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rivanan 12-12-2009 06:01 PM

japanese sign?
 
Hello everyone!
I'm new here... just registered to ask you guys a question..

My friend found a sword with a symbol on it.. It looks Japanese,
we werent sure though.. Because it also looks like the Greek 'pi' letter.

So I was wondering..., could anyone please tell me what it means?
thanks a lot!


LINK: http://i50.tinypic.com/30j33gm.jpg

NanteNa 12-12-2009 06:02 PM

Ahh, that sign is on many knives, too actually. I'm not sure if it's anything to do with 'life' or something, as I don't read Japanese. It only reminds me of 'ka/ga'

And no, it really doesn't look like 'pi'. lol

Mortry 12-12-2009 06:04 PM

I think it's 'ka' written in katakana, but I could be mistaken:smokingbear:

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:04 PM

hahaha sure it does!
the 'stripes' are bend the other way lol :p

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mortry (Post 788710)
I think it's 'ka' written in katakana, but I could be mistaken:smokingbear:

whats ka? a letter?

NanteNa 12-12-2009 06:06 PM


O_ô I really don't think so. Maybe it's because my mathly developed part of the brain is way far behind and that way I associate math with.. well.. nothing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788713)
whats ka? a letter?

As I said 'ka/ga'. You can say it's a kind of 'letter' in the Japanese ''alphabet'' for foreign words called Katakana. This one represents the 'sound' "ka"


rivanan 12-12-2009 06:10 PM

i learned from a friend who studies japanese about katakana... the japanese
alphabet for foreign words
but what does it mean? is it just a letter or a part of a word/pronouncation?



oh wait you just said it.. its the 'ka' sound haha!
weird though.. why would anyone put that character on a sword?

komitsuki 12-12-2009 06:12 PM

It means "knife" in Kanji. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation is "tou".

Mortry 12-12-2009 06:14 PM

カ is more a syllable, not a letter...
It can be part of a word, just like roman letters can be part of a word too
But I don't know if it means anything on it's own:o

yuriyuri 12-12-2009 06:19 PM

Seriously, has no one thought of 刀?

Mortry 12-12-2009 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yuriyuri (Post 788726)
Has no one thought of 刀 ? (かたな)

No, I just know a few kanji... But I already thought it could be a kanji, because
刀 doesn't exactly look like カ:rolleyes:

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by komitsuki (Post 788719)
It means "knife" in Kanji. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation is "tou".

thank you Komitsuki! :D



and Mortry, yeah thats what i meant.. you guys dont really write in letters but in syllables.

this is the whole sword:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2l5q91.jpg
its very sharp..

he found it, burried underneath a tree (with his metal detector in a forest xD )

NanteNa 12-12-2009 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by komitsuki (Post 788719)
It means "knife" in Kanji. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation is "tou".

WOW. Lol. That sure makes sense to put.. on a knife/sword.. Haha : D

Mortry 12-12-2009 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788730)
thank you Komitsuki! :D



and Mortry, yeah thats what i meant.. you guys dont really write in letters but in syllables.

this is the whole sword:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2l5q91.jpg
its very sharp..

he found it, burried underneath a tree (with his metal detector in a forest xD )

Haha, Awesome!:D
Is he going to keep the sword?

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:35 PM

yes he is haha!
there was blood too.. he thought
but he cleaned it off!!! i told him not to do but he already did, lol...
he thought it was nasty and freaky to leave it on hahaha

well you find a lot of weird metal things in the ground.

are you living in Japan Mortry? in Holland -where I live- a lot of people have MD's haha

KyleGoetz 12-12-2009 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yuriyuri (Post 788726)
Seriously, has no one thought of 刀?

Edit: Just read komitsuki's post.
Missed it because of romaji

Yuri, I was thinking the same thing. I kept scrolling down the page and wondering "WHEN WILL SOMEONE REALIZE IT IS 刀?"

It is, after all, a really famous Japanese word: katana.

It is hands-down, no-question-about-it 刀.

And if I could make an amateur evaluation, judging by the fact that there is no guard on the hilt, it's likely a crappy, worthless sword given to a Japanese soldier during WWII. Japan mass-produced poor quality ones during WWII because quality ones take an extremely long time to make (and cost a lot of money!).

Since OP hasn't said where he's from in his OP (too lazy to read elsewhere), I'm going to assume he's an American. A lot of American soldiers brought these crummy things home as souvenirs after the war. They're all pretty much worthless.

Another way to check on quality is to see how deeply into the hilt the blade extends. It should extend very deeply if it is high quality, because that enhances stability and strength.

Edit I see OP hails from the Netherlands. Maybe it was the same soldier situation as with the US?

