Does anyone here speak/read Japanese? Markings on Kataba Saw

[Sawdust=manglitter]

This Saw was an auction find. Although assumed to be a little old due to the slight surface rust, the teeth are extremely sharp and the Saw looks barely used. It’s a massive Saw compared to the other Gyokucho ones I have. It looks to be very well made, possible hand made based on the thickness of the tang, rather than be cut out of a sheet like some production saws.

I’d love to know what the markings on the Saw mean if anyone can help??

 

[Trevanion]

Fluently, It says: "Made in Sheffield, England"

Hope that helps

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

:lol: =D>

 

[Steve Maskery]

I can't read Japanese, but I have a couple of beautiful handmade (= very expensive) Japanese kitchen knives with Japanese writing on them. One day, I had a Japanese visitor to my home and I asked her what it said. It was the signature of the maker.
Obviously I can't say that that is what yours is, but unless it is Japanese for "Jonelle" or suchlike, I think it is a good bet.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Thanks Steve. I assumed some of the writing would be the name of the individual maker, but I wasn’t sure whether there was any info on the company too, unless it’s literally just an individual who made them. The saw does look and feel beatifully made though!

 

[Trevanion]

Japan is one of the few places where it's still a tradition that individual makers (even in larger companies) mark the tools they make which I suppose goes back to the days of the Katana makers who would make their mark on the tang out of sight.

Gransfors Bruks has a similar sort of tradition that the initials of the man (Or woman!) who forged the head will be stamped on the butt of the axe which shows pride of craftsmanship you seldom see any more. It's not just a "Gransfors Bruks Axe", It's an axe made by WM in Gransfors Bruks!

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I can ask my Japanese friend if you like ? I'm sure it will be maker's mark though, which might mean that unless you know a Japanese woodworker, it might not mean much.

 

[Racers]

I am sure their is a translation app that uses your camera and translates on screen for you.

Pete

 

[twodoctors]

I'm chinese but some of the characters in japanese are the same as chinese. So...

That's "3". I think it's the signature of the maker. The characters are not formal typeface.

That's a number. Maybe a serial number? I don't know.

Adrian

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

I'm chinese but some of the characters in japanese are the same as chinese. So...

View attachment 1

That's "3". I think it's the signature of the maker. The characters are not formal typeface.

View attachment 2

That's a number. Maybe a serial number? I don't know.

Adrian

Thanks for that Adrian!

The 116000... could that possibly be the 116th saw the maker has made?

Interesting though!

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

I can ask my Japanese friend if you like ? I'm sure it will be maker's mark though, which might mean that unless you know a Japanese woodworker, it might not mean much.

Oh, i’d appreciate that if you don’t mind please Tony? It would just be interesting to find out the origins of the saw.

I am sure their is a translation app that uses your camera and translates on screen for you.

Pete

Thanks Pete. The only problem with doing tha is the words may not make much sense to me, not knowing whether it’s a name or a company etc. Hence if someone who speaks/reads Japanese will hopefully be able to make sense of it.

 

[toolsntat]

That is a very impressive looking saw and being a recent convert to the pull saw I bet it is an excellent user.
Maybe Matthew at workshop heaven might have a contact to give an answer.
https://www.instagram.com/workshopheaven/?hl=en
Do you do that thing called Instagram?
If we were on instagram now he would be able to pick up this mention @workshopheaven but I'll give him a shout for you.
Cheers Andy

 

[woodbloke66]

I am sure their is a translation app that uses your camera and translates on screen for you.

Pete

I was going to suggest that as well; we've used it to translate several bits n'pieces of Japanese text, but I suspect that the kanji script on the saw blade is the maker's name - Rob

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I can ask my Japanese friend if you like ? I'm sure it will be maker's mark though, which might mean that unless you know a Japanese woodworker, it might not mean much.

Oh, i’d appreciate that if you don’t mind please Tony? It would just be interesting to find out the origins of the saw.

Ok, I sent him the photo, but his answer is :
Regarding the saw, what is engraved must be some sort of kanji characters but in a unique style I cannot read.
So either a stylised and obscure style, or not Japanese ? Google translate does not seem to match the characters against Japanese either using the camera or attempting to handwrite them, or as Korean or Simplified Chinese. So a bit of a mystery.

 

[AJB Temple]

These markings are typical of those used by Japanese knife makers. Certain to be the maker or workshop. if you want to decipher them then your best bet is probably join a forum such as Kitchen Knife Forum where you will find a lot of people who import from Japan.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Thanks all for the advice and help. Curiouser and curiouser! Regardless of what it says, it's a lovely saw and it cuts great.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Thanks all for the advice and help. Curiouser and curiouser! Regardless of what it says, it's a lovely saw and it cuts great.

Part of the problem may be that Japanese uses more than one "alphabet":

The Japanese language uses three different systems for writing. There are two syllabaries—hiragana and katakana—which have characters for each basic mora (syllable.) Along with the syllabaries, there are also kanji, which is a writing system based on Chinese characters. However, kanji have changed since their adoption, so it would not be recommended to learn both Chinese and Japanese writing at the same time.

More here: https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanes ... ing_system

I think you really may need a Japanese national to help with this.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

The friend I asked is Japanese - He's near to Yokohama. He couldn't read it, so it is not one of the standard character sets.

It looks to me stylised, so as to be inscribed with a chisel, rather than the traditional brush strokes - some "strokes" remind me of cuneiform, which is pressed into clay with a wedge shaped scriber.

 

[Farm Labourer]

I speak Chinese and know a little Japanese but apart from being able to read the numbers, I'm not able to help.

As mentioned in a previous post, modern Japan uses 3 alphabets, kanji - the traditional Chinese format and hirigana and katakana. These more modern forms allow the Japanese to write a more modern spoken Japanese and depict foreign words/slang, etc.

All very academic....

In the 1980s I was working in Hong Kong and my working life meant that I spoke Chinese more often than I spoke English, my girlfriend just happened to be Japanese and couldn't speak Cantonese. My address was flat 4, number 4 Blue Pool Road, Causeway Bay. When g/f visited, she would jump in a taxi in Central and tell the cabbie the address in English. As was normally the case, he'd be so perplexed at having an oriental hottie in the back that could not speak Chinese that he'd not be able to compute that she was speaking "Engrish"! She would then quickly write #4, Blue Pool Road in Japanese (kanji) - show it to the driver and he'd know exactly where to go!

My job meant that I often came face to face with Chinese who could not speak Cantonese. No problems, we would write the questions in Chinese and as the character set is pretty universal, they could write down the answers and conversation was not allowed to cause confusion.

The character sets are very different in Korean and Thai - but spoken Thai is not a million miles from the southern Chinese dialects, so when I found myself in Thailand, if I listened carefully, I could normally understand just enough to make a complete *** of myself!