SteveM

Sorry Tobias... I tried, but its a bit too cryptic. Nice piece, though.

My kanji is wrong! 長村清宣 For the reading, I took it from here. http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2012/1210_1094syousai.htm Another one here... but I readily admit these auction sites are not authoritative. http://www.ribendao.com/en/gunto/122-%E9%95%BF%E6%9D%91%E6%B8%85%E5%AE%A3%E9%94%BB%E4%B9%8B.html For those who are curious, 宣 can be read as both nobu and nori (and a million other ways). He's a Showa smith, so you'd think there would be more information on him, particularly how to pronounce his name.

以安来鋼兼真謹作 Yasukihagane (wo) motte Kanezane Kinsaku The Yasu (安) has been completely obliterated, but this is the only possible kanji it could be.

Nagamura Kiyonori 長村清宜, I think.

Guido beat you to it, about three days ago. (咊 is a variant of 和)

The date on the sword is 2602 (二千六百二年). This is the year according to the Imperial calendar system, and corresponds to 1942. The imperial calendar system was a favorite of swordsmiths during the war years.

May also be interesting for those who have some familiarity with Japanese to use the site below. You can input any kanji and it will give you various tensho font styles for that kanji. (You can also change to koinsho, etc..) http://font.designers-garage.jp/ds/execute/FontSearch?searchType=1&saleType=0&category=09

No, this is a different Toshihide. There is a noted smith by this name (Asai Toshihide) but your sword seems to be made by a different Toshihide (sorry to be confusing, but many smiths used the same or similar names). I say it seems to be different, but his signature could have changed over time. In any event, it doesn't look like any of the Toshihide signatures I've seen on other swords by him. Mind you, I only know this smith from the 10 minutes research I've done today with the help of Google. Don't use sand paper on the blade. Don't worry about any rust on it just yet. Search on this site for tips on how to clean rust off. There is a very recent thread featuring a story similar to yours (rusty sword found in someone's attic). The short version is that if you use anything more abrasive than a towel or a wooden spoon, you will likely muck up your sword. One of the gendaito afficionados can explain better than I can, but your sword is probably one of three types: 1. traditionally forged sword 2. mass-produced sword 3. fake sword made in some random factory somewhere If its been in an attic since the war, then its a good bet its either 1 or 2 above (although fakes abound, from all eras). Since the smith took some time to add his name to it, and the date (1942) on the reverse, there is a good chance it is from the first group, and is a traditionally-made sword. In this case you should take good care of it, even if that means just keeping it lightly oiled so that it doesn't get any rustier. You can search on this site, etc.. for information on the process and expense of polishing Japanese swords. The short answer is: expensive - maybe £1000 for a ballpark figure. For WW2 swords its an expense that may be more than the sword is worth - a labor of love, if you will. For the other bits of the puzzle; manufacturing process, history, etc... you can search this site and the internet at large. There are lots of resources for learning about WW2 blades. The silk on the handle looks OK to me. Its definitely aged, and its hiding some rusting menuki, but the wrapping itself is OK. No need to rush into any restoration work yet, until you figure out what kind of blade you have. One of the gents here can provide the name of someone in the UK who knows a good blade when he sees one. Once you know if you have a great blade, or a very average one, you can figure out how much you want to spend restoring it. I urge you to fight the temptation to take the rust off using anything abrasive (sandpaper, commercially available polishing stones, etc...). The rust is fine for now.

I definitely defer to the gunto experts (which I certainly am not). My comment was more along the lines of "I didn't know such a thing existed". But for sure an interesting innovation. Must have had a problem with the sayas accumulating dirt and water during the war? Interesting piece.

