SteveM

Far left mei of the first picture is 朗月亭造 Rōtsuki tei zō (tsukuru) Artisan's name. I'm away from my reference books now. I'll take another crack at the rest of this tonight if nobody else chimes in.

It is a name (or something purporting to be a name) 松本囗囗郎 Matsumoto something something rō I can't tell what the kanji in the two boxes are supposed to be. Could be that critical bits are worn away. It's kind of strange that the Matsumoto should be legibly engraved, while the first kanji of the given name should be so cryptically engraved. If I had to take a guess I would say it looks something like 之二郎 (Yukijirō), but it is a very wild guess. In any event, the smith's name is almost invariably engraved/chiseled on the tang. The owner of the sword would not carve his name into the sword blade. It makes your blade a bit problematic.

Yes, unfortunately I have to agree. The talcum powder is distracting because it hasn't been applied evenly, and I'm afraid it has obscured the kanji strokes.

It's possible, but too hard for me to tell. Maybe if you had a close-up of just the bottom left corner it might help. Could also be a name.

箙 = Ebira, basket-like quiver. Ebira 矢籠 = Shiko (lit: arrow basket). Alternatively rendered as 矢壺 or 尻籠 shiko Typically come with family crest on the (leather, etc...) pouch/basket. The one in your collection has the family crest consisting of a stylized version of the kanji 古 (old) in a circle. See the site here. Look for number 2190. 弓台 = Yumi dai (lit: bow-stand). The yumi dai can be affixed to the shiko. Nowadays most people would think of a yumi dai as a lacquer stand for a bow, like the one here More detail here. I'm fairly sure that what you have is more or less the shiko without the top bit. Regarding the tsuka to the wakizashi, nearly all tsukas use same (shark/ray skin). The tsuka for the sword in the far right picture has had its silk wrapping removed (or perhaps it deteriorated, as happens). In addition, it is missing the kashira (and I would assume it probably had menuki at some point as well). The quiver and the wakizashi are very typical items of an edo-period samurai. As Brian says the blade will need to be removed from the tsuka in order to see if there are any engravings on the tang itself. The bare tsuka to this piece is more or less a write-off, with no outstanding aesthetic value and negligible value as a historical artifact. I'm not recommending it should be destroyed, but it will need to be removed in order to determine if there is any signature on the tang. I would also be sparing of the use of the word "ceremonial", as these weapons were made to be used if/when the need arose. Koshirae could also be fashion statements, but that doesn't mean the swords they held weren't real swords.

兼若　Kanewaka, would be my guess. There are a several generations of Kanewaka. I couldn't tell you which one this is.

From Right to Left 元師 Marshall 海軍大将 Admiral of the Fleet 東郷平八郎 Tōgō Heihachirō (can't read the smaller bits after that)

正永 Real name Itō. Also known as Jingoemon. Also signed as 政永 (Masanaga). Latter part of Edo period.

I think maybe 日向国住善盛作 Hyūga Kuni-jū Yoshimori saku It could also be 善秀 (Yoshihide). In fact, I rather suspect its Yoshihide, but I've looked at other Yoshihide signatures on the net and they don't look like this one.

@Nobody (Moriyama-san), any chance of you taking a look at the script on the reverse of the Emperor Gentoku kozuka? Also, any idea of the theme of Gojōhashi and the Oni with the bell? Is it related to Benkei?

The Kanenagas on p145~ are 兼永. The Kanenagas of this tanto (包永) start on page 194.

武州住包永　- 　Bushū-jū Kanenaga Edit: There are a few Kanenagas, but none of them from 武州, according to my references. Makes me a bit nervous of this signature. The signature on the tsuba looks like 利政　Toshimasa

The more I look at it, the more I like it. The effect of the moon through the clouds, and the deer...beautiful. And the marks to the right of the nakago ana, they look like another signature, but very faint. Possible to get a close-up of this so I can have a crack at it?

