My grandpa's WW2 sword

[Snuggs]

Hi, I was sent here from the good people at bladeforums, as they told me this forum would be more knowledgeable on my situation. My grandpa left me his Japanese sword in his will. He got it while he was stationed in Japan after US occupation. He was allowed to take home a sword and a pistol from the confiscated weapons there. I removed the handle and found no markings on the tang. Any info would be much appreciated. I found that the sash is written in old Chinese and roughly translates to "Go this way to end your bloodline." Lol

[Snuggs]

[Snuggs]

[vajo]

Hard to say anything. Remove the tsuka (handle) and show us the naked sword. The upper part of the picture looks odd. It seems a little blue maybe from heat? But your pictures are not really telling anything. Only that it is a civillian sword with a surrender tag.

[Brian]

The tag will be the details of the person who surrendered it.
Sword is a civilian mounted one, and looks quite nice indeed. Give the blade some oil, and nothing abrasive. I think you have a nice looking sword there.

[SteveM]

Yes, flatten out that tag and give us a good shot of it. I can make out part of an address in Ochi-gun, Setozaki-mura (a place in Ehime Prefecture). The rest of the tag will have the name of the original owner, and maybe pinpoint the address. 

 

Edit: I can pick out part of the name.  囗藤精　　

The 藤 character can be read either as tō or fuji. It depends on what the preceding character is.

So that means the family name will be something like 左藤, 斎藤, 伊東 (Satō, Saitō, Itō) or something like that. Or, it could also be 山藤, 高藤, (Yamafuji, Takafuji).

The first name is probably is Kiyoshi, but there are multiple possible readings for the 精 kanji when it is used as a name. 

 

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Jeff,

Here is a care and cleaning brochure:

https://nbthk-ab2.org/sword-characteristics/

scroll down to find it.  We won't be able to tell much from pictures alone; the sword needs to be seen in hand by an honest person with knowledge.  Where in the States do you live?  Maybe there will be someone nearby.

Best,  Grey

[Snuggs]

2 hours ago, Snuggs said:

would

I live in Saginaw, Michigan. I would love to take it to someone who would look at it. Here's a better pic of the sash.

[SteveM]

The name is Kondō Kiyoshi (近藤精), living at what looks like Seto-kō #3518, in Setozaki-mura. As I say, this city was rolled up into Imabari city, and so the old addresses don't exist anymore. But the location would be somewhere around here

https://www.google.com/maps/place/日本、〒794-1404+愛媛県今治市上浦町瀬戸２１９８/@34.22584,133.0463853,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x355048b4fd728ec9:0xcdee38840ee8a22!2z5pel5pys44CB44CSNzk0LTE0MDQg5oSb5aqb55yM5LuK5rK75biC5LiK5rWm55S654Cs5oi4!3b1!8m2!3d34.2250669!4d133.0437752!3m4!1s0x35504f302809c823:0x3b4f4750bdd1ba15!8m2!3d34.2258356!4d133.048574

[Snuggs]

Wow. Thanks!

[DoTanuki yokai]

Hi, 

nice blade, I think there is no signature on the tang because the blade is shortened. The blade is from mino province and maybe from the late Muromachi - early edo period. The hamon pattern looks like sanbonsugi but I would like to see more pictures   Pictures of the whole naked blade and the tang. Also a close up   picture of where the hamon starts and what it looks like in the tip.

Thanks

 

Edit: I added pictures that show what we need to see (not the best ones but That’s what I have on my phone now). Play a little with the lightning, it’s not easy to photograph nihonto.

[Snuggs]

Sorry I was out of town for a few days. I removed the tsuka and took some more pics. The hamon pics were hard to get at the beginning of the blade. It seems like the hamon starts about 3in above where the blade starts.

[Snuggs]

[Snuggs]

[Snuggs]