SteveM

Access has been very sketchy for me since the beginning of June. I was travelling mid-June and could only connect once or twice (I was traveling within California). The other days I couldn't connect at all. It has been better this past week, but I'm still having issues. Just now I tried connecting to the "recent threads" page, which is my usual bookmark for NMB, and the page wouldn't load. Just an endlessly looping tab as it tries to load the page from the server. Then I tried logging in through "militaria.co.za" front page and was successful, but only after a long while. It still seems sketchy. So some days its just impossible to access NMB. I'm using Chrome btw.

Family name is pronounced "Sō" Sō Tsutomu is the father Sō Muneyoshi is the son. *Can also be spelled as "Sou"

Uwe's post above mentions both possible readings. "he is also listed under the reading “Sukenobu” of his characters"

関吉田兼氏作 Seki, YOSHIDA Kaneuji saku (Made by Kaneuji YOSHIDA of Seki town) More info in the thread here

It's hard to say anything other than "looks unusual". I mean, those chunks missing from the tang don't look anything like poor maintenance OR typical aging. Normally, even a tang that has been greatly shortened looks cleaner than that. But, I don't know how significant it is for this particular blade. Anything beyond that and we get stuck in the weeds without knowing more about the blade.

The link is sending me to a login screen for Jauce. Possible to post a picture of screen grab of the item?

Jūyō (ten stars) is also a known crest https://irohakamon.com/kamon/hoshi/juuboshi.html

So close, Kuriki Kanemasa

Normally we would need to see the sword itself, and not just the inscription. The reason is because the name written on the sword is usually secondary to the condition of the sword. In this case, your sword is inscribed with 行宗 (Yukimune), which is the name of the swordsmith.

Top tsuba looks like it is depicting a scene from Genji Monogatari. My guess is that the tsuba itself would be late Edo. I like it. It's not a museum piece, but nothing wrong with a that. The motif of the bottom tsuba is "jūyō" (ten worlds). It's a slight variation on the more common "kuyō" (nine worlds) theme. Its used as a family crest, and is commonly seen on tsuba, or clothes, armor, or on architectural flourishes (roof tiles, etc.). It's an abstract representation of 10 stars. The top photo of this tsuba makes it look like the center dot is mother-of-pearl or something, but it could just be a trick of photography. As to the three holes on the opposing side, I don't know if those are another design motif, or are just holes in the tsuba through which a strap is threaded, used to secure the sword to the wrist (udenuki-ana, in Japanese). Usually there are only two holes for the arm strap. The wood-grain textured surface is nicely done. Again, another nice antique. Probably also mid-to-late Edo. Here is a similar one (without the crest). This one was done my the Myōchin school (armorers who also made sword furnishings). Yours could also be Myōchin, or someone trying to aspire to the Myōchin style. https://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2011/1110_6054syousai.htm

Just looking at the signature, its very far off from Tsunbo Nagatsuna, so best to think of this as another smith, or gimei.

Missing too much of the tag to say with any certainty. Usually the tags contain an address and name (in that order, read from right to left). Looks like 安角　（Azumi) possibly Azumi district of Sekikawa village in Niigata prefecture. 本間宇 Honma (surname) and then part of a given name with multiple possible readings. The signature on the tang is 摂州住長綱　　Sesshū-jū Nagatsuna (made by Nagatsuna of Sesshū province. Sesshū is present-day Ōsaka). Looks like a nice antique sword, that well predates WW2.

I thought that 初代銘也力作　might be another possibility

竹囗透 鐔 ＊ take　 sukashi tsuba I think this is a completely different character from 茎 (kuki) but I don't know what it is trying to be. Design should be 枝折竹 (shiori-take), but that doesn't provide me with any clues. I toyed with several ideas: 竹笹 or 竹萎 but in the end I didn't like any of these. 無銘 尾張歟 ＊ mumei Owari-ka I'm pretty sure this is 歟, which is used to express a possibility, or an opinion given with some room for doubt

Maybe 吉春　Yoshiharu (or possibly 喜春, same reading)