ROKUJURO

Marcin, that does not make the pictures any better. If we are requested to help, it is difficult enough with photos alone, so they should be as good as possible. It is useless to post bad photos, but it is not difficult to follow a few simple rules. Some dealers show bad photos to hide flaws, so they should be asked for better ones. Images posted here should be: - well focused, not foggy or blurry - made with a plain dark/black, non-reflective background for good contrast (not white, not patterned!) - made in a dark room, using spotlights - made with light from the side (may not apply to HAMON photos) - made directly from above (not at an angle) - made with correct orientation of the blade (straight vertically tip-upwards, especially NAKAGO photos) - without HABAKI, showing the MACHI and NAKAGO JIRI - made in high resolution to see details like BOSHI, HAMACHI, HAMON, HADA, NAKAGO JIRI etc. - presented as cut-outs so very little background is showing

Might that be ISE JINGU? (伊勢神宮)

Ryan, welcome to the NMB forum! If you look at your photos, you will see that they are slightly out of focus and show no details, so there is not much to report other than the HIRA-ZUKURI WAKIZASHI has relatively wide SUGUHA HAMON. From the accompanying text, it seems to be a KANEYASU sword.

My first impression was even plastic, but then I saw that an insert was glued into the hollow underside, so possibly bone. I don't see Schreger lines. In addition to that, I don't see HIMOTOSHI.

Sorry, I don't have books on swords to compare, that is something you will have to do now, perhaps online or with books. All online comments you will get from people on the authenticity on your blade are just opinions, based on photos. The only way to be more secure (never reaching 100,00%) would be a SHINSA panel in Japan. They can issue certification papers (= ORIGAMI) for blades and TOSOGU. And there is still another thing: A blade with a faked signature may still be genuine and nice to look at.

So you probably didn't see many. The MEI is chiselled in the NAKAGO on the outer side of the blade when worn. We call that side OMOTE. In rare cases (e.g. KATANA from HIZEN province), the signature is on the other side. We call that TACHI MEI because TACHI are worn cutting-edge downwards so the ura faces the outward side. So there is no right or left side of a blade but inner and outer side as worn by the SAMURAI.

The MEI (= signature) is on the correct side.

Gary, weelcome to the NMB forum! There is not much you could do yourself to improve the condition of these swords except giving them a thin layer of low viscosity mineral oil AND wiping it mostly off so no oil gets into the SAYA (= scabbard). But luckily you have a real expert in Australia who you could ask for help: Andrew Ickeringill https://touken-togishi.com/ He will probably not work on these machine-made military blades but he could advise you what to do. In the meantime you could clean the red rust off the NAKAGO (= tang) just with a cotton rag, a soft brush, and A LITTLE oil. Nothing abrasive, so the patina is not damaged! This is normally not done on traditionally made Japanese sword blades, but in your case, it is all about preserving a piece of recent military history. Be patient as you clean, as damaging is easy! The MEI (= signatures) are nicely readable on two swords; they were probably made industrially in MINO province in the war.

....which will be the difficult part! Artur Oskroba has a wide range of TSUKA for sale, but fitting one to an existing NAKAGO is a lot of slow work!

I definitely think so. The TSUBA could have some age, maybe end of MUROMACHI or very early EDO, but unfortunately, corrosion is not a good indication of age.

Well, that is not a contradiction in my eyes. They just used a typical Western design for their anchor emblem. Traditional Japanese ones are not made that way.

Brad, to make it easier, better post this in the TRANSLATION section where the experts are. I think I can read TOMOTSUNE.

A western style anchor and SAKURA SUI - cherry flowers on water. Not easy to bring that together!

Hi Laura, welcome to the NMB forum. These plaques are looking like decorative items, MEIJI era or later, maybe for the tourist trade. They seem to be press-molded, the casing is probably made from a different alloy, perhaps nickel silver. I do not see typical SHIBUICHI colour, instead it might be SHAKUDO or blackened copper. The exact purpose will be difficult to guess; I have no clue. Cleaning should be done with great care! A soft brush or a moist cosmetic cotton pad should work in case there was really dirt on them. Any abrasive material (or rubbing) will damage the patina beyond repair. True SHAKUDO will somewhat "heal" its patina after a while, but not blackened copper.

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