Trying to identify this WWII recovered sword

[JeffinVA]

Hi,

 

New to the forum. I recently received this sword and trying to identify it. My wife's grandfather found it on a battlefield during Battle of the Aleutians when was stationed in Alaska as an MP. Supposedly it had blood on it when he found it although that could have been added to the story over time. The duct tape on scabbard was on long before I got it and about cried when I saw it. I collect antique battle rifles so his son (my step uncle) thought I would be a good owner for it. Trying to get any information about this sword is proving way harder than identifying the markings on an old Mauser rifle so I could use all the help anyone can offer.    

 

There are some markings on one side of the tang, not the other. The scabbard is wood and clearly in terrible shape. Blade looks like someone tried to polish it along the way.  I can add other pictures if it would help.

 

Again I really appreciate any insight anyone has.

[John C]

Jeff:

I am not one of the translators, so you'll have to wait for the translation of the signature (mei). I've corrected the orientation to make it easier for them. I can tell you it is not an Army or Navy issued sword. It looks to be a wakizashi (between 12 and 24 inch blade) that had been outfitted to be carried. These swords were donated to the war effort (if over 21.5 inches) or came from the person's family. The fittings all look to be civilian to me, however. So not sure about the military connection. That would be my best guess assuming the stories are accurate (they get changed as they are passed down). 

 

John C.

[Bugyotsuji]

Kanenobu Masazane？金信政真

 

[Nobody]

金房政真 - Kanabo Masazane

 

[Yumso]

Kinbo Masazane(金房政真)?

The link under calls the name like that, don't know why it isn't called Kanabo Masazane.

https://www.nipponto...words11/KY338049.htm

Mei does look similiar. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Sesko doesn't list any Masazane with 政真, although that is fairly common to happen.  He does show 2 Masazane with 正真 that have 金房 associated with them:

 

MASAZANE (正真), 1st gen., Tenbun (天文, 1532-1555), Yamato – “Nanto Kanabō Hayato no Suke Fujiwara Masazane saku” (南都金房隼人佐藤原正真作), “Nanto-jū Fujiwara Masazane” (南都住藤原正真), “Kanabō Hayato no Suke Masazane” (金房隼人佐正真), Kanabō school, according to tradition the son of the Eishō-era (永正, 1504-1521) Tegai-Masazane, he moved later from Fujiwara (藤原) to Kanabōtsuji (金房辻), the village that was the name giver for the school, he made mostly robust and “functional” blades with a wide mihaba, a shallow sori, a thick kasane and an elongated kissaki, the jigane is an itame mixed with masame and ji-nie, the hamon is a suguha in ko-nie-deki with ko-ashi and yō, chū-saku
MASAZANE (正真), 2nd gen., Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Yamato – “Washū Nanto-jū Fujiwara Masazane” (和州南都住藤原正真), real name Kanabō Shinjirō (金房新次郎), suguha, notare, ko-midare

[Bruce Pennington]

Jeff,

I have seen at least one other civil sword, that I can recall, brought home from the Aleutian conflict, and plenty from the rest of the war.  Yours likely was fitted with a leather cover which went missing over the years.  The private swords brought, bought, or donated for the war had quite a mixture of military fittings from simply a leather cover, like yours, to mixes of civil and military, to full military.  I suppose it had to do with the person who owned it and how much money they were able to spend, or simply the shop who obtained it and what they did to outfit them for military sales.

[JeffinVA]

I can't thank you all enough for the information and to come so quickly too. I've learned more in 24 hours than two generations have learned once my grand father in-law gathered it.  It has been interesting to research the history of Masazane.

 

I told my uncle what you all have shared. He told me that he remembered as a kid it originally had a small knife in a sheath attached to the scabbard. Once he took possession of it unfortunately it was gone. That would support the idea that it had another cover at some point.

 

I want to turn this into a display piece that retains as much of the historical accuracy as possible. Do you recommend leaving it as is (minus the duct tape) or turning over to a restoration specialist?  I think restoring the scabbard, rewrapping the tsuba, and cleaning/minor polishing some of the parts might be all it needs. What do you recommend?

 

Thanks again for everyone's help! 

[John C]

3 minutes ago, JeffinVA said:

originally had a small knife in a sheath attached to the scabbard.

Could have been a kogatana? Many scabbards have a dedicated slot for this utility knife.

My personal take on restoration would be to do as little as necessary to make it presentable. Having the tsuka re-wrapped would be the cheapest thing to do (depending on if you replace the menuki or not) and would make it look 100 percent better. As to polish, it's expensive. And the price would not be justified if the blade is by an average smith. I think you would have to examine the hamon carefully and determine if there is enough activity there to justify the expense. Conversely, if money were no object and you wanted to preserve a family heirloom in pristine condition, then by all means, full polish and restoration would make it look really nice.

Just my observations,

John C.