Can you translate this handwritten Japanese text to English?

December 24, 2020 9:25 PM

Hi MeFites, can anyone help translate this handwritten Japanese text to English?

Translation Needed
My mom found it with some old photographs. If context helps, we're guessing it dates from the late 1800s or early 1900s, and was given from a man to a female ancesor of ours living in New Jersey at the time. We believe this same gentleman gifted her some unusual items that have been passed down in our family, including vases, a gong, a sword, and a few small decorative items. Any help you can provide would be incredibly appreciated, as we know next to nothing about this gentleman or his relationship with our ancestor! (And if there is an online translation service for which this question would be better suited, I'd love recommendations!)

posted by shortskirtlongjacket to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

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posted by SageTrail at 9:44 PM on December 24, 2020

I showed it to my resident native speaker, and she was like ‘Muri!’ (Impossible!) - it is really difficult to read that style of calligraphy for modern Japanese people, since it isn’t widely used or taught now. You might want to find someone who either does it as a hobby or professionally, or someone from an older generation.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 4:51 AM on December 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Agree with rambling w; this is a task for a historian.
posted by Rash at 9:33 AM on December 25, 2020

That’s beautiful handwriting, and yep. I’m a professional translator and the mental energy in trying to figure this out is beyond my “sure, let me help you out” capacity, in the kindest way possible. Nthing finding a historian who digs this kind of thing.
posted by sunrise kingdom at 9:57 AM on December 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Here's a link to a program at Cambridge University that teaches people to decipher old Japanese handwriting. I glanced at it quickly but it looks like it might be a place to start if your own Japanese is not up to communicating with scholars in Japanese.

The terms I used to find this link are palaeography and Japanese, there are many links to peruse.
posted by mareli at 1:47 PM on December 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

For what it's worth, my guess is that the leftmost line contains the sender's name (I can just about make out a "Komada") and the line right next to it contains "Ise" at the bottom. Do you know his full name? If so, one possibility is to look up his name in local historical records in Ise to find out more about him...
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:59 PM on December 30, 2020