Hello, I was recently referred here from a few people at bladeforums for this one. One read the name on the tang as Fujiwara Kanenaga. I was advised that the real experts were on this forum.
Here is the link to the bladeforums post.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... st10767456
I received this sword last week after my grandmother passed away, my uncle found it in the garage and gave it to me knowing I am into blades. It was wrapped in a cotton cloth and was probably stashed away for a long time. It is definitely not new but I do not know how old. My grandmother is Japanese, born in America but her mother was from Japan. I don't think that either my grandmother or my grandfather were the first born in the family so I kind of doubt that it is some family sword. I had asked earlier if some sword was passed down but my grandmother didn't know of any and my dad and uncle did not either. My uncle speculated that one of his uncles might have gotten it from Japan during or after the war. Not sure if the uncle was in the military or not.
I took a number of photos to show detail and I will hope some of it helps. It is not very ornate and some of the parts don't seem as well finished as one might expect from a nice Japanese sword but I am no expert. I am kind of thinking maybe this was a mass produced war sword or inexpensive sword. I just hope it is not some tourist item.
Detail of the handle. The gold thing under the handle wrapping does not feel like metal. The temperature feels different but not sure if plastic or wood or what.
Tip detail. You can see the scabbard is wood and is chipping.
End detail. The material under the wrapping appears to be authentic (not that I am an expert or anything) It is very rough and is uneven so I am thinking organic material not a perfect pattern man made material.
Handle parts. The silver rings are very light, maybe aluminum?
Detail showing blade. It was hard to capture the hamon very well but it is wavy and not a perfect pattern. I understand this means it is likely a real hamon. The habaki does appear to have horizontal marks or light scratches, running perpendicular to the blade, you can see some more detail in the tang pictures.
Two pictures showing the Kanji on the handles. My kanji is not that great, I think i recognize the bottom two. I will ask my wife and post what she says a little later.
Thanks for any input. If the pictures don't provide enough detail or more info is needed I will try to accommodate.
