Assistance Needed With WW11 Sword....

[hurst]

Hello, I'm new to the site and would appreciate anyone that can assist with our WW11 Sword...

My father bought this sword back from New Guinea in 1945...The sword has been stored since..

In 1990 my brother in law had an interest in Japanese Swords and took the handle off...

Unfortunatley not knowing the tang was cleaned to stop the rust and corrosion destroying the lettering...at the time we thought we were doing the right thing...have since read this is a no,no...

 

The rest of the blade has never been touched and is really good condition....

 

Any assistance in decoding the lettering or any other parts would be of great value to learn more about its origin....thanks....max....a few photos attached

[Grey Doffin]

Hello,

The signature reads, "Noshu Matsuda Kanetaka Saku." (Made by Matsuda kanetaka of Noshu). The sword was made during WWII, and there appears to be an arsenal stamp above the signature.

Grey

[hurst]

Thankyou Grey..for decoding the writing so quickly....you are the first person in nearly 60 years to read the lettering and to know what it meant....

 

Your right there is a small marking above the name that is very hard to make out...I will see if I can photograph it to see what you make of it....

 

The blade has a good distinctive wavey line just above the edge...tempering line maybe...

 

If anymore photographs are required for anyone interested let me know.....thanks..max..

[hurst]

Took a couple more pictures, to see if it is possible to make out the arsenal stamp...It looks like the corrosion has made it difficult to read.....Also noticed a little bit of red paint in some of the last two letters..thanks...max.....

[SwordGuyJoe]

While the stamp is obscured by corrosion, I'm pretty sure it's a Seki stamp.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Max,

I agree; looks like the Seki Arsenal stamp. Matsuda Kanetaka was not one of the few WWII swordsmiths who are considered important today, which means that your sword is an ordinary Gunto (military sword) from the war. Too bad about the cleaned nakago; it does hurt the value.

Grey

[hurst]

Thankyou, Grey and Joe...I am very happy, that with your assistance... The sword now has a makers name to go with it....I will pass this sword on to my son because of the military significance it has with our family....

 

The very high humidity in New Guinea and the Islands would have caused the early corrosion under the handle, and knowing what I know now, I still would have been tempted to treat the damage on the nakago....I'm glad the blade is still in excellent condition....

 

For storage for the next 60 years of more, is just a light machine oil good enough??....max...

[Grey Doffin]

Max,

Put a few drops of light machine oil on a piece of facial tissue and wipe it on the polished part of the blade (do not oil the tang). Then take a clean piece of tissue and wipe off the oil. The tiny amount of oil left will be sufficient to protect the blade; more than that will drip off the blade inside the scabbard and eventually create a gummy mess.

Here's a link to a care and etiquette website: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm

Grey