Nelson

Thanks for all of the comments everyone. I’m still trying to get the brass pin out; it’s proven quite difficult thus far. I will be sure to post an update once I manage to get that far.

Hey all, I’m new here; thank you for allowing me to ask a question. I would greatly appreciate any assistance with my recent acquisition. I’m a collector of military items, primarily from WW1-2, and recently got this beat-up sword from the estate of an Australian soldier who saw heavy combat in the dense jungles off the coast of Indonesia in mid-1945. His family told me that this sword was brought home by him. I know very little about these swords, but my own research has left me with a few questions. I have been unable to remove the brass mekugi thus far, and so I haven’t been able to inspect the tang. I have seen the brass mekugi feature twice before on others online, but understand it to be unusual. Additionally, the brass fuchi is quite large and has no designs, with the only marking being an ‘X’. There are no seppa. The nagasa measures about 23 inches. A hamon is quite visible. I understand that this is quite short. The leather-on-wood saya has some kanji on the inside near the opening; I am unsure of the meaning of these, but have taken a photo of them for parousal. Otherwise, I’ll let the pictures do the talking; it’s had quite a life. So, what are your thoughts on this? Is it a “last-ditch”-type sword? Machine-made blade vs other? given it’s length and style, how would one classify this? Thanks so much in advance.