SteveM

Yes, literally it means "brush", and in this context it means "drawn by...". So, your translation was fine - although the reading in this case is hitsu, and not fude.

山菴永祥筆 San'an Eishō hitsu Late Edo, early Meiji artist. Kyo-Kanō school.

You've found it! Good job, Joe. I was struggling... Tada seemed close, but not close enough. I couldn't get it, though.

壽囗 - Toshi-something, but I can't get the second kanji. The Toshi brings to mind Umetada Akitoshi 埋忠明寿（壽）but this toshi belongs to a different artist, I think.

A retirement gift would have a different phrase on it. "Commemoration" is a pretty broad phrase, so it could be a generic gift that was made in some quantity (although not necessarily factory made) to be given out in a variety of circumstances: gift for an important visitor, important guest on a show, corporate sponsor, someone who contributed to a program, etc... It could also be a gift related to a ceremony that marked the foundation of NHK, as you said. The writing uses the old kanji variant of 會 (会 is the modern form, used from sometime in the 50s onward). The kanji for 送 is also an old variant. So the writing could possibly date from the middle of last century. But occasionally you still find these old forms being used when people want the writing to reflect a certain formality, so the old kanji characters aren't necessarily a guarantee of age. In any event, a nice-looking vase.

Your intuition is correct. It says Mitsunaga 光永作 Probably the one noted on this site below. http://www.jp-sword.com/files/seki/gendaito.html

記念　日本放送協會 Kinen Nihon Hōsōkyōkai NHK (Japanese national broadcast company) commemorative item.

(佩き表) 月山　　(Haki omote) Gassan I haven't seen this phrase Haki omote before. It would mean "the side facing outward when the sword is worn"

Okuai would be my guess at the reading of the first two kanji 奥會住宗泰 Okuai jū Muneyasu I have never seen this combination of 奥會 before. Either a contraction of 奥州 and 会津, or literally "deep/remote Aizu"

or ？？守播磨？？ something no-kami Harima something Harima is a location name. Kami is an official title, usually translated as "governor", only its just a title. It isn't meant to infer political authority. Harima-no-kami (Governor/Lord of Harima) is a common thing to find on swords, but the opposite construction is weird, so I could be off target with this one.

Here's another Ietsugu with the "Kashū Fujiwara" bits included. http://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords/KT119254.htm

愛霜堂　Aisōdō　　Sounds like the name of a company. Unfortunately the internet didn't return anything useful.

Hello Max, You can start by combing this site for articles and threads that explain all about swords and parts and terminology and handling and maintenance, etc... You have truly come to the right place. Soap and water are not good for cleaning swords. Neither should you be handling the sword with your bare hands (its OK to handle the nakago part with bare hands, but make sure its dry when it gets put away - or better yet use a handkerchief or cloth or cotton gloves when handling). It could indeed be a samurai sword, but the leather scabbard is a sign of a 20th century military sword, so you may have a bit of a frankenstein; an old sword thrown together with parts from the last century. It isn't uncommon. Sadly, the scabbard looks like its a write-off. It could be replaced, but that would be a labor of love whose cost would outstrip the value the finished product would have. The sword itself is in sad shape, and here too you would be looking at thousands of dollars to bring this sword back to decent shape, the finished product again having a market value of less than what you put into it. The writing on the one side of the sword could be Kuniie Yasusada (國家安定) as Ray suggested. I originally thought it was something like 國愛安定 (Kunichika? Yasusada). In either case, this name Yasusada doesn't appear in this format in any of the online references. There is also an unusual mark above this 4-kanji name (just under the lower peg-hole). I can't tell what it is supposed to be. The writing on the opposite sides are names of Shintō gods, 春日大（明）神　Kasuga Daimyōjin 天照皇大神 Tenshōkōtaishin I can't read the one on the far left, but no doubt the name of another god. Overall, the impression is that this sword is an outlier, or a forgery (also, unfortunately, extremely common in the sword world).

Actually for the 2nd one I like 万龍子 better than 支龍子, but since neither of them appear in Wakayama, I would say they are both longshots for meikanmore 長州萩住友久作 for the last one. Chōshū Hagi-jū Tomohisa saku

Hello Robert - no attribution is made. Other than the bits translated above, and the registration date of June 19th, 2003, its all boilerplate as Kyle mentioned.

For the 2nd one: Tenryūshi, Masataka comes to mind, but not quite a match 天龍子　 Looks more like 巧龍子 or 丂龍子. Anyway, the first kanji eludes me. 正隆作 Looks like the second kanji is a cross between 隆 and 澄. Sort of like 登 with kozato-hen (Tenryūshi Masataka is the name of a swordsmith, not a tsuba maker as far as I know...I only throw his name out here because the name on this tsuba contains similar elements)

濃劦住平田兼隆作 Nōshū-jū Hirata Kanetaka saku WWII smith. You can see an example of his oshigata here. https://japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kanetaka.jpg

The kanji look OK to me... 火之用心 (hi-no-yōjin) "beware of fire". So this is the bag of a night-watchman, one of the neighborhood men who walk at night reminding people to put out their fires. The fish (snapper, I think) in the wagon, the trumpet, and the thing on the bottom of the haori look like children's toys. I would have no reason to suspect this is Chinese-made. It have no reason to doubt it was made in Japan, but I too am not an expert in these things.

I vote for yamawasabi. The theme seems to be common, the plant is apparently auspicious, grows on water and the aoi (hollyhock) leaf reminds us of the Tokugawa family crest. I'm no botanist, but the internet tells me geraniums didn't arrive in Japan until the end of the Tokugawa government. Linking some other variations. http://inishie-kb.jp/2017/04/04/tb0015/ http://fluorite.sakura.ne.jp/contentspage/kodougu/b_n_contents/bn005_082/bn005_082.html http://www.katana-hattori.com/tsuba/03_12.html

As John says above; a manual on swordsmanship 剣術教範 Kenjutsu Kyōhan (Swordfighting manual) 陸軍省検閲済 (approved by Army censors) 昭和九年三月六日　March 6, 1934 It looks like a manual that was periodically renewed. There are earlier versions of the same available online. http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/936050

武藤政克工 Takefuji Masakatsu kō c.Bunsei 13 (Wakayama pp 377)

The mon on the bag is a variation of mokkō (Japanese quince). It kind of looks like #255 on the list below 唐木瓜内に三つ引き (kara mokkō nai ni mitsu hiki) - three bars in flowering quince http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~rabichan/m-line/mokkou06.html

Take a look at the thread here. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/7712-translation-help-kanenaga-yoshinaga/

I wonder if Iida Kōendō could help you out. It is the Tokyo sword shop run by the descendants of Mr. Iida of the scabbard-latch fame. At least, I think it is...memory is getting slightly buggy. http://iidakoendo.com/english/

光龍子重俊 Kōryūshi Shigetoshi http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/T276873_Y1408_PUP.html For the second one, I agree with Ray: Sanenobu (實信), but I can't find any reference or other examples.