What Is the Mei? 銘 — The Swordsmith's Signature

The mei (銘) is the swordsmith's signature — the inscription chiseled into the tang (nakago) of a Japanese sword, usually giving the maker's name and often the province, date, or title. It is cut with a small chisel (tagane) into the bare metal of the tang, never on the polished blade, and it is the first thing a collector reads when attributing a sword. But a signature is a claim, not a guarantee: learning to read the mei — and to spot a false one — is the heart of nihonto connoisseurship.

For a buyer, no feature is more consequential or more dangerous than the mei. A genuine signature by a famous smith can multiply a sword's value many times over, which is precisely why false signatures are the most common form of deception in the entire field. Reading the mei correctly is where money is made or lost.

What a mei records

A mei can carry several kinds of information, chiseled in vertical columns of kanji:

  • Smith's name (刀工銘) — the personal art name of the maker, sometimes with an honorary title such as Kami (守) granted by the imperial court.
  • Province and residence (受領銘) — where the smith worked, e.g. Bishu Osafune (備州長船) for the great Bizen school at Osafune.
  • Date (年紀) — a nengo (era name) and year, one of the most valuable pieces of information a tang can carry.
  • Dedication or cutting test — inscriptions recording an owner, a temple, or a tameshigiri cutting-test result, sometimes inlaid in gold (kinzogan).

Signatures fall broadly into tachi-mei and katana-mei depending on which side of the tang they sit, which itself follows how the sword was worn — another clue read alongside the characters. To decode the kanji character by character, use our Mei Reader.

Gimei: false signatures and buyer intent

A gimei (偽銘) is a false or spurious signature — a name added to a tang to pass a blade off as the work of a more famous or valuable smith. Gimei are everywhere: they were added in period to boost a sword's price, and they are still the number-one trap for new buyers today. A signature by a legendary name on an ordinary blade is far more likely to be gimei than a genuine masterwork.

Detecting gimei is a matter of consistency. The chisel work, the depth and rhythm of the strokes, the file marks around the signature, the patina cutting through or over the strokes, and above all whether the blade's workmanship actually matches that smith's known style — all must agree. A signature that looks fresh on an old patinated tang, or whose strokes are hesitant and re-cut, is suspect. This is why serious buyers rely on formal kantei and paper: an NBTHK certificate that confirms the signature (shoshin, genuine) is worth far more than the signature alone.

How a collector uses the mei

The mei is a starting point, never the final word. A trained appraiser first judges the blade — its sugata, hamon, jihada, and boshi — to form an opinion of who made it, and only then checks whether the signature agrees. When they match, the signature is confirmed; when they conflict, the signature is doubted regardless of how famous the name. Many superb swords are mumei (無銘, unsigned) because the signature was lost when the blade was shortened, and these are attributed by workmanship alone.

To move from a signature to a smith, cross-reference the name against our Swordsmith and Mei Index and the Top 100 Japanese Swordsmiths. The signature lives on the nakago (茎), so the tang's patina and file marks must always be read together with the mei itself.

Frequently asked questions

What is a mei on a Japanese sword?

A mei is the swordsmith's signature, chiseled into the tang (nakago) of the blade. It typically gives the maker's name and may add the province, an honorary title, or a date, and it is the primary starting point for identifying and attributing a nihonto.

What is a gimei and how do I avoid one?

A gimei is a false signature added to a tang to make a blade appear to be the work of a more famous smith. To avoid one, never trust a signature on its own: confirm that the blade's workmanship matches the named smith, and buy swords whose signatures are verified by NBTHK or other recognized kantei papers.

Is an unsigned (mumei) sword worth less?

Not necessarily. Many fine old blades are mumei because the signature was lost when the sword was shortened (suriage). Such swords are attributed by their workmanship through formal kantei, and a papered mumei blade by a great school can be highly valuable — often more so than a signed but modest work.

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