Help with Katana?

[SwordsofJapan2222223]

Just bought this katana? Supposedly, the dealer I bought it from said that he found it wrapped up in a WWII USMC utility blouse from a family, so it is thought to be a bring back. However, I am totally knew to Japanese swords and do not know what I really have. Scabbard is wooden and metal guard is loose, so assuming it wasn't made with high quality materials. No markings apart from what's on the scabbard. What is more interesting are the animal symbols which look like deer along the grip and on the pommel. I have not seen this on any other examples and am going to look closer to see if this is gold or not. The question I have is first, is this a legit Japanese sword and is it WWII production or even a family heirloom? Thanks.

[SwordsofJapan2222223]

Found out that this is a Japanese Wakizashi sword. I'll attach another picture of the blade and no markings on the tang. Had a good discussion with others on the Gunboards forum and there were thoughts on whether this was a souvenir of the occupation period post WWII or if it was prewar. Someone pointed out that the grey patina on the blade looks artificial and was skeptical of the pristine condition of the blade collar. Definitely not an expert on Japanese swords so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Might help to see pictures of the tang and the whole bare blade without the fittings.

[GeorgeLuucas]

Hello and welcome to the forum!  
 

To answer some of your questions, we’ll definitely need more photos. Especially of the tang (nakago), even if there’s no markings on it.

 

Your wakizashi blade appears to be in poor condition. That being said, everything looks genuine to my eye - pending more photos. 

Here’s a guide that shows some of the photos we’ll need. Always best against a dark background.
 

Best of luck! 
-Sam 

 

[Geraint]

Dear Rickey.

 

To answer some of your questions this is a genuine Japanese sword, a wakizashi.  It has nothing to do with WWII but is an earlier sword.

 

There will be some gold in the fittings but their value lies in their artistry, not in the metal.  Resist the urge to clean anything other than to wipe the blade with some light oil on a clean cloth.

 

Take it slow, the blade is what we would call out of polish and you cannot do anything about that.  As you explore there may be the option to restore this to good condition but that is a decision to make later.

 

Welcome to NMB and enjoy the journey.

 

All the best.

[SwordsofJapan2222223]

Thanks for the responses, if there is anything left to be said, I've attached a picture of the tang and will work on getting pictures of the other parts soon.

[Peter Bleed]

Ricky,

This looks like a good pre-modern sword. Obviously, it has not been polished in a long time, but based on shape (and some experience) I bet it would polish just fine. The kissaki ( the pointed end)  Based on what we can see, there is no way of knowing if it would be worth the cost of a polish, tho - should we say that will involve two thousand bucks and a year's wait. (Now, nobody here would recommend that you do any polishing on you own, but in the real world lots of guys have explored non aggressive, nongrinding  ways cleaning to make sure that there is a hamon and no serious hiding flaws.) The saya could also be fixed up so you would have nice samurai sword.

I LOVE the guard (the tsuba , tut-tut). Lots of us like those old "armorsmith" dote-mimi guards which might date from before 1600. And it looks like the seppa between the tsuba and the habaki is backwards, turn it arround.

Peter

[ROKUJURO]

The TSUBA shows a classic KANZAN and JITTOKU motif (https://en.wikipedia...ki/Hanshan_and_Shide) which I like.