Posted 10 years ago
chezpatty
(6 items)
Hello . . . I'm looking for help identifying who made this sword . . . It's a mystery to me as I don't read Japanese . . . but very interesting . . . any help would be greatly appreciated . . . someone who knows swords told me circa 1750 . . . thank you . . .
I'm not an expert in these swords, but I have one myself and I can tell you a bit based on my attempts to research it. The handle and scabbard appear to be the standard WWII Army Officer's, but the blade may date earlier if it has no factory stamps and the tang has a hand done inscription (as yours appears to have). I recommend you do a rubbing of the writing on the tang using onion skin paper and lead pencil (old school method), or perhaps this photo will suffice, and then send it to a Japanese sword expert to get it translated and the inscription researched. There are lists of registered sword makers going back hundreds of years, and you may be able to find out who made it, where it was made in japan, and approximately when.
My sword, like yours, had all WWII furniture on it, but the blade was over 200 years old! Even if this is an artisan made (not factory produced) blade from the 30s or 40s, it may still have surprising value. Or not. It's worth the trouble checking.
Chris
Hi Chris . . . thank you for the info . . . I just need to find a Japanese sword expert now (easier said than done) . . . It is a very interesting subject indeed . . . I'll let you know how I make out . . . I'm not going to stop until I know who made this sword!
Let us all know as there are some really old blades still unaccounted for! You can easily remove the grip to see what markings are there.