SteveM

Ōshima Mitsuyoshi https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大島光義 Only in Japanese, but Google can probably do a decent job of translating it. I don't know if the letter is actually addressed to Oshima Mitsuyoshi, but as often happens when translating, once a thought enters your mind you kind of fall into a confirmation bias loop from which it is hard to escape. So, that's the long way of saying I could be wrong. In this person's case, 大嶋 = 大島. Both are Ōshima.

If I had to take a slightly wild but slightly educated guess, I would say it's an official order to a retainer/ally, notifying that ally of his new posting. The first letter is 就 which indicates its an order. The far left is the addressee, and I'm not sure but I think its 大嶋囗囗どのへ　(To the Honorable Mr. Oshima), and if I jump to conclusions I can imagine it is a letter to Oshima Mitsuyoshi, a longstanding ally of Tokugawa, who was a really, really old man by the time Tokugawa was Shogun, and Tokugawa I think awarded Oshima some cushy posting where he could live out his days in comfort.

I don't see any Osaka on there. It looks like its possibly his seal #8 below, particularly the part in the red circle. The seal was in use c.1602-1607 (according to the site at the link below, from which I've snipped the photo of the seals). Many fakes in the world of Japanese antiques, so always best to keep your guard up. https://raisoku.com/5863

You have a better shot of the seal? Ieyasu's name should be in the middle of the black seal. It looks like his handwriting. Dated August 26th, but no year indicated.

This same sword appeared on the forum some months ago;

Honestly, considering the clumsy writing of 藤原, I thought the third kanji was a poor attempt at 兼. The last one could well be a partial 是, or a partial 恒.

Happy New Year Everyone, The next meeting of the Southern California Japanese Sword Club (Nanka Token Kai) will be on the 9th of January, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the usual venue. Club Sensei Mike Yamasaki will be unable to attend, so there will be no formal agenda, but feel free to drop by. If you have any documents/items and you would like to know what they say, bring them and I will take a look. Steve Meeting Details: Location: Gardena Valley JCI, 1964 W. 162nd Street, Gardena, CA 90247 Day/Date: Friday/January 9, 2026 Time: 7:00-9:00 PM

I'd like to know, too. If anyone has any info, do post it here if possible.

小島吉道 Kojima Yoshimichi

Hello Jon, Yes, the Southern California Japanese Sword Club (Nanka Token Kai) holds a meeting on the 2nd Friday of every month. We just had our December meeting a couple of weeks ago. You are welcome to bring any swords to the meeting and get an opinion on valuation. The next meeting should be on January 9th, but this is not fixed yet as I haven't confirmed availability of our club teacher/sensei. We meet at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (link below). Feel free to come by if you are so inclined. https://share.google/5cSJ3YytU03Cqh8D9 In general I would say the market price for WW2 blades is between $1k and $2k, depending on the condition. Items that are in particularly good condition will reach the top end of that range or higher. Swords that are unique or have signatures of well-regarded smiths may fetch higher prices. In the event your sword is an antique blade that predates WW2 - as in, it was a family heirloom that got mounted in WW2 era scabbard/fittings, the value could be higher. Condition is everything. If you want a quick sanity check you can post pictures of the blade here on the forum and we can take a look. If you don't want the whole world to see, feel free to DM me pictures of the blade and I'll give you my best guess.

I thought it was just a number signifying the contents (one tsuba). Kind of like how NBTHK puts a "一." (hitotsu) in front of the items listed on their authentication certificates. Something of an old-fashioned formality. I'd feel more confident in this if I'd seen him do this on other boxes, but, as I said its the first time to come across this notation. 老... feels a bit off, but already I have some bias affecting my judgment, so I remain open to the possibility.

I was up to 古囗存矣, and I too was thinking "old/antique taste", but I couldn't nail that second one with any certainty. 古香存矣　Kōkō ari? Unsure of pronunciation. And my guess is that the last kanji of the first line of this box (HGK05) is 壱 (one). But I've never seen a Kanzan hakogaki that had this sort of notation on it. Anyway, it looks very much like a kuzushi form of 壱.

Yes, its a cutting test, but that second character is odd, so it's kind of unintelligible. 脇囗落平地 It would mean a chest-cut (horizontal, under the arm pits), with the sword cutting through the body and into the earth on which the body rested. But the word for chest-cut should be 脇毛, and the inscriber here has written 脇丁, or maybe 脇ケ, which feels a bit unusual.

細野惣左衛門政守 Hosono Sozaemon Masamori

It's a promotional photo for a Japanese drama. Not a period photograph. "The Kamikaze Pilot's Wife" (or, literally, The Wife Who Flew With Her Kamikaze Husband) https://mdpr.jp/news/detail/1495017