tbonesullivan

Haven't had many signed fuchi before. It looks like the right side is 埋 忠, but the left side I am drawing a blank on. The first character looks like a combination of 京 and 玄, which I cannot find. The character under it is very stylized, and I was thinking might be a Kaō signature? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I had a graphic designer friend make a fixed version. It's the "Kaneaki (Yoshida)" listed on this page: https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/index.htm Should be another "Kanekado (Yoshida)"

Would you like a better quality / higher resolution picture of the seal? This is what it was like before I shrunk it, but I could get a better detail shot if you want. Also I wonder if there's any way to contact the person who runs the JSI to tell them that the Kaneaki (Yoshida) on the oshigata page is probably another Kanekado.

It doesn't look quite like the oshigata for Yoshida Kanekado I found on the Japanese sword index. I also found some other KANEKADO examples, and the last character is definitely different. I also can't find anything on that Kokuin for either KANEAKI or a KANEKADO. Definitely not saying your wrong, as that last character, and others, are definitely hard to read. In terms of research I can find a lot more on Yoshida Kanekado, as I can't find anything on a Yoshida Kaneaki. and another here: https://nihontoclub.com/discussions/images/19589/19590

As best I can tell, the tang is signed 関 吉 田 兼 明 - SEKI YOSHIDA KANEAKI. I found an oshigata with similar style, though it has another character JU. I can't find anything on the kokuin though. Is it for a school and not a smith? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It has, as the Shinogi is messed up on both sides by the habaki. Still, it looks like it only took a fraction of a mm off. The moto-kasane is 6.25mm, and just forward of this itis 6.19mm where the worst of the polishing / grinding was. Nakago-kasane is 6.5mm near the mune-machi. I'll try to get pictures later if I can.

That is true. I'm more concerned about how much it was ground / buffed down. Like most I would have preferred it be left alone, like with most old military items. Nothing is worse than when someone has a Shin-gunto and says "yeah I took it to the hardware store and had it sharpened".

It's a real shame about the blade condition. It was probably a very nice blade before oxidation. It's been polished/ buffed down so much I sadly doubt it could ever be restored. I see that he was listed as both Jōko no Jōi and Jōko no Retsu by Kurihara Hikosaburo. Does that mean he submitted two blades? I've seen several other smiths rated twice.

This is from a Type 98 Shin-Gunto, which unfortunately had the blade become quite rusted, and then someone along the line buffed it to death. I'm hoping / assuming it's just a showato. It's got a signature I haven't seen before, and it's on the "wrong" side of the tang. 肥 前 國 吉 忠 - HIZEN NO KUNI YOSHITADA The other side has years since the founding of the empire, but the first two kanji I can't figure out: ? ? 二 千 六 百 年之春 Are the first two characters 紀 元 - kigen? The second character looks like it might be 元, but I'm not sure on the first one.

Is 北条 - HŌJŌ a location that used to be there? I can see that there was one founded in 1958, but can't find much earlier.

Been trying to figure this one out for a week or so on and off. The nengo was no problem but the mei is giving me fits. Some of the characters are easy and some I can't figure out. I looked at all the Kanji for provinces, but did not see a match. YOSHU maybe? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I've tried drawing them here but keep coming up blank: https://kanji.sljfaq.org/ MEI: ? 州 北 条 ? ? 正 作 NENGO: 昭 和 十 九 年 十 月 日 - Showa 19 (1944) 10th month (October)

I just found this by searching for the mei: https://www.touken-hasegawa.jp/item/D-09/

Looking at the Mei, the first character is quite degraded in this light, with the rest reading 前 住 忠 吉. Could the first character be HI 肥 instead of BU 豊? I definitely think I see two side by side parts to the top character.

Definitely. You can't make those markings with "cheap" stamps, they'd probably just break on the drag, and it doesn't look recent.

Ahh, I did notice that unlike the serial on the blade, the scabbard marks are not. I'm thinking the original serial on the scabbard throat was removed, and someone restamped them post war. THe scabbard is definitely real WWII, but I would guess someone really wanted the scabbard to match. I'm not aware of any being wartime rematched.