Help Needed With Signature Translation from Japanese Officer's Sword

[Bhdau1]

I recently had a gentleman bring in this sword to me for appraisal and possible sale.  He inherited it from his father who was in the Pacific Theatre during WW2. It is mounted in the typical IJA fittings and came with the typical IJA scabbard.  The blade has a visible wavy hamon running the entire the length.  The very last 1/8" or 1/16"th of the tip is broken off, and the cutting edge is very sharp but there 6 or 7 tiny nicks in it primarily in the first 4" inches of the blade back from the tip. The handle had never been off as far as he knew, however rather than having a normal bamboo peg thru the handle it had a old machine bolt and nut thru it.  The tang is somewhat dark with two holes thru it and it is signed on one side only, no markings on the other whatsoever.  I am not educated enough on these to determine for sure if the holes in the handle were punched or drilled out. My opinion is that they were drilled but I could be totally wrong about that. I have filled the signature with some thinned-out white-out liquid that can easily be removed without scrubbing or abrasives.  See attached pictures of the signature and any help with translating this would be appreciated

Sincerely, Brent Day

                 Lexington, Ky.

[Bhdau1]

I had to reduce the size of the pictures and they are all turned around now and I cant figure out how to fix it.  Ill try to post only the best whole image that is not resized.

[k morita]

Hi,

筑州柳河住鬼塚吉国  Chiku-shu Yanagawa-ju ONIZUKA YOSHIKUNI

[ROKUJURO]

Brent,

only the last photo is in the correct position (tip-upwards). Nice sword from about 1650, unfortunately it had a hard life after it left Japan.....

[Bhdau1]

On 2/10/2023 at 6:45 PM, ROKUJURO said:

Brent,

only the last photo is in the correct position (tip-upwards). Nice sword from about 1650, unfortunately it had a hard life after it left Japan.....

  Yeah maybe you can explain how to rotate them properly once posted here. I resized them to post and they are saved in the correct tip up position on my PC but when uploaded to this site they get rotated? Not sure why that happens, and I could not find an edit function to allow me to rotate them back once posted in the thread.  

Thanks, Brent Day

[ROKUJURO]

Brian will tell you, I am nothing good with a computer.

[Brian]

It's to do with cellphone stripping EXIF info. Basically the phone removes the info telling the pic which way round it was taken. If you edit on your pc, and save, it should maintain that position. Never heard of that happening once edited. Edit and save the pic on your phone first, that will keep it the right way. It's not the forum doing that, definitely the cellphone.

[robinalexander]

On 2/11/2023 at 9:51 AM, Bhdau1 said:

I have filled the signature with some thinned-out white-out liquid that can easily be removed without scrubbing or abrasives.

Brent, just a quick tip on 'bringing out the mei' ...no major problem with what u have done but, try talcum / baby powder next time, easy on and easier off 

[Bhdau1]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:50 AM, robinalexander said:

Brent, just a quick tip on 'bringing out the mei' ...no major problem with what u have done but, try talcum / baby powder next time, easy on and easier off 

     Thanks for the tip. I tried some white chalk ground into a powder first but I couldn't get it to stick in the signature very well.  Whenever I went to remove the excess it would come out of the signature too.  It probably was because I was trying to wipe it off without using much pressure with a small paintbrush.  Can you give me a quick how-to on how to get it to stick in the signature?

     Brian, thank you for the info on how to keep the pictures the right orientation.  I think I must have taken and saved them on my cell phone, then uploaded them to my PC using a USB to USC cable, then resized them all at once with some free resizing software I put on my PC a couple years back, then uploaded them here from that re-sized folder.  At which point they lost their orientation data, I do not know.  When opened on my desktop from that resized folder they are in the proper orientation. 

     Does anyone have a ballpark-like guess at what this sword is worth? I will try and post some more pictures this evening of everything so everyone can see the condition better.  I have not cleaned or done anything to the blade other than wipe any fingerprints off of it with some mineral oil.  Looking at the blade, there are quite a few spots on it that look like they might come off with a little work, but I don't want to do anything to harm it and have refrained from trying.