The second blade is: 横山藤原祐囗　ー　Yokoyama Fujiwara Suke (obscured) the reverse side is 備前長船住 (cut)　- Bizen Osafune Ju (cut) I suspect the full name of the smith is 横山藤原祐定, Yokokama Fukuwara Sukesada. And the full engraving on the other side would be Bizen Osafune Junin. Compare to this sword here from the smith with the same name, with the same style signature. http://www.tokka.biz/sword/sukesada5.html

Hello Brandon, Regarding the first blade, you have the date right. Note that 十日 is pronounced tōka (not jyu hi, although it is a common mistake for learners of Japanese). The top left kanji look to me like 鳥土井十三氏. Feels to me like just random kanji. I'm not completely confident of the 井. The 氏 couldn't possibly be intended to be anything else, so the lack of the bottom stroke is a slight worry. On the bottom is 北進南攻, which feels like an appropriation of a Chinese phrase meaning advance to the north, attack to the south. The smith's (?) name on the reverse side is 境政次作之　(Sakai Masatsugu), who is an actual smith of military blades. I cannot verify the authenticity, but given the crude kanji scratchings on the opposite side I have my doubts.

Here's a clue, and the answer in the spoiler. The name is a three-kanji "artists name". The artist's real name is in the seal underneath, reading right to left. (Sorry if you knew some of of this already). I agree with Joe, it is a lovely tsuba.

Regarding your 3rd piece (Mitsutsugu); the signature (光次) indeed says Mitsutsugu. I cannot say anything about its authenticity. There are at least seven Mitsutsugus according to my reference. The primary MItsutsugu is of the Gotō school, as are some of the Mitsutsugus who followed him. The theme is from the Three Kingdoms saga. Emperor Gentoku (玄徳) is also known as Liu Bei (sometimes spelled Ryūbi when re-translated back into romaji from Japanese), and he appears in Wikipedia under Liu Bei. The episode with the horse is described at the link below. http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/list_of_fictitious_stories_in_romance_of_the_three_kingdoms#Liu_Bei.27s_horse_leaps_across_the_Tan_Stream 檀渓渡河図 The script next to the signature is too much for me. I can pick out words here and there, but the whole is eluding me. My guess is that its a poem, but that isn't saying a whole lot. I'd say the one with the oni and the bell is a candidate for shinsa. Trying to find out more about the theme, but it is also proving elusive. I like this one. I also like the Mitsutsugu above. I also find the provenance (from John Yumoto) interesting, as his book was my introduction to the sword world, as I suspect it was for most of us here.

I think its definitely a soldier under that 加, not a shell. 加兵衛 is a valid first name, so I don't think the name itself is suspicious. But this is starting to get over my head as well.

I searched for Umetada Kahe 埋忠加兵衛 on the internet and all I get is an auction website showing the same tsuba as Christophe has shown here (perhaps, Christophe, it was where you purchased the tsuba?). In any event, there are a lot of Umetada smiths. According to my reference (刀装金工事典・若山） there were two Umetada schools: one based in the Kyoto area, and another, later one, based in Kyushu. It doesn't list any Kahe specifically, but the listing isn't exhaustive, so it is impossible (for me) to definitively state whether there was such a smith, or which branch of the Umetada school he belonged to. Note that the ~兵衛 ending of the first name is actually pronounced as かへえ (Kahe-e, with the e sound extended). You might find some places where it is transliterated as Kahei, as the 衛 kanji is pronounced ei when by itself, and thus it is common for people to pronounce names ending with this kanji as, for example, Kahei, with the final sound being i. When speaking, the difference is hardly noticeable, but it is, in fact, incorrect. It is yet another example of how confounding the language can be.

I think Yoshisada, as GredD above. 義定 Similar to this Yoshisada http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2009/0910_1036syousai.htm

I have no idea who did it, but the theme is the 7 Lucky Gods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Lucky_Gods

叡山　（花押） Eizan　(kao)

I should have also added that there is a load of information at this very site also!

I can see them. Smith/signature is 兼光 On the other side is the Imperial Year 2601 皇紀二千六百一 which corresponds to 1941. There is also a Seki stamp (関) indicating the arsenal/factory where it was made. There is a load of information at the site here → http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

You got the month right. Stick with it a bit more. Check out the spoiler for the answer.