PNSSHOGUN

Via Paul Martin: Tachi (Long Sword) by Saemon-no-jo Suketsugu; Inscription: "Resident of Bizen Province ◯◯ Saemon-no-jo Suketsugu" (Gold-inlaid inscription: "Sode no Yuki" [Snow on the Sleeve]); Dated: Second month, Enkei 3 (1310). Yoshioka Ichimonji School Juyo Token (Important Sword) Chido Museum Collection Swordsmith Suketsugu, was from the Yoshioka Ichimonji school of Bizen Province during the late Kamakura period. The gold-inlaid inscription "Sode no Yuki" (Snow on the Sleeve) alludes to the sword's extreme sharpness—implying it would slice through something as delicate as snow resting on a sleeve. The black-lacquered scabbard bears a gold-lettered inscription detailing the sword's provenance: "On the 20th day of the 5th month, Tensho 3 (1575), at the hour of the Rat (approx. 11 PM–1 AM): Okudaira Kihachiro Nobumitsu of Sanshu (Mikawa Province) acquired this sword when Takeda Hyogo-no-kami Nobuzane fell in battle”. According to this record, Okudaira Nobumitsu obtained the tachi following the death of Takeda Hyogo-no-kami Nobuzane at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575.

Lt General Kawata, Tsuchitarō (河田槌太郎) - seen here as a Major General during his command of the Imperial Guards Division in the early 40's. He later went on to command the 31st Division in Burma, a somewhat stark contrast to his subsequent surrender in 1945.

Hi Douglas, difficult to say what this is but it doesn't have the quality you would expect from a Japanese made item.

Now and again these crop up and most of the time seem rather gauche in execution, and objectively worse at protecting a blade than normal shirasaya. Given that very few daimyō historically resided underwater, is anyone aware of any significance, reasoning, or history behind lacquered Shirasaya? https://katanahanbai.com/katana/heianjo-nagayoshi/ Imperial Coronation Tachi by Yoshichika, 1928.

It's been up for quite some time. A small correction that it's a company grade tassel, not field grade.

A less common variation of the dress hanger with clip and retention hook:

Providers should be implementing rate limiting and filtering for AI bots.

Unable to reach server for most of the day.

Good candidate for this thread: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/49401-show-us-your-dragon-horimono/

Intriguing piece, glad it went to someone here.

Thank you for checking Piers, this is the closest I've found so far but not a perfect match: 八重鉄線 https://irohakamon.com/kamon/tessen/yaetessen.html

Requesting help identifying if this a Mon, or buddhist symbol. It somewhat resembles a lotus flower. There is a Kuyo Mon on the Omote side of the Habaki:

Interesting that those swords are noted as being related the Missouri, there are number of different accounts of when and where the delegation were relieved of their swords:

For Onkashi-To (what this sword is faking) and other important orders, the Mei should be below the Mekugi-ana and suffixed by "Kinsaku".

The Koshirae is total put together and re-wrapped, the blade doesn't inspire much confidence for anyone familiar with Yasukuni-To.

The original post makes no mention of Kamikaze, just a Zero pilot.

Caleb while we appreciate your enthusiasm over this piece, it's best to approach this subject with a very level head and not get too caught up in delusions of grandeur. If you take the time to read some of the posts, nobody is saying this even remotely appears to have the quality expected from Sukezane - it merely bears a poor imitation of his signature.

Unless you have detailed information on where the sword was surrendered or captured, there is little chance of further discovery about the Japanese officer.

You can reduce the size of the pictures in your phones gallery, or use a free image resizer.

Fujiwara Kanenaga and Tenshozan Tanrenjo signed examples are a step above most other stainless swords.

You may want to consult these two books that have a good number of Sue Bizen reference pieces: Sue-Koto: Japanese Swords of the 15th & 16th Centuries Nihonto Bizen Den Taikan by Okazaki

Lacquered Ito which is less common:

Likely lacquered or simply saturated with sweat and oil from long handling. Authentic leather wrapped examples exist, here are a few that have popped up at auction over the years, seems odd there weren't more considering the higher durability compared to silk.

Additional examples from this shop, very unusual style of fittings:

If you search "island swords" you will find others in this style. If the story can be verified, then it would explain the lack of any normal tsuka ito or samegawa. Unfortunately they aren't really valued as highly as authentic Japanese examples, and fall firmly into the militaria realm of items (think bayonets, machetes, etc. etc.).