Hello Everyone,
A sword came into my possession today, and as with anything I plan to keep for my own collection, I would like to know as much about the piece as possible. And as always, I have reached the step where I would like to translate the writing that I have found on the piece. In this case, there is a very visible mei on the tang and additional writing on the tsuba. Here is a link to the gallery for the sword, the mei pictures are towards the end: http://imgur.com/a/eDe6E
In terms of the known history of the sword, the story is pretty typical: I received this sword from a gentleman who has had it in his personal possession for about 15 years, who had the sword handed down to him from his father, a WWII veteran serving in the Pacific Theater. How exactly the veteran received the sword himself is a mystery, and no associated paperwork or certificates are present with the sword. The main focus of this thread would be to determine the translation for the mei and inscription, but I am also curious about the general nature and history of the piece itself, the extra information would be greatly appreciated! I will tell you what I have observed so far. The tsuka appears to be pre-war based on condition and design, fairly old looking. Most of the metal pieces appear to be made of brass, I would assume the skin on the handle would be stingray, and the wrapping is made of some sort of cloth (not silk). The blade itself is great condition besides the tang. It has definitely never been sharpened, and is in fact quite dull, which is reminiscent of what I have seen in Type 98 blades. Finally, the scabbard is made of wood, and painted with a dark burnt umber-kind of brown paint. The scabbard has a matching brass design and the sageo is also made of cloth. Unfortunately, the bottom of the scabbard splits slightly when the sword is sheathed, you can see the crack that runs down the middle of the foot of the scabbard that it splits along. The mekugi was also damaged, with only one half of it remaining, but other than that I did not find any other significant damage.
If you have any other questions, specifications, or need pictures of a specific part I overlooked, let me know. I appreciate any and all input you all can give me!
Link To Gallery: http://www.imgur.com/a/eDe6E
Thank You!