yellowquestion

Watanabe Boshi? Mōri? I’m not sure what the correct orientation should be

Thank you for noting this! Here’s a better pic. I definitely missed this during my amateur inspection.

Im not aware of a family crest on the handle, am I missing it? I have additional photos if it helps

Thank you John. Since you mentioned it I have been looking at tsuka ito and in my short time searching, I’m not finding any that resemble this simple leather wrap.

Thank you, I have read that there is a correlation between using "Bishu" instead of Bizen and being a lower quality or mass produced blade. Can anyone comment or add to this? Also during my research I believe that the fittings such as the tsuba are referred to as "type 98" which were military sourced fittings added to older swords so that could be carried in service?

Bishu Osafune if i understand correctly means that it was made at Bizen Osafune school. "Kiyomitsu" would be the swordsmith? What does "Saku" refer too?

Thank you Jacques and Ray for the quick reply.

Hello, I am the custodian of what I believe is a 1500-1600s Japanese sword the was brought to the US by a returning soldier. I am unsure what my intent is at this time but I am interested in any information that can be found. attached is a picture of signature located under the handle. Thank you in advance.