[SteveM]

Most of the time, you don't even need to bother with talcum powder, as we're pretty used to seeing signatures on swords without any enhancement. As long as your photos are clear, we should be able to pick out the name.

How long is the cutting edge of the sword? Not the full length from tip to tang, just the sharpened blade part. 

 

[robinalexander]

Hi Brent @Bhdau1, Steve (above) is correct in that there is strong core of 'kanji readers' on this forum and these guys are good!  On the rare occasion, if there is some something to add, then another member will pick it up very quickly.. A valuable and much appreciated resource and it just amazes me sometimes what they can actually read. 

 

However, just so as your question does not go unanswered..... (you may also want to get some clear pics for your own records) .....talcum powder/baby powder is way finer than ground chalk and therefore it will find the crevices and stay in them much easier.  The nakago will usually be dry.  I have some powder in a small jar, dip a paddle pop stick in and get a small amount on the end and tap it against the mei.  Not too much, just enough.  Then just wipe over with the fleshy part of your hand.  If it doesn't work the first time, just wipe it off and do it again until you get it.  Then just take it outside and gurney if off...... sorry about that!!! 

Rob

[Bhdau1]

Here are some pics of it apart

 

[Bhdau1]

[Bhdau1]

[Bhdau1]

Last pics.  Ill post just a few more of it together.

[Bhdau1]

[Bhdau1]

As some of you know, I owm a gun store that sells only used collectible, antique, and military guns along with field gear and militaria. I had you guys look at one a year or two ago that I was planning on keeping and now I am debating selling that one to keep this one. Or I might just keep them both. Here are the two together.

 

[Bhdau1]

[Bruce Pennington]

You probably know that you have a general's tassel on that one, right?  It's worth as much as the sword by itself.

[Mike Stevens]

Whoa!! That is awesome! 

[Mike Stevens]

Thanks for sharing that about the Generals tassel @Bruce Pennington

[Bhdau1]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:53 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

You probably know that you have a general's tassel on that one, right?  It's worth as much as the sword by itself.

Actually, I had NO idea so I am very happy that you have told me. It came on the sword.  I had carefully removed it when I was taking the handle off to get to the signature.  I then attempted to put it back on in the same way as I received it.  So, this means this sword was possibly carried by an IJA general? I know it could have been added at a later time as well but the story I got with it when I acquired it was that it had never been outside of the family and was brought back by the man's father or uncle, I can't remember what he said exactly.  Both of them served in the Pacific Theatre.  If only a General could have these tassles there can't be too many floating around now or even in 1944-45 right? I would very much like to know your opinion on the value of the sword and tassels, while I am keeping it for sure I should know the value of it to add to my inventory/collection list should something happen to me and my wife gets all my stuff.  

Sincerely, Brent Day

[Bruce Pennington]

It's likely the sword was owned by a general, yes, assuming the bring-back story is correct.  @PNSSHOGUN, John, would be the best source of the tassel value.  Before COVID these were selling for $1,500.  The nihonto guys will have to give you an estimated value range for the rest of the sword.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Brent, if it wasn't sold to you as a general sword then the story has a good chance of being real. Unfortunately without any further info it's almost impossible to say which general owned it unless there is a family name in silver on the handle. 

 

[Bhdau1]

On 2/24/2023 at 10:15 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

Hi Brent, if it wasn't sold to you as a general sword then the story has a good chance of being real. Unfortunately without any further info it's almost impossible to say which general owned it unless there is a family name in silver on the handle. 

 

It was not sold to me as an IJA General's sword.  The guy really didn't have many details for me about the sword, other than he inherited it from either his dad or uncle, both of which owned it at one point, and that he wanted to sell it as . I THINK the story was that his uncle was the actual guy who took it as a trophy during the war and brought it home.  It then passed to his dad when his uncle died, and then to him when his dad died.  I will try and find out the uncle's first name, exact branch of service and unit he was in, and where exactly he fought in the Pacific theatre.   Ill also try and get the dad's military info and where he saw combat.   I'll probably never figure out who owned it for sure, but it sure would be cool to know at least who the most likely possibilities were.  I did ask specifically if the man's father ever talked to him much about the war, and he said VERY rarely did his dad ever mention it, and he held a big grudge against the Japanese till the end.