PNSSHOGUN

Another vote here for @Kiipu & @Jussi Ekholm.

Hi Daniel, yes it's an original sword. The image of the Kissaki isn't promising from a condition perspective.

Unfortunately my knowledge of the NCO tassels is pretty dismal. Can't offer anything of value as this isn't an area that particularly interests me. @Stegel & @Shamsy are the experts on such matters.

Hi Alexi, you can contact customer support with the item listing and they will assist you.

Believe the metal has to be etched to show the differences in steel and tempering.

It can be rather time consuming for large inscriptions, but drawing them out can be very useful: https://kanji.sljfaq.org/ https://kanji.sljfaq.org/mr.html

How very gauche for Tensho....!

Hi Eric, could you please show photos of the entire sword including the mounts. Swords from MacArthur's staff can often be rather interesting as he received many swords from senior Japanese officers.

Must be what the Lanes staff use to extract the descriptions from their rear ends.

These could very well be period war time mounts, have seen quite a few swords using this specific style of Handachi fitting. Of what significance they held is unknown, below are photos of a Koshirae I once owned that came from Japan.

This seller lists swords both on ebay and Yahoo Japan auctions, and isn't one of the dodgy re-listers. The Gunto tend to appear on ebay and not Yahoo Japan...

Hi Peter, certainly a very interesting Hamon. The Mei looks rather crudely executed and does not compare well with the example on page 435 of the Toko Taikan.

The period where Hozon & Tokubetsu Hozon was done in the same session severely reduced the significance of the TH paper.

The Showa Amahide was heavily influenced by Suishinshi Masahide and indeed paid homage to Masahide through the use of his later name, along with using the same Kokuin that Masahide used. Of what connection this has to the posted Gimei, I must admit I fail to understand the connection being implied? Also note the Gunto mounts, which are mid 30's style.

There was rather indepth testing done during the war on the performance of swords in various temperature extremes, it was found that swords (especially polished down Koto) were more prone to bending at temperatures above 40 degrees celsius. Might have more luck leaving it out in the sun before attempting to straighten it. It also goes without saying that any advice given in this thread should NOT be used with real Japanese swords!