SteveM

I found this same blade on an auction site (sold around April of this year). From the auction site description 刃中に稲妻が表れている様と、本名の旦を入れてこの刀を譲るべからずとまで記された "Inazuma (lightning) appears throughout the blade. The swordsmith inscribes his real name Noboru (旦) into the sword, and forbids the owner to transfer the sword to another" nb: Sawahara Shigetane's real name was Sawahara Noboru (various other readings possible). I do not know if that auction site translation is accurate.

澤原二世重胤励精以鍛煉之刃鋭文美 John got most of it: Diligently made by Sawahara Shigetane (2nd), forged with sharpness and beauty (nb: sharpness of blade, beauty of hamon) I'll take a look at the line next to it. Usukura Narukiyo would almost certainly be the person who ordered the sword.

富山梅鉢 Toyama Umebachi Geometric plum design. https://kamon.myoji-yurai.net/kamonDetail.htm?kamonName=%E5%AF%8C%E5%B1%B1%E6%A2%85%E9%89%A2

I think your registration certificate goes with a different sword. The registration says "mumei", but there clearly is a mei on the sword. The mei says 尾州住氏升 (Bishū-jū Ujimasu).

總山？　Fusayama?

Yours looks authentic. You can find a few smiths named Kanemitsu who produced WW2 blades. Take a look at the site here https://japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/index.htmfor more info. That site can provide other information, as can Ohmura's site, which you may already be familiar with. http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

Also Rarely are personal names inscribed on the actual blade. I hesitate to say "never" because I haven't seen everything that is out there, but in my experience I have yet to see a personal name inscribed on the actual sword. There may be the rare instance where a soldier scratches his name onto his arsenal blade, but it would be unusual. Artists will inscribe their names and other info on the nakago part, not on the blade. The name on your sword is not an artist name. It says 亀田太郎 (Kameda Tarō). Seems to be a totally random name . Rarely are dates inscribed on to the actual blade. I feel this is even a greater giveaway than the name. The date on yours says Kan'ei 28. Take a look at wikipedia for more info on the Japanese calendar system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_era_names Kan'ei in the Japanese era system only had 24 years. Your sword says "Kan'ei 28" The "engraving" style on your swords is nothing like the actual carving technique that swordsmiths and associated artisans use on swords. Yours looks to be a kind of machine engraving using commercially available fonts. Hope this is useful for you.

Bruce nailed it. 兼定 (Kanesada) 昭和十八年八月 (Shōwa 18, August) note: "Showa" is the era name. Look up Japanese era names or Showa in wikipedia for more details. The handwritten numbers/letters in black ink/paint is a kind of makeshift part identification number. Very common on these swords. Yours says "143". Not a lot of significance to those. The important thing is the smith and the year. And, of course, the condition of the sword is extremely important. Look on this site for more info on handling, caring, storing the sword.

Yes, it is very common for swords to not have signatures. Look somewhere on the nakago for a punch mark, even a faint one, that might identify it as an arsenal blade. Sometimes there are faint markings on the mune (the spine part) of the nakago as well. If no such mark, it could indicate an older blade. You can find lots of examples on this site. The red rust on the tip of that one blade is a bit worrying. I don't know if anyone would be able to polish that out.

Also, if you look on this site for info on restoring swords, you will get a ton of hints. Also look in the FAQ section. The short version is, don't attempt anything yourself other than perhaps wiping with a lightly oiled cloth (cloth and oil types are also a frequent topic of discussion here). We see a lot of blades that are damaged, if not completely ruined, by people who want to get rid of the rust and bring the shine back. Avoid the temptation to scrape off the rust, especially if the rust is already stable. Restoration by a professional sword polisher costs around $2000 after all is said and done, which often is worth more than the sword itself.

三州岡崎住　Sanshū-Okazaki jū (looks vaguely like 三川 , but I feel it is probably 三州 Sanshū as this is the usual way to write the location) 神風　Kamikaze or Shinpū 真菅　Masuga or Sanesuga Doing a quick search online I can't find a smith with this name. The only hit is the pdf that you linked to, and in that pdf, in the "notes" section, it says 「岡崎　伊奈勘」, which I'm not sure how to interpret. 伊奈 (Ina) is a location near Okazaki. It could also be a last name. My inclination is to think this refers to the real name of the smith 伊奈 勘 (Ina Sadashi?) but the given name of 勘 by itself is unusual, so I don't have a lot of confidence in that interpretation. Plus, if you have an "art name" and a real name, and still cannot find any hits on the internet, you know you have either a super obscure smith, or a wild goose chase. Masuga (真菅) is a location name in Nara prefecture, which is a bit far from Okazaki. Also, Masuga would be an unusual reading for a personal name. I think the reading of the smith's name would be Sanesuga, but as I mention above, I couldn't find any reference to a Sanesuga. The Kamikaze/Shinpū is unusual.

