Ltrick

I had a chance to look at the 2nd sword our family inherited today (it's actually my nephew's). I hadn't seen it in a couple of years and realized it's not quite as 'pristine' as I remembered it. It has a 3 character mei and the blade has some strange imperfections in it.....maybe from when it was originally made. Everyone was so helpful with the other one, I figured it only fitting to post pictures of this one....of course I haven't had time to research this mei either, the kanji painted on the saya, or on the paper taped to the saya. I suppose this would be an example of what I've seen referred to as an NCO "cut-down" blade? Here are the pics for this one: The actual color of the steel is mose accurate on the last one.

I would consider having it checked out by a reputable professional. I have no idea where to start and I don't feel comfortable shipping it outside the US. Any recommendations for the most knowledgeable professional I could find in the States?

I would like to thank everyone for their replies....obviously I'm not the only one for whom this has stirred an emotional response. I haven't replied back until now as I'm still somewhat stunned as I went from knowing virtually nothing about it to all of this in just a few days. I'm still a little confused on how old the nihonto itself may be in light of the "ichi" character. I certainly agree it should be 'preserved' as a historical record and I will give careful consideration as to just what that entails. My initial reaction is to preserve "as is" and keep from further degradation. As much as I would like to see it in it's artful form, I believe it's story is best portrayed in it's present state. To me, the time-worn condition best symbolizes how antiquated the times in which those actions took place have become....that the human race has indeed positively evolved somewhat and left such attrocities behind. That's what I would 'like' to believe. I can't help but think that bringing it back to a beautiful state of being would somehow "idolize" it; thus, twisting the message of the inscription for some. On the other hand, the argument could be made that by restoring it to it's former beauty, it's ominous lethality would give more credibility to the inscription for others. Maybe that's why my Grandfather brought back 2 in such opposing condition......... Richard J

Well stated Brian....I was considering how to reply as my view of this sword was exactly that initially - a work of art crafted by a master of his trade (albeit rusty and time-worn). The translation set the reality.....this is a relic of War, crafted for a specific purpose, and documented directly on it are the "tragic" results. Holding the blade that physically administered those specific tragedies is now a very different emotional experience. I appreciate the translation greatly as I believe I could have spent months trying to decipher it, to possibly no avail....Thank You Koichi. There is a single "character" on the opposite side of the tang as seen in one of the pictures which appears as a deeply cut single line with a small "tail" off the end. It's too deep to just be a flaw or scratch.....any ideas? I would still like to try and determine the age if at all possible. Obviously (if the mei is authentic), the blade is at least 1890s if it was newly made at the time of the indicated reference.

Hello Everyone....my first post here. I inherited 2 wartime (or earlier?) swords a couple of years ago and just recently happen to hear about the inscriptions under the handles. One of the swords (the old rusty one) is pictured here with some interesting mei on it. The other sword (Perfect condition) I have yet to disassemble. I literally just took the old wooden handle off this one about 3 days ago and I've gotten little sleep since that time from staring at resources on the internet trying to decipher at least some small part of the mei or origination of the sword.....not going well at this point and I have to get back to work. I would very much appreciate any assistance from the board members on cracking the meaning of this mei. I've found just a few of the kanji at all on the charts I've searched from the sites I've seen recommended. It looks like the upper middle few characters start with the symbol for the number "9" and then go to a cutting test but I can't tell what type of cutting test. Then I recognize the kanji for a sword on the left side about midway down but I'm far too much of a rookie to even begin to make sense of all this.....it's very interesting though! I hope I do the pictures correctly....here they are: Thanks, Richard