You are right, Stephen. Toshihide (敏秀)

Hello Grev, If you look on the bottom of the page at the link below, you will find tensho renderings of kanji used in Japanese. It may be of some help/interest to you. The three remaining ones are a bit enigmatic. I'm wondering if they haven't lost some of the inlay bits that would make the kanji complete. For example, the kanji you've identified as being in the middle of the front of the tsuba looks like it might be missing the inlay from the top section. I've taken that photo and added a red line to show you what I mean. (It still doesn't help me identify what kanji it is, but maybe it will jog something loose somewhere). http://www.bellemore.co.jp/mean.html

I wouldn't go overboard trying to clean off the rust from the nakago. If it has been hidden in that tsuka for over 60 years, I would think/hope the rust has stabilized by now. Keep the whole thing lightly oiled until next April, or until somebody with a bit of knowledge can take a look.

Looks legit. Interesting. http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mononofu_hayate/57303194.html

Try this (its not very different from any other script, although depending upon how fancy/illegible/inscrutible you wish it to be, it can be quite intricate). Lovely tsuba, by the way.

Starting to get interesting... I couldn't see any kanji through the rust, but the shape is very nice.

Looks like the type of thing that would be used in tea-ceremony. The big bowl would be for tea (matcha) and the small plate would be to hold sweets.

Can you post a picture that shows the whole tsuba, instead of just the close-ups of the kanji bits? The top right kanji is 音 oto (sound),　bottom right is probably 味 aji (taste) but without knowing where they sit in relation to the other ones, its hard to say or even guess what the overall message is.

Yes - Toshimitsu 寿光. Will check some references tonight to see if it gives a clue as to the other kanji.

滿壽　would be my guess, but I wouldn't know how to pronounce it. Masutoshi, maybe? There is a fuchi by an artist of the same name at the site here http://www.winners-auction.jp/productDetail/34735 While the signatures are very different, the kao is similar. There is a tsuba by an artist of the same name here https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=I8a0_C1fBfcC&pg=PA5&dq=%E7%A7%8B%E8%8D%89%E5%9B%B3%E9%90%94%E3%80%80%E6%BA%80%E5%A3%BD&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAGoVChMIvIa96aS0yAIVouamCh0KdwsH#v=onepage&q=%E7%A7%8B%E8%8D%89%E5%9B%B3%E9%90%94%E3%80%80%E6%BA%80%E5%A3%BD&f=false but the picture is too dark to get a good look at the mei.

Two fans (in parallel) in circle 丸に並び扇 https://x181.secure.ne.jp/~x181007/kamon/shop/05233.html

I couldn't help but post this. In looking for other examples of an Ōmura Kaboku mei (from another recent thread), I came across the following sword. This sword uses the same 焠 kanji that was used in the above sword. I guess it is not as "highly unusual" as I first thought. I'm wondering what exactly is the work of the person doing the 焠 . It seems to imply not just hardening, but the quenching as well, as if one smith forged up until it came out of the water, and handed the unfinished blade to another smith for final shaping. Would that be accurate? http://www.tokka.biz/sword/kaboku.html Funny note: The dealer has misidentified the kanji as 焙 (aburu) well, funny to me,

中心　＝　Nakago in this case. 中心 is a variation of 茎. 押形 = one would indeed think oshigata. Seems to be the most obvious candidate. But the 押 part of oshigata doesn't look right. No idea what it could be.

I think 象嵌　zōgan

There is a slight mistake on the certification papers 治郎左衛門　 →　should be 治部左衛門

銃砲刀剣類登録証 
Firearms & Swords Registration Certificate
 登録記号番号青森第一〇七〇号
 Registration Number: Aomori #1070
 種別: たち 長さ二尺五寸二分、厘
 Type of sword - tachi. Nagasa 2 shaku 5 sun 2 bu - rin. 
 反り -寸二分五厘 　目くぎ穴　弐個
 Sori - sun 2 bu 5 rin. Mekugi ana: 2 
 銘文 表幕府士川井久幸七十五歳作 Mei: Omote - Bakufu-shi Kawai Hisayuki made at age of 75. 裏 萬延元申年十二月
 Ura - Man'en Gan (shin/saru) Nen, December.
 文化財保護委員会
 Cultural Properties Committee
. 昭和 二六年六月二六日発行 Issued on Shōwa 26th, June 26th Cleaned up the ragged bits, and fixed the kanji for 萬延