SteveM

I think you are right. It could be some hentaigana for つ and う (too hard to see clearly, but maybe 川 for つ). う is too hard to see, but from the others, and the overall theme, I think you've nailed it. 

This is the earthquake and fire that the box mentions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kantō_earthquake

Ah, OK. Got it. Probably not worth it. I figured there was some issue like this, because most of the really old posts are corrupted in the same way. I think the info from Moriyama-san and Morita-san is sufficient to figure it out in this case. 

Q for Brian, any way we can fix the character glitches in the old post (Barry's post from June 2008)?

Or 丗八号　(means "#38")

Not a surrender tag. Price tag, repair tag, inventory tag... something like that. 

Kiowa is maybe Kyōwa 享和 1801-1804?

Yes, that would make more sense. 

Swordsmith is

Sado-no-kami Kunitomi Motoyoshi

Kunitomi is the smith's working name. Sado-no-kami is his title. 

possibly    散見せ　

It was issued in Shōwa 44 (1969), March 23. 

Person who submitted it is named MORI - I'll skip the first name for privacy reasons. 

美濃住　光沖

Minō-jū Mitsuoki

I think the shinsa team in 1976 (the date of your certificate) was a bit careless when they wrote your appraisal paper, and they meant to say Sendai Yasutomo. Sendai is very close to Aizu, geographically, and I think from the kanji of 安倫 (Yasutomo) written on your paper, its clear that the appraiser meant Sendai Yasutomo. "Later Generation Yasutomo" would put this sword in the 1800s. 

I have no specific information on the later generations of Yasutomo. The swords of the mid-to-late 1800s tended towards this kind of straight shape, so the shape of your sword is correct for the time. 

3 hours ago, Jesta said:

There is probably a signature, but it is too faint to see clearly. 

Looks like 貞廣 (Sadahiro).

同人 　Dōnin. Means it was performed by the same person that did the one on the right (hence, the same kao).

Hello Lukas,

Yes, the name on your tsuba is Ōsaki Yoshiaki (大崎善明). 

Thank you, Moriyama-san. I was struggling with the Hachiman reference. Now I understand it, thanks to your post. 

Left Side

南無阿弥陀佛 (Namu Amidabutsu) down the left side. 

雷除　(Kaminari-yoke) Protection from lightning. Also left side, under the above. So, yes this part would seem to be a way of indicating the maker's, or the inscriber's, wish for protection from lightning. 

Right Side

八幡公所佩貫級刀製　Hachiman kōsho hai kankyūtō-sei

Kankyūtō is the same thing as "bashin". It's just another way of saying "blood-letting knife". But I'm not sure why Hachiman (the god of war, among other things) is included in the inscription. I'm not finding any clues online either. Or maybe there is some meaning in the kanji that I am missing. Anyway, if I were to guess I'd say the inscription was way for the smith to invoke the god Hachiman (which may have some connection with the clan of the maker and/or the fief in which he was working).  

I like it. Very interesting design. I, too, would have guessed Chōshū or Bushū. I am reminded (and maybe too strongly influenced) by Robert Haynes' assertion that Echizen Kinai tsuba are usually signed as such. So, when I see an unsigned tsuba I mentally exclude Echizen Kinai from the field of possible schools.  I don't know if Haynes intended his comment to be treated as an absolute. I doubt it. But it has stuck in my mind. 

11 hours ago, Tsuku said:

本阿弥光忠 Hon'ami Kōjō

Typo, I think. 

Kōjō should be 光常.

清秀　Kiyohide　Late Edo era artist.

I should say one of the things I read online was that this technique was a way of using acid to highlight any forging lines in the base metal, and then incorporating those forging lines into the design that was to be carved on the base metal. (like using the lines to represent water or clouds). 

Another site I saw said that kusarakashi was a way of adding texture to a plain (flat) base. 

Hence, it seems to be an elastic phrase - but one which involves applying an acid treatment or a rusting agent to the metal to elicit some textural effect. 

I see the NBTHK uses two different pronunciations

Yakite kusarashi, and

Yakite kusarakashi

The meaning is the same (both are the causative form of the verb 腐る - to decay, to rot)

Haynes defines it as a surface design or finish that is made by acid treatment. So, basically as Jean mentions above. 

My dictionary of sword-related terms defines it as applying an insulating substance to the design element, and then applying acid to the rest of the tsuba, so that the design element rises a bit above the surface. 

Digging around a bit more online, it seems to be a rather elastic term for various acid treatments. 

Attaching a picture of a part of another NBTHK appraisal to show the alternate reading. I wish they would standardize.

4 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

(top) 票.査検 /Inspection label

(middle) 合組業工物刀関 / Seki cutlery Society /Association  

(bottom) 市関県阜岐 / Gifu Prefecture Seki City   (all read R to L)

Some slight corrections. (Using the old kanji so that they match with what's on the seal.

檢査證票               (meaning is as above, just one kanji left out)

関刄物工業組合     (meaning is as above, just 刀 should be 刄)

岐阜縣関町　　　(Seki town)

Dedication is:

為渡邊社長　For President (CEO) Watanabe

尾崎平左衛門　　Ozaki Heizaemon  

Or 尾崎半左衛門  Ozaki Hanzaemon

Nothing pops up in a quick search except for Ozaki Gengoemon

The kuzushi version of 重 is very different from the one on this tag, so it can't be 重.