wags27

Added a few more photos in case anyone was interested.

Thanks for all the great info everyone, I'll keep researching. Grey, I appreciate the offer. I'll take you up on it sometime soon. -Chris

Hi all, My grandfather was in the Army during the tail end of WWII and participated in the Battle of Okinawa. Family lore states that this was a Japanese officer's sword and a battlefield capture (along with some other trophies). I know he spent some time immediately after the war in Korea and Japan transporting POW's so he likely also had plenty of opportunities to pick this up after war was over. He's not around to ask anymore so I'll never know for certain about the circumstances that it was acquired. Regardless, this sword has been in my family since the 1940's and has gone through various phases of abuse and neglect. You can see in the pics that it's not in great shape. I'm not sure what I should do with it next. Since I'd like to keep it in my family I'm looking for advice on how to preserve or restore it. Any info on the sword itself you can share would also be super helpful. I've been keeping it in its scabbard inside a foam padded rifle case with a light layer of machine oil over the polished portions of the blade. I don't have any pictures older than 1-2 years old, but it looks more or less the same as I remember it my whole life. I wouldn't be surprised if there have been some amateur attempts at cleaning or sharpening it. Along with the oxidation the blade also has its point chipped off and some small notches. Any advice is welcome! Thanks, Chris