Translating Japanese Sword Signature Needed

[lisalou]

Was given these two swords by a neighbor and need help translating a sword makers name this sword from what I can tell is 27 inches long and is in good shape with a temper line that is readable to the tip. It has 2 Kanji characters...very nice handguard. Looks very old- the other I think is wwii, but it has numbers on it. I collect hummers and other antiques, and this is out of my area of expertise- can someone help me with the makers mark and it will need to find a new home, so some advice here as well (both swords) pics attached

[tesscoothome123]

Hi, Your first sword is a WW2 Japanese NCO sword. You can find more information by searching. Your second looks like it was made by Yoshimitsu? Very faint and hard to read.  Regards, John

[Yoshimichi]

05/05/16

10:32 p.m.

 

Hi,

 

The kanji looks like "Yoshimitsu" to me as well from the photos. Question:

 

1) Does the older sword blade measure 27 inches, in a straight line, from the point of the blade to the notch (mune-machi) on the back side of the blade where the copper-looking sleeve (the habaki) butts up against, or is it 27 inches measured from the point (kissaki) to the end of the tang (nakago)? If it measures 27 inches from point to mune-machi notch, that helps a bit in trying to sell it.

 

The tsuba (sword guard) on the older sword looks severely rusted. By itself, I would expect it could be tough to get $40-$100 for it at a sword show. It looks like the handle (tsuka) is missing the end cap (kashira) from the photos. Is that the case? If so, it may need a re-wrap. It is hard to tell from the photos. The scabbard (saya) appears to be missing the throat piece (koiguchi), and it looks like a section of the saya material is missing (about three vertical inches in length), on the side of the saya. It looks like it might be a same' (ray skin) covered, or a material covered, saya. Again, clearer photos would really help. 

 

The blade clearly needs restoration, which is not cheap. Unless the signature can be reasonably nailed down to a bigger named Yoshimichi smith, it is likely going to be cost-prohibitive to have it professionally polished. Without seeing the blade in hand, it is hard to know if there is any serious flaws or cracks in the blade. As is, and forgetting about the signature altogether, and not having the advantage of looking at the older blade in hand, I would expect most experienced collectors/dealers are probably not going to want to offer more than around $300-$400 for the older sword, based on the photos alone. 

 

In my experience, NCO swords are pretty tough to sell for more than around $100-$250, depending on condition, with the exception of fairly rare patterns. My main market experience is in California. 

 

From your posting, I get the sense that Japanese swords are less your "antique of choice," and that in the end, you may prefer to just move these down the road to someone else, and apply the sales proceeds towards antiques of more interest to you. Perfectly understandable. If you decide to sell them, you can always list them on Ebay and see what they bring, or offer the swords for sale on this or another sword sight for a price you are comfortable with, and see if there are any takers, or take them to a sword or gun show and see what someone may offer, after they have a chance to look at the blades up close. Alternatively, you could always just enjoy them for what they are, like many of us do with some swords.

 

Best regards,

Bill E. Sheehan (Yoshimichi)