Two Newly Acquired Swords I Need Help w/ Signatures

[Bhdau1]

Hello, new member, long time lurker.  My name is Brent Day and I am co-owner of Antique & Modern Firearms in Lexington, Ky.  We frequently get some pretty interesting Japanese swords in from gun collections and veteran's families.  We recently got three swords from the extended family of a WW2 veteran of the Pacific theatre, two long swords and one short sword.  The short sword is not signed but appears to be the oldest with an almost black color to the tang, while the two longer swords are both signed.  I was hoping that someone here could maybe help me by translating the signatures.  This first sword is in standard Imperial Japanese Military fittings and with the handle off measures 34.25" from the tip of the blade to the back of the tang.  It measures 25 & 5/16" inches from the tip of the blade to the back edge of the blade cut where it reduces down to the tang.  Here are pictures of the signature.

 

[Bhdau1]

The second sword is not in IJA fittings but similar and has a gloss black finished scabbard.  It measures 33.75" inches from the tip of the blade to the end of the tang.  It measures 25.75" inches from the tip of the blade to the back edge of the cut where the blade reduces down to the tang. Here are pictures of the signature under the handle.

 

[Bhdau1]

Here is a better picture of the arsenal stamp on Sword #1 and the tip of the blade

[Bruce Pennington]

Sword 1: I think Yoshichika is your guy: 

But I am wrong more than I'm right!

[Bruce Pennington]

Sword 2:

Kaneuji - 兼氏 (Kaneuji)

 

But again, let's see what the experts say!

[BANGBANGSAN]

1.藤原義臣 作  Fujiwara Yoshimasa  Saku (Made)

2.福田兼丈 作  Fukuda   Kanetake Saku (Made)

[Bruce Pennington]

Edited out

[Bruce Pennington]

Brent,

I assume there's no date on the other sides?

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 1/6/2021 at 11:33 PM, BANGBANGSAN said:

1.藤原義臣 作  Fujiwara Yoshimasa  Saku (Made)

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Guy, over at a Wehrmacht-awards thread translated it this way:

 

Sword 1.

{ 昭 } 藤原義巨作
{sho} Fujiwara Yoshiomi Saku
Made by Fujiwara Yoshiomi; has "Sho" stamp.

From Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:

• YOSHIOMI (義臣), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshiomi” (義臣), real name Takeyama Kazuo (武山数男), born April 3rd 1910, he was the younger brother of Yoshinao (義尚) and worked as guntō smith, ryōkō no retsu (Akihide)

[BANGBANGSAN]

  On 1/7/2021 at 1:45 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Guy, over at a Wehrmacht-awards thread translated it this way:

 

Sword 1.

{ 昭 } 藤原義巨作
{sho} Fujiwara Yoshiomi Saku
Made by Fujiwara Yoshiomi; has "Sho" stamp.

From Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:

• YOSHIOMI (義臣), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshiomi” (義臣), real name Takeyama Kazuo (武山数男), born April 3rd 1910, he was the younger brother of Yoshinao (義尚) and worked as guntō smith, ryōkō no retsu (Akihide)

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Must be a wrong typo, should be 臣 instead of 巨。Guy is right,Japanese 義臣 should be YOSHIOMI,I was making a mistake to YOSHIMASA.

[Bhdau1]

Bruce, You are correct.  There were no dates on the other side of either sword.

Thanks, Brent 

[BANGBANGSAN]

Both swords are nice,but I personally like Showa To in Gunto fitting better.