Guillaume L

Thanks everyone for your replies, I appreciate it! I'll keep the sword as is and go through the normal steps to protect the blade and try to prevent the rest of the sword from being damaged furthermore.

Any chance for us to be able to figure out how it was manufactured?

Arigatou gozaimasu Bruce. I live in Canada and in my area we rarely see old blades. Now the next question is, is it a showato or a gendaito. I tend more on the showato side. Also, I've been trying to get a clear understanding of "machine made blades" vs hand forged. Which one it is for my specimen.

Hi everyone, I picked what I believe is my first real Type 98. There's only the smith signature which read as Toshichika Yamada. I found no stamp or date. The saya is wood wrapped in leather. What else can I tell you to help me? Here's a few pictures, I can provide more on request. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1fFBB3kO427nkHg72 Just hope I paid a fair price for what it is and it's not Chinese. Thanks in advance for your help.