SteveM

Yes, the paragraph is about the Ichijo disciples, and not specifically about Funada Ikkin, other than the one sentence mentioning he was the top student of Ichijo. As John says, the picture doesn't mention specifically which Funada Ikkin, but the text only mentions Yoshinaga so one can assume the tsuba pictures is a 1st gen Ikkin (aka Yoshinaga) tsuba.

You need to look closely at the kanji on your sword, as there are many kanji that have identical readings. The kanji on your sword is 貞久 And the kanji you are showing me in the book is 定久 You need to be looking for swordsmiths who signed with 貞久.

Yours looks like 来貞久作 (Rai Sadahisa saku) This is a signature that doesn't show up in my online searches. In Markus Sesko's swordsmith compendium, there are three smiths who used the name 貞久: one who worked from 1532-1555, one who worked from 1596-1615, and another who worked from 1661-1673. None of these three used "Rai" in their name, as far as I know. ("Rai" is a family/lineage of swordsmiths). There was a smith in the late 1600s who signed 越中守来貞幸 (Etchū no kami Rai Sadayuki), so I would guess your smith may be related to him since they both use the same kanji for Sada (貞) and both are claiming the "Rai" lineage. The timing feels better also, since the wakizashi comes into wider production from the 1600s.

Hello Malcom, Here's your man. https://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00220.html Steve

Written by Satō somebody (his name is on both pieces of paper). The top paper is indicating the position of something using the four compass points. 東ハ？ （助山院？） 西ハ？　（山院？） 南ハ？　（高山沢院？） 北ハ？　（沢？） Sorry, not much help.

Yes, John, you are correct. Single body cut at the widest part of the hips.

As Robert says, smith and date is 荘司次郎太郎直勝　Sōshi Jirō Tarō Naokatsu 天保十一年庚子八月日　Tempo 11 (year of rat) August 柳本越智敬隆所持　Owned by Yanagimoto Ochi Tadataka Cutting test inscription 同年十一月十三日於武州千住小塚原 両車土壇払山田五三郎様 Same year November 13th, at Kozukappara, Senjū, Bushū (Tōkyō) Two-body cut performed by Yamada Gosaburō

The sword is a family heirloom, rather than a newly-made arsenal sword. The bearer had military mounts made for his family sword. There are many such short swords repurposed for military use. They are often erroneously referred to as "pilot's swords", with the assumption being that pilots would use shorter swords, but I think this site has disproven that claim fairly comprehensively. The inscription (the ones in blue are written by the cutting tester) 乳割土壇払 Chichi-wari dotanbarai 天保十年二月日於江府作 Tenpō jūnen nigatsujitsu oite Kōfu saku 会津住元興 Aizu-jū Moto-oki 同年十月二日於千住神谷清治試之 Dōnen jūgatsu futsuka, oite Senjū Kamiya Kiyoharu tamesu kore Cut across the chest Made in Tenpō 10 (1839) February, Kōfu Moto-oki from Aizu province/city Cutting test performed in the same year, October 2nd, at Senjū, by tester Kamiya Kiyohara So the swordsmith Moto-oki made this sword in February of 1839, and someone had it tested by cutting it across the chest of a cadaver (probably) in October of 1839. I didn't find this tester's name in Guido's list of famous testers, or anywhere else on the internet, so it looks like the tester is someone lost to history. It also looks like the tester didn't have room to write everything on one side, so he continued on the other side, which is slightly unusual. The longer sword is a typical military/arsenal blade.

Seki sword. Looks broken and then given a quick and dirty repair job. Mei is subject of some disagreement on the internet. Smith name is Yoshiomi, but the second kanji of the family name is...debatable. Looks to me like 武正義臣作 (Takemasa Yoshiomi saku) However some sites claim it is 武山義臣作 (Takeyama Yoshiomi saku) Maybe someone out there has more info. Takemasa https://www.togishi-touken.jp/研磨料金表/お受け出来ない御刀見本/ Takeyama

Here's a page of them (and similar things) https://www.amazon.co.jp/ETSUMI-クリーニングクロス-マイクロファイバーM-300mm角-5128/dp/B002L6HN24

Maybe a job for Kelly Schmidt at @Japan auctions

For the second one I was thinking 南陽, or, looking at the stamp, the second kanji might be 龧 (a variation of 曙) For the subject, it must be Yoshitsune. But various searches didn't turn up anything useful. I agree with 玉栄, but maybe pronounced Gyokuei (as in 狩野玉栄). Possible to get closer pictures of the red stamps/seals?

Hello Neil, Here's your man

I would say 義久 Yoshihisa

I think the stick and the rope point to the street entertainment (monkey-handling, or sarumawashi in Japanese), as Chris said. 猿回し図 https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/e/d0e1b51ac75d9d584546e17f8ad129eb https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/m/201301/1