	100

日	Hi	Day	月	Gatsu	Month
年	Nen	Year