tharris

I just recieved an email informing me that the first two characters may be "Sukenaga". Has anyone ever heard of a smith named Sukenaga Toshimitsu? Performing a Google search doesn't yield any results.

Has anyone here ever had any work done on one of their swords by Fred Lohman? How does the quality of his polishing stand up? His total restoration package seems very reasonably priced, but I'm very new at this and would like to avoid mistakes. Todd

I checked the tang when I got home, and there are no other markings. I've tried to find a picture of the signature of this smith on the web, but haven't been able to find anything yet other than this mention of the smith in Osafune http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ColHartle ... tterTo.htm It mentions him as the sole remaining smith in Osafune. If this is the same smith, there surely must be examples of his work somewhere.

Thanks for the help QuangD. Would an accurate translation be, "made by Ishinaga Toshimitsu"? If so, at least I have a place to start looking for information on the smith.

Mark, Thanks again for the assistance. Maybe someone will recognize the smith's signature.

Pic sent. Thanks for the assistance. :D

Submitting pic didn't work. Any suggestions?

Hello. I'm very new to the forum, so please excuse me if I post this in the wrong location. I inherited a katana my great uncle brought back from the Korean war back in the 1950's. It appears to be a Japanese military sword, with menuki which indicate it was carried by a naval officer. It has a wooden saya, and the signature on the tang is 5 characters. There is no arsenal or star stam on the tang. I will try to attach a picture below. Any help with identifying who made this sword will be greatly appreciated. I am trying to decide whether it is worth restoring it or not.