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Update. The blade was made by Hizen family member. They dated to early Shinto

Oh wow I sounded like a jack ###. Sorry about that. Ted and I had a good phone call this morning. Long story short is he would need to see it in person to give a better idea what this sword is. He said it's an older blade and could be an excellent candidate for a polish. He also said that he is too busy and can't accept anything at this moment and connected me to Scott Colton up in Washington. He said him and his partner would be able to provide more insight about it. The steps I will probably be taking is: Get it in the hand of the expert to figure out what I have. Possibly get the handle rewrapped, as the wrapping is extremely delicate and has increasingly gotten worse just by handling it to take pictures. Post findings and probably sell the blade. It's not that I don't have interest in this blade, I'd rather find someone who could give this blade proper respect and care.

I'm not having it polished. I'm having it looked over in person by a person recommended by Ted, to figure out what I have, and provide recommendations on next steps. If anything I would want it rewrapped,

Slight update, I sent an email to Ted Tenold, this is what he said: I’ve looked over the images of your sword. It’s really difficult to clearly define many details from images, though you have done an admirable job in photographing the sword. It looks like it could be a candidate for restoration. Looks maybe early 17th century or perhaps very late 16th century. Could be a candidate for restoration but would ultimately require an in-hand evaluation to confirm it’s condition and workmanship. The koshirae is little better than average quality Type 98 Imperial Japanese Army Shingunto, in which the older blade has been fitted. There were a number of professional shops that supplied officers with the service of remounting older swords into new mountings, or supplying them with newly made traditional or non-traditionally made swords as military sidearms. He also said he is currently not accepting new projects and referred me to reach out to a local where I am located. I am going to have the blade inspected in person Friday. Happy to provide more updates

Just curious, could the rust be misleading. What I mean by that is when it was fitted for the gunto fittings, couldn't someone knocked off some rust off the tang?

The tsuba and seppa are also numbered here is a picture of that

That makes complete sense, you see enough and learn over time, you gain a trained eye. Consider me very ignorant, what does that mean?

67.5cm nasaga 3cm kissaki 18.5cm nakago Total length 85.5cm

How did you figure that out?

67.5cm nasaga 3cm kissaki 18.5cm nakago Total length 85.5cm

First set of pictures

Hi all! Thank you for the feed back. I am currently at work and will report back with the following request: Measurements in metric Better photos of the blade and the tang Charcoal print of the tang I will say I see extremely faint marking and been advised to use candle soot and tape. If that is not the best way to do it, please advise. Thank you

Hello! So I inherited this sword from my wife's great uncle. He was a marine during WW2 and captured this sword while clearing out a bunker during the battle of the Philippines. He has a journal entry talking about it and a photo of him holding it and smiling. I would love some help on what to do with this. I have a friend who suggested I post it here. He gave me a Japanese sword cleaning kit he got while he was in Japan and taught me how to clean it. He is stumped by it. He thinks it is very very very old. Would love to know more about it and how much it is worth as I might be willing to part with it.