Mortry 12-12-2009 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788735)
yes he is haha!
there was blood too.. he thought
but he cleaned it off!!! i told him not to do but he already did, lol...
he thought it was nasty and freaky to leave it on hahaha

well you find a lot of weird metal things in the ground.

are you living in Japan Mortry? in Holland -where I live- a lot of people have MD's haha

No, I live in Holland too..
Ik wist niet dat er veel mensen een MD hadden hier:eek:

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz (Post 788737)
Yuri, I was thinking the same thing. I kept scrolling down the page and wondering "WHEN WILL SOMEONE REALIZE IT IS 刀?"

It is, after all, a really famous Japanese word: katana.

It is hands-down, no-question-about-it 刀.

And if I could make an amateur evaluation, judging by the fact that there is no guard on the hilt, it's likely a crappy, worthless sword given to a Japanese soldier during WWII. Japan mass-produced poor quality ones during WWII because quality ones take an extremely long time to make (and cost a lot of money!).

Since OP hasn't said where he's from in his OP (too lazy to read elsewhere), I'm going to assume he's an American. A lot of American soldiers brought these crummy things home as souvenirs after the war. They're all pretty much worthless.

Another way to check on quality is to see how deeply into the hilt the blade extends. It should extend very deeply if it is high quality, because that enhances stability and strength.

thanks for the evaluation!
we obviously didnt think it is worth anything.. its just very cool to find a sword, deep in the ground haha.. we think someone has hidden it, years ago because its very unlikely to lose it, i guess.

yes well how can you see how deep the blade extends into the hilt? you should break it open right?

rivanan 12-12-2009 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mortry (Post 788741)
No, I live in Holland too..
Ik wist niet dat er veel mensen een MD hadden hier:eek:

Lol, maar ben je wel japans of dat ook niet?
haha ja je zou je echt verbazen over de hoeveelheid metaaldetector gebruikers ^^ ze hebben ook hun eigen forum (pieppiep.nl)

rivanan 12-12-2009 07:05 PM

@ Kyle,

the park were the sword was found, was found/created AFTER the second world war.. so it could be, that a former soldier burried it after the war.. concerning the condition of the hilt...
the sword was held in a scabbard, so it still shines and is preserverd better

Mortry 12-12-2009 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788747)
Lol, maar ben je wel japans of dat ook niet?
haha ja je zou je echt verbazen over de hoeveelheid metaaldetector gebruikers ^^ ze hebben ook hun eigen forum (pieppiep.nl)

Nee, gwn nederlands... ofja, ben eigenlijk in spanje geboren, maar das 'n ander verhaald:p Waar heeft je vriend dat ding trouwens gevonden?

rivanan 12-12-2009 07:09 PM

in een park in den haag ^^
de exacte locatie blijft lekker geheim haha, aangezien we daar al tientalle muntjes en ander leuks gevonden hebben ;)

Mortry 12-12-2009 07:18 PM

Is goed, ik kom toch nooit in Den haag... Woon in Limburg xD
But think we should type English again, so other people will understand too
Anyways, were straying from the topic

rivanan 12-12-2009 07:27 PM

Haha ok.. well Limburg is ok to... better weather anyways ;)

Mortry 12-12-2009 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788769)
Haha ok.. well Limburg is ok to... better weather anyways ;)

and hills, you ain't got hills there in Den Haag:mtongue:

Nyororin 12-13-2009 01:36 AM

My guess is that it was a souvenir sword, or a cheap reproduction for display or collecting.

Why would a Japanese sword for use have 刀 - essentially SWORD - written on it?

duo797 12-13-2009 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyororin (Post 788911)
My guess is that it was a souvenir sword, or a cheap reproduction for display or collecting.

Why would a Japanese sword for use have 刀 - essentially SWORD - written on it?

For irony? I personally might at least consider buying a gun that had the word 'GUN!' emblazoned on it. I just say that because I feel like I would buy something for the irony. I agree that this is probably a souvenir.

Hatredcopter 12-13-2009 10:32 AM

It looks a bit too old and oxidized (at least around the hilt) to be your average souvenir/wallhanger sword, but in either case, I can't believe it took more than a page to discern 刀 from katakana カ. orz

KyleGoetz 12-13-2009 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rivanan (Post 788745)
thanks for the evaluation!
we obviously didnt think it is worth anything.. its just very cool to find a sword, deep in the ground haha.. we think someone has hidden it, years ago because its very unlikely to lose it, i guess.

yes well how can you see how deep the blade extends into the hilt? you should break it open right?

I think normally you can unwrap the cloth of the handle and there's a piece of wood underneath. You can gradually pull the wood away from the blade. This should be reversible, as that is how the sword was made. However, if it's cheap, I don't want to make any warranty. :)

duo797 12-13-2009 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatredcopter (Post 788983)
It looks a bit too old and oxidized (at least around the hilt) to be your average souvenir/wallhanger sword, but in either case, I can't believe it took more than a page to discern 刀 from katakana カ. orz

It's not exactly beyond the capacity of modern technology to fake that kind of oxidation or aging, though. Oxidizing a metal isn't very difficult, it was something I did in a lab second semester of general chemistry. The the second point, I agree.


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