SteveM

Small correction: 雨龍図鐔 (tsuba with image of "rain dragon")

Yes, it should be a haiku. About 一花; the most obvious reading (to me) is Ikka, but it could also be read as ichige, or other readings. I doubt it is the author's name, but the way it is offset from the rest of the text does make me wonder. I'll wrestle with this a bit more. The leaf, the gourd, and the poem should all tie together.

一花 (ikka) on the left side, but the right side is a bit too cryptic. A mix of kanji and hiragana and hentaigana that is tough to crack (for me). Ikka means "one flower", but that doesn't help me figure out the rest. The image looks like a leaf and a gourd. Again, it may be a clue as to the poem/text, but it is beyond me.

肥前作 御鍔 Hizen Tsuba

I can see all of the pictures now. The "Seki" stamp on the top of the tang also identifies this as a WW2 blade.

The theme of the menuki is referred to as takarazukushi (宝尽くし) lit. abundance of treasures, filled with treasures. It is a theme that is also found on kimono fabrics, and features the lucky items shown on Dale's post above.

Hello Johnny, Your sword has the name of Fukuda Sukemitsu (福田祐光) on it. Fukuda Sukemitsu was a war-era swordsmith, so your sword is from the mid 1900s. I couldn't see all of the pictures..I got an error message halfway through. (Could be an issue with my browser?). Anyway, if you search on the internet for that name, pluse some other keywords (swordsmith, gunto, etc.) you should be able to find more info.

Hello Luca According to the site below it should be "sukisage-bori" (aka "sukidashi-bori"). A technique for making the main image stand out from the background, by cutting away at the surrounding surface until the main image is raised (i.e. appears more three-dimensional). https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/14655/#:~:text=「鋤下げ彫り」（すき,に表現する方法です。

I guess the official name of the policy through which the government solicited swords from the public was Guntō Hōkoku (軍刀報国), and this name appears in both the appreciation certificate, and in the leaflet that Bruce posted a picture of on June 28, 2020 (at the top of the thread).

As advertised, its an official letter of appreciation (from Japan's Military Officer's Hall), given in thanks for the donation of a sword. It doesn't mention the sword maker/type, etc... Year is 1942.

Was hoping to get a shot of the actual inscription. Presumably it means "in commemoration of", but I can find no other reference to this kind of inscription, and don't know how you would pronounce it. Maybe (in kanbun style) kore de (date) wo omotte. (With this, we commemorate/remember the date). But... I suggest this with low confidence.

OK - Thank you! That makes it simpler; the cut was performed in Amagasaki in Settsu province, on Dec 18th, Shō-ō 1 (1652), by Mozume Kyūbei.

The cut was made at Amagasaki (a city in present-day Hyōgo prefecture) in February (presumably 1652), and the sword was inscribed with the cutting test results on December 18th, of the same year. The cutter was Mozume Kyūbei.

I'm sure that's a monogram (kaō) and so it would be unique to the author. It's hard to tell what kanji the author stylized it from. Usually the kaō is made from a part, or parts, of the family name, but could be some variation of 正 (true, correct) or 眞 (also true, truth, sincere).

One could be the date of the test, and the other the date the inscription was added. Unsure. (my reading of 梅津 could be incorrect as well, or the reading could be correct, but the interpretation of "August" "February" could be incorrect"). 梅津 is a poetic name for August February, but... it is a bit rare. Edit: Oops, correction, 梅津 is a poetic name for February. I'll leave the spoiler as is (with the error untouched) Edit #2: Had to fix a typo in a name. I should also add that the name of the cutter is not included in Guido Schiller's list of known cutters. Unknown, or known at the time, but just rare to see on swords.... who knows. I should keep track of these "unknown" cutters (who have very confident signatures) and create an appendix to Guido's list.

Shō'ō = Jō'ō (with or without diacritical marks...both are the same, and I think both are acceptable pronunciations).

I think 承應元年壬辰十二月拾八日梅津於尼崎 三つ胴切落物集女九兵衛（花押）

And to add to John's correct post above, the flag is presented to a Mr. INOKUCHI Asaharu (井口朝春). This is the name to the right of the "good luck in battle" phrase mentioned above. INOKUCHI is the surname (family name) of the person to whom the flag was presented. There are other possible readings in addition to INOKUCHI (for example, it may also be read as IGUCHI). The flag was presented by the "Young Men's Association of the 13th Precinct". It would take a bit more research to pinpoint the exact location of that precinct. Most of the rest of the writing would be the names of the signers. Looks legitimate to me.

大津絵にも囗囗ハ いかに囗囗囗 Ōtsue ni mo ~ Ikani ~ Even in Ōtsue --- I can't pick out the other bits. The reference is to a kind of folk art called "Ōtsue”, which you are probably already aware of.

I would also caution against drawing hard conclusions based on machine translations of the texts above. Japanese language contains a lot of subtleties and ambiguities which can go missing, or can get translated into non-negotiable English terms, when translated by google or AI. Plus, the translations often stumble over kanji, which themselves contain information that may get lost in translation.

Yes Enpō 7 (己未) year of the sheep

Tsuba should be right side: 城州西陣住 left side: 埋忠橘重義 Jōshū Nishijin-jū Umetada Tachibana Shigeyoshi

近江大掾藤原忠廣 Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro (Made by Tadahiro Fujiwara, Lord of Ōmi Province).

The original contains the kaō of the second Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiakira, and the image was supposed to have been that of the first Ashikaga shogun, Takauji, but lately there is a line of inquiry that says the image is that of Kō no Moronao or his son. In any case, mid 1300s. source https://emuseum.nich...&content_pict_id=002

應需北渓画 夏木重留 けさ見れは山も霞のすし兜 　辰の頭の春は来にけり By Hokkei Natsuki Shigeru - In the morning, the frost creates a striped helmet on the mountaintop The spring brings the dragon's head