SteveM

I thnk Thierry nailed it. Tamagawa Yoshihisa saku. 玉川美久作 The style of this tsuba (the design) is similar to other tsubas made by Tamagawa Yoshihisa. https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E7%8E%89%E5%B7%9D%E7%BE%8E%E4%B9%85%E4%BD%9C&espv=2&biw=1788&bih=893&tbm=isch&imgil=YiHgKZ5AolO_GM%253A%253BAZ2Cd0BiSOqKYM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.t-touken.com%25252Farchives%25252F5153&source=iu&pf=m&fir=YiHgKZ5AolO_GM%253A%252CAZ2Cd0BiSOqKYM%252C_&usg=__O_Gq5qwJjfpILVOXne8-Eb6BIdo%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjftJP6tLnQAhUGO7wKHZtVAiMQyjcIKA&ei=-60yWJ_LJob28AWbq4mYAg#imgrc=h655x60n8MSiiM%3A

Yes - good points. And in any event it is an interesting piece of history that should be preserved and cared for.

Hello Evan, No, it doesn't necessarily mean that. Wartime swordsmiths oversaw factory production, and they put their names to some swords, or had assistants/apprentices sign on their behalf. As you noticed, in addition to the signature, your sword also has a Showa stamp on it. It is the character shō - 昭 - inside of a five--petaled cherry blossom. You can make out the left side of 昭 in the stamp on your sword. Anyway, with this stamp I wouldn't expect your sword to be handmade.

Absolutely - By all means read up on this site and others how to preserve and store this item. I am not familiar with this smith, but there are a number of sites that offer fairly detailed lists of WWII smiths, and that discuss the production of arsenal swords. A look through the "links" section on this site should point you to other avenues of study. Yours is in civilian mounts - the wrapping of the tsuka looks in good shape (maybe it is recent?). If the blade is rusty I would resist the urge to polish, scrape, sharpen the blade by yourself.

Name inscribed on the tang is 佐藤幸平 Satō Yukihira

Left picture: 桜井町　　Sakurai cho (location name)　Not overly confident in Sakura 角井　二十五才 Kadoi 25 yrs (Kadoi is a surname. Various possible pronunciations, Tsunoi, Kakui) Right picture 部訓練可 Bukunren (ka?) Club practice/training. The last character, if 可 (ka), means that this item may be used by the club/group for training.

濃州関住福田祐光 Nōshū Seki-jū Fukuda Sukemitsu Not so much an old style of text, but a bit cryptic if you are unused to sword signatures. The 州 is written as three katanas (刀) which is a stylistic variation.

I think Hōken and Amakuni are correct, Amakuni being a reference to the legendary swordsmith of the same name. My guess; this is a tourist piece. Not necessarily poor quality blade. .

This might be true for the medieval origins of the kamon. However, the use of kamon are largely unrestricted, therefore you couldn't properly conclude that this tanto was associated with any one particular class of society. Anyone is free to to use the kikuza tachibana mon, and so without knowing the precise family from where this item came, you couldn't say much just by looking at the mon.

There is an authenticated, 3rd generation Kanewaka on Aoi's website. I attach a link here for your reference. http://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-gashu-ju-kanewaka-3rd-generation I do not know enough to tell you if the signatures are an exact match. They look close enough to me, but... You would need to send this to shinsa for an authoritative opinion.

Sadaroku is your man. Check out the thread here http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6316-echigo-sadaroku/

From right to left it looks like 享和元二十囗 Kyōwa gan nijū. (1801, 29?) I haven't determined if the number at the left is 29 or 39. It sort of looks like 29 with a scratch that coincidentally happens to be at the right location to turn the 2 into a 3. The one under that which looks like 善 (sort of a 羊 or 生 on top of 田) is puzzling me also.

Can't help with the calligraphy. One of the vermillion stamps does say Hon'ami Kōson (本阿弥光遜印). The oshigata is indeed for the O-kanehira.

No. 90 = 丸に三階菱　Maru ni sankai hishi 　(three-tiered diamonds in circle)

Slight correction: Buzen Nakatsu-jū Fuji(wara) 豊前中津住藤 ( 原 )

馬場正巳　Baba Masami, I would think. Baba is a common last name.

You need to find authenticated versions of this signature and see how yours compares with the authenticated (papered) versions. It sounds straightforward, but it is not always easy. Some artists used the same signature with very little variation, while other artists used several different styles throughout their life. Anyway, try copy and pasting the name (English or Japanese version, or both) into a search engine to see what you come up with.

藻柄子　　Sōheishi 宗典製　　Sōtensei 2nd generation Sōten. Lots of fakes out there... https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%96%9C%E5%A4%9A%E5%B7%9D%E5%AE%97%E5%85%B8

景運 - I don't know what it means or how to pronounce it. Keiun?

Mei is 祥楽齊　勝貞　　Shōrakusai Katsusada. To the left of the nakago ana is 寫　百鬼夜行之圖　　Utsushi Hyakki yagyō no zu 　Copied from the Hyakki yagyō (or yakō) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D

But that didn't require anybody to cut up their swords.

I wouldn't automatically think kanbun. I also wouldn't assume this has been shortened. I wonder what law the author of the blurb is referring to when he/she says "by law at the end of the samurai era". Looks suspiciously like a guntō without the arsenal stamps. Blue tsuka ito looks strange for a gunto. The fittings are an absolute hodgepodge of styles, which is not normally a good sign. The resolution of the photos doesn't allow for any much more informed commentary. Not from me, anyway.

Or, we can google national tax office! http://www.tax.metro.tokyo.jp/shitsumon/tozei/index_o.htm Land, buildings, or depreciable assets. This sword wouldn't fall under any of those categories. A Porsche could be a depreciable asset, but automobiles are subject to another tax, so they are excluded from fixed asset taxes. Even if the sword were somehow construed as a depreciating asset, the sword's book value would reduce every year until it eventually reached "zero", and the lady would owe no taxes on the sword because it would be deemed valueless. (← but this wouldn't happen with an antique sword like the one in question). Not meaning to call you out publicly Piers, but there was a question above on this point and it caught my interest. With regards to the rich friend, this may be a case where lack of knowledge of obscure things like swords (and taxes!) causes people to make strange assumptions. (For example, so many Japanese people seem to think you need a special "sword license" before you are allowed to buy a sword...). Anyway, I've never owned a national treasure, so if there is an even more obscure twist in the tax code that renders these things taxable, I will happily stand corrected. Sorry to take the thread slightly down this side alley.

Hakogaki is (with some gaps where it is illegible to me) 平安城 - Heianjō 鉄地丸形 - Tetsuji marugata 菊花散らし真鍮象嵌 - Kikuhana chirashi, Shinchū Zōgan Chrysanthemum with scattered petals 無名 (illegible) - Mumei 健全にて雅味あり - Kenzen ni te gami ari. A fine work in good condition 昭和囗囗初夏 - Showa ?? shoka. Showa ? early summer 公囗誌 - Kimi ? shirusu

There is another possible reading for this mei = Seijō. Kiyonori is also possible. I'll have a flip through the books when I get back home to see if this mei matches anything. Edit: Actually I don't think YUKI is a possible reading. Did you get 清 for the first kanji? If so, you would be looking for either Seijō or Kiyonori. If you got YUKI, then you probably have this kanji mistaken for something else.