Kuniaki??? Ok, I'm already wrong, Sigh...

[Bruce Pennington]

It's August 1943, got that much but =help please!  And if you know his prefecture, I really need that info!

And @Kiipu, please note the "SA 480" - this is a new katakana.

 

[Nobody]

下総國昭継 – Shimosa no kuni Akitsugu

昭和十九年八月吉祥日 – Showa 19^th year (1944), 8^th month, a lucky day

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Moriyamasan!

 

In trying to pin down Shimosa, it looks like it was, back then, part of Ibariki and Chiba provinces today, right?

 

Also, Sesko has a few Akitsugu with this mei, but they are listed as Niigata and Kagawa prefecture smiths.  Anyone able to crack this mystery for me?  The reason is that this katakana code should be tied to a prefecture.  We already have one for Ibariki and Kagawa is too far south for one of these serial numbers.  So that leaves Chiba.  I realize Markus' work doesn't always have all the WWII smiths, so maybe this guy is one of those not in his list.

@mecox @george trotter

 

Update: I found that there were 2 Akitsugu on the RJT list - Baba Akitsugu: Kagawa, and Takahishi Akitsugu: Unknown locale (Sesko).  I'm betting the Takahishi guy was from Shimosa!

AKITSUGU (昭継), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Kagawa – “Kinryūshi Baba Akitsugu kore o tsukuru” (金龍子馬場 昭継造之), real name Baba Shigetarō (馬場繁太郎), gō Kinryūshi (金龍子), jōko no jōi (Akihide)
AKITSUGU (昭継), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), prefecture unknown – “Akitsugu” (昭継), family name Takahashi (高橋)

 

2nd Update: I found that the Chiba prefecture was founded in 1873, so it was an active prefecture during the war.  I might be confusing myself with the "province" vs "prefecture" terms.  So, it's still quite possible this Akitsugu worked in Chiba, and was just using the Tip-o'-the-hat reference of Shimosa on the blade.

 

[Kiipu]

My best guess would be Saitama Prefecture 埼玉県.  The star stamp may have been dotted out above the signature.  If so, the blade is coming via Japan.

埼玉　サイタマ　Saitama.

 

Quote

Most of Shimōsa Province 下総国 became part of the new Chiba Prefecture 千葉県 on June 15, 1873, with four districts (Yūki, Toyoda, Sashima, Okada) going to the new Ibaraki Prefecture 茨城県 and the portion to the west of the Edogawa River going to the new Saitama Prefecture 埼玉県.

Shimōsa Province

[Bruce Pennington]

3 hours ago, Kiipu said:

サイタマ　Saitama.

I like it, Thomas!  I had forgotten that many (if not all?) of the katakana we've found are part of the name of the associated prefecture.  

 

Unless anyone has other ideas, I'm putting this down on the map and with this smith.  And I agree the star was intentionally masked.