Translation please

[aabderson]

Can anyone make this out? 

[nulldevice]

Looks like Takehisa to me 武久

 

 

 

[mywei]

Yes I agree

Showa 18, Autumn

[The Blacksmith]

I would like to see pictures of the whole sword please. I could be wrong of course, and hopefully am, but to my eyes this seems more like a Chinese copy than a genuine Japanese blade.The shape and finish of the nakago, the very badly written and lightly inscribed kanji, the megugi ana etc. Several things do not seem right to me.

[Bruce Pennington]

You might also find some small "W" stamps at the end or top, sometimes both, of the nakago.

[aabderson]

Do these pics help? Do you think it’s authentic? @Bruce Pennington @The Blacksmith

[aabderson]

[aabderson]

@Bruce Pennington he sent me more pics of the nakago. It does have a W stamp. But not sure if that is what it should look like 

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes! Excellent! They do not fake the W stamp. The blade is legitimate, I see nothing wrong with the fittings as legitimate World War II fittings. There is a mystery with the fuchi and tsuba.  Both are World War III items, but they seem mismatched. Whether that was done during the war or after no one can know.

[Kyle68]

@Bruce Pennington so from my reading about the W stamp, it appears primarily on Takehisa, Yoshiharu and the Mantetsu blades. Is that correct?

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 8/28/2024 at 2:17 PM, Kyle68 said:

 it appears primarily on Takehisa, Yoshiharu and the Mantetsu blades. Is that correct?

Expand  

Yes, primarily.  I have single examples of the stamp on Haruhisa, Tenshin, and Kanenori blades, but 13-14 examples on Takehisa and Yoshiharu blades and 26 examples on Mantetsu.  I do have a few examples on Type 19s and Type 95s as well.

 

The dated blades from the smiths are all 1943 - 1945.  The Matetsu range from 1942 - 1944.