Translation help

[mike900]

Hi, my name is Mike. I am new to the forum and new to the world of swords. After getting burned from a gun show shin gunto I spent more money and bought one from Griffin militaria. This one should be legit. I was wondering if anyone knows what the markings say. 

Also another question. The tsuka and tsuba fit extremely tight to the blade but when assembled it seems like it's missing a seppa spacer because the ring that houses the release button does not sit flush and the button becomes stuck in the depressed position. Does it sound like it needs another seppa spacer?  And sorry if the photos suck couldn't get good lighting to make the marks stand out.

[Ray Singer]

I believe this is Takehisa, 1943.

[mike900]

Was Takehisa a good smith for the time? 

[Kiipu]

He made economy swords for the war effort.  The blades would be machine made and then finished by hand.

[mike900]

I can see the economy part. When I got it I thought the tsuba on the fake sword was fancier than this one

[John C]

@Bruce Pennington

Check out the W stamp on the nakago jiri.

 

John C.

[John C]

Mike:

Just for additional info, the painted numbers (379) on the nakago are a type of assembly number.

 

John C.

[cisco-san]

15 hours ago, mike900 said:

Was Takehisa a good smith for the time? 

from John S. Slough´s book - "medium grade showato":

 

[Bruce Pennington]

14 hours ago, John C said:

W stamp

Good eye, John, thanks!

 

[ROKUJURO]

Mike,

In case you want help, please take care of the correct orientation
 

-  NAKAGO photos with tip (KISSAKI) always pointing upwards so we can read the inscriptions without breaking the neck

-- no hardware on the blade

-  photos taken directly from above

-  with light from the side

-  well focused

-  against a dark background to get a good contrast

-  presented as cut-out so nothing is distracting from the item

[Ray Singer]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Good eye, John, thanks!   Ray, What's that last kanji on the date?

 

 

@Bruce Pennington, appears to be 秋 (Fall).

 

[Kiipu]

The yamagata "M" stamped swords are for an army contract.  See below for some more information about the swords marked like this.

The Mysterious "w" Stamp!