Hi Nicholas,
Here,s my take on the signatures and please note that not all signatures on swords are genuine(search Gimei signatures)
Sword
1 -Nanto ju Kanabo Hyoejo Masatsugu
2- Norimitsu
3- Kashu ??? Kane??(need a better photo)
4- Hizen kuni Tadayoshi
5- Showa-to
Simon K
Sort of on topic,
I have always wondered if hagire could be repaired using the Japanese art of Kintsugi.
As a weapon it wouldn't pass , but as a work of art?
Gold is used to fill mekugi-ana...so why not hagire?
Simon K
Dave, here are a couple of photos of my cut down Kikuchi yari for comparison, signed Enju Kuniyasu ,
Also see this previous thread
http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21014-tanto-help/
Simon K
Ben,
In case you didn't buy your sword from this seller, here is a detailed description of it when it was on consignment.
http://japanesesword.com.au/html/early_koto_katana_with_koshirae.html
Simon K
Neil,
Have a look at this link http://www.jssus.org/nkp/index.html
Its a good one to learn from
First two characters are the Kuni( province) and the last two kanji are the swordsmiths name.
Simon K