Bhdau1

It was not sold to me as an IJA General's sword. The guy really didn't have many details for me about the sword, other than he inherited it from either his dad or uncle, both of which owned it at one point, and that he wanted to sell it as . I THINK the story was that his uncle was the actual guy who took it as a trophy during the war and brought it home. It then passed to his dad when his uncle died, and then to him when his dad died. I will try and find out the uncle's first name, exact branch of service and unit he was in, and where exactly he fought in the Pacific theatre. Ill also try and get the dad's military info and where he saw combat. I'll probably never figure out who owned it for sure, but it sure would be cool to know at least who the most likely possibilities were. I did ask specifically if the man's father ever talked to him much about the war, and he said VERY rarely did his dad ever mention it, and he held a big grudge against the Japanese till the end.

Actually, I had NO idea so I am very happy that you have told me. It came on the sword. I had carefully removed it when I was taking the handle off to get to the signature. I then attempted to put it back on in the same way as I received it. So, this means this sword was possibly carried by an IJA general? I know it could have been added at a later time as well but the story I got with it when I acquired it was that it had never been outside of the family and was brought back by the man's father or uncle, I can't remember what he said exactly. Both of them served in the Pacific Theatre. If only a General could have these tassles there can't be too many floating around now or even in 1944-45 right? I would very much like to know your opinion on the value of the sword and tassels, while I am keeping it for sure I should know the value of it to add to my inventory/collection list should something happen to me and my wife gets all my stuff. Sincerely, Brent Day

As some of you know, I owm a gun store that sells only used collectible, antique, and military guns along with field gear and militaria. I had you guys look at one a year or two ago that I was planning on keeping and now I am debating selling that one to keep this one. Or I might just keep them both. Here are the two together.

Last pics. Ill post just a few more of it together.

Here are some pics of it apart

Thanks for the tip. I tried some white chalk ground into a powder first but I couldn't get it to stick in the signature very well. Whenever I went to remove the excess it would come out of the signature too. It probably was because I was trying to wipe it off without using much pressure with a small paintbrush. Can you give me a quick how-to on how to get it to stick in the signature? Brian, thank you for the info on how to keep the pictures the right orientation. I think I must have taken and saved them on my cell phone, then uploaded them to my PC using a USB to USC cable, then resized them all at once with some free resizing software I put on my PC a couple years back, then uploaded them here from that re-sized folder. At which point they lost their orientation data, I do not know. When opened on my desktop from that resized folder they are in the proper orientation. Does anyone have a ballpark-like guess at what this sword is worth? I will try and post some more pictures this evening of everything so everyone can see the condition better. I have not cleaned or done anything to the blade other than wipe any fingerprints off of it with some mineral oil. Looking at the blade, there are quite a few spots on it that look like they might come off with a little work, but I don't want to do anything to harm it and have refrained from trying.

Yeah maybe you can explain how to rotate them properly once posted here. I resized them to post and they are saved in the correct tip up position on my PC but when uploaded to this site they get rotated? Not sure why that happens, and I could not find an edit function to allow me to rotate them back once posted in the thread. Thanks, Brent Day

I had to reduce the size of the pictures and they are all turned around now and I cant figure out how to fix it. Ill try to post only the best whole image that is not resized.

I recently had a gentleman bring in this sword to me for appraisal and possible sale. He inherited it from his father who was in the Pacific Theatre during WW2. It is mounted in the typical IJA fittings and came with the typical IJA scabbard. The blade has a visible wavy hamon running the entire the length. The very last 1/8" or 1/16"th of the tip is broken off, and the cutting edge is very sharp but there 6 or 7 tiny nicks in it primarily in the first 4" inches of the blade back from the tip. The handle had never been off as far as he knew, however rather than having a normal bamboo peg thru the handle it had a old machine bolt and nut thru it. The tang is somewhat dark with two holes thru it and it is signed on one side only, no markings on the other whatsoever. I am not educated enough on these to determine for sure if the holes in the handle were punched or drilled out. My opinion is that they were drilled but I could be totally wrong about that. I have filled the signature with some thinned-out white-out liquid that can easily be removed without scrubbing or abrasives. See attached pictures of the signature and any help with translating this would be appreciated Sincerely, Brent Day Lexington, Ky.

Bruce, You are correct. There were no dates on the other side of either sword. Thanks, Brent

Here is a better picture of the arsenal stamp on Sword #1 and the tip of the blade

The second sword is not in IJA fittings but similar and has a gloss black finished scabbard. It measures 33.75" inches from the tip of the blade to the end of the tang. It measures 25.75" inches from the tip of the blade to the back edge of the cut where the blade reduces down to the tang. Here are pictures of the signature under the handle.

Hello, new member, long time lurker. My name is Brent Day and I am co-owner of Antique & Modern Firearms in Lexington, Ky. We frequently get some pretty interesting Japanese swords in from gun collections and veteran's families. We recently got three swords from the extended family of a WW2 veteran of the Pacific theatre, two long swords and one short sword. The short sword is not signed but appears to be the oldest with an almost black color to the tang, while the two longer swords are both signed. I was hoping that someone here could maybe help me by translating the signatures. This first sword is in standard Imperial Japanese Military fittings and with the handle off measures 34.25" from the tip of the blade to the back of the tang. It measures 25 & 5/16" inches from the tip of the blade to the back edge of the blade cut where it reduces down to the tang. Here are pictures of the signature.