I think also the smith is Yoshikane 義包 See also http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/10933-yoshikane-mei-help-please/

The first one is a mystery... maybe a stylized version of 深, but that still doesn't lead me anywhere.

We have entered a worm-hole http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26753-can-i-request-assistance-in-identification-of-these-swords/

The thing is, if it is a forgery, it would have been counterfeited 100s of years before it ever made its way to the US. Counterfeiting swords is something that predates the founding of the United States. Anyway, like I say, from my amateur's perspective, looking at photographs through internet, I think your sword #1 is interesting and deserves a close look from someone who knows more than me.

Period would be mid-to-late 1600s. I don't have a bibliography of him. I don't know how much information on him exists in English. You can find his name in the English swordsmith compendiums (Markus Sesko's comes to mind). Right now this swordsmith is used as a character in a popular Japanese video game, so searching for him online will produce a lot of distracting hits. Let me also add that there are an astonishing number of forgeries in the Japanese sword world. One always has to be a bit suspicious of "barn finds" with names of reputable swordsmiths inscribed on them. They fall into the same category as garage-sale discoveries of Van Goghs. What I mean is, occasionally we see in the news about some great discovery like this, and it always make the blood rush a bit to the head, but the unfortunate truth is that many times (most times?) they turn out to be fakes.

I'm pretty sure the third one is a mass-produced porcelain sake cup. It has the name of a famous (also mass-produced) sake brewer on it: Gekkeikan 月桂冠

Hello Chris - at the top of this page there should be a LINKS button that will jump to a page that has sword restoration info and links to qualified people who can do this. Also, if you do a search on "sword polishers" you should get a gazillion hits. The decoration on the fittings of your sword #3 look to be peonies - a common theme, often found on fittings. To clarify, I think the first one is also a wakizashi. Wakizashi are not as loved as katana-length swords. However, the top one carries the name of a smith of some reputation. Assuming the rust is not too deep into the steel, and there are no fatal flaws, and the inscription is real (all of these are three huge assumptions), the sword will be interesting for a collector.

1st one is 陸奥守吉行 Mutsu-no-kami Yoshiyuki (meaning: Yoshiyuki, Lord of Mutsu Province). In this context, "Lord" is an honorary title, and doesn't imply political power. If authentic, this sword will be a nice one to have in the collection. It should go to a professional Japanese sword polisher to get the care it deserves. I am more optimistic about this one than in the other two, even though the others might seem like nicer eye-candy since they come with the full scabbards and other furnishings. To my eye, the other two look like garden-variety wakizashi, and the furnishings look very common, if not downright cheap. The first sword, however, might be something interesting. .

It looks like 谷竜 or 花竜 (using the weird form of 花 that came up in another thread recently) - the one below https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/u82b2-ue0102 Hanaryu? Hanatatsu? I'm away from my books now. Will take a look later if nobody chimes in.

Excellent. Nice to get closure on these difficult/impossible to read inscriptions. I would have never guessed 貫 for the third one.

The kanji themselves are not unusual. It looks to be 吉江正一郎 Yoshie Shōichirō Yoshie would not be a common name, but it is not a freakish outlier either. Shōichirō is a typical first name. There is no swordsmith of this name, however, as far as I know. The habaki is covering up the top kanji a bit, so if the sword itself were more promising I'd suggest taking off the habaki so we could see more, but as you yourself observed, and as others have commented, I think its not worth the effort.

I think it is (from the right, top to bottom) 明治天皇御製 さしのぼる朝日のごとく さわやかに もたまほしきはこころなりけり Poem by Emperor Meiji The morning sun Rises so splendidly Into the sky; Oh,that we could attain Such a clear reviving soul!

Yes - the pronunciation of 皇 is kō. The next two are defying me. Usually, four-word compound words like this are fairly well-known phrases or slogans. Even if its an obscure phrase, we should be able to figure it out using the words we already have. But I can't find any reference to a 4-word slogan using 皇 + 骨. So if its not a well-known slogan, its the artist writing in kanbun, and we'll have to wait until someone can help with the other words. Candidates for the next one after 皇 are: 級、紋　

皇囗囗骨 My guess is that it is a patriotic message, either in praise of, or swearing protection to, the emperor. (The first kanji means emperor/imperial, and the last one is literally bones.) I can't get the middle two. If you don't already have the date, its February, Bunsei 3 文政三年二月