I had a friend who died in January. He had a very nice collection of WWII memorabilia. In it was a Japanese sword he had purchased years ago from a guy in his church who had been a U.S. Marine in WWII and had picked up the sword on Saipan. It has a tag. I bought it yesterday from his estate, having had my eye on it even before my friend passed.
I took photos of each side of the tang and of the tag then submitted them to ChatGPT and GROK for translation. Only ChatGPT offered a translation of the scripts on the tang, claiming it dates to the early-to-mid 1860. GROK had difficulty reading the script. Both offered translations of the tag, but differed radically. ChatGPT said it was a railway transportation tag. GROK said it was a surrender tag. This is my first sword. Any help translating these would be appreciated.
