Hello, this sword is not for sale and any information provided will not be used for commercial purposes.
This sword is the property of my cousin who is the granddaughter of Lt. Col. Paul V. Davis (https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/163362-paul-v-davis-us-army-1stsgt-to-lt-col-ww1-kw/)
Lt. Col. Davis served in WWI, WWII and Korea. He served under Gen. MacArthur (post WWII) in occupied Japan. During the Japanese occupation, he and his wife actually had occasional interaction with the Emperor and the Emperor's wife.
At some point during his service in occupied Japan, Lt. Col. Davis had a Japanese official help him select a sword. This sword was recommended to Lt. Col. Davis with the comment that "it had the blood of a young samurai still on its blade".
Based upon Lt. Col. Davis' position and rank in occupied Japan and his association with high ranking Japanese officials, I suspect that he would have had access to some very high end swords.
I have a fascination with Japanese swords and when my cousin showed this sword to me, I asked her permission to post photos and seek any information that can be provided regarding its age, rarity and....is it really possible that the blade has samurai blood on it?
My cousin is not interested in selling this sword but has agreed to allow me to post photos and obtain any information that can be provided by the members here.
I assumed that this sword and its provenance would be of interest to the members here who have been quite helpful and informative when I posted my first inquiry regarding a Shin Gunto
These photos are not the highest quality. If there is interest in seeing higher quality photos, I could make arrangements to get better photos.
Thanks in advance for any information, translation, and opinions that anyone can provide.