Help with identifying

[Zjax]

Howdie everyone,

 

Thank you for taking a look. So the story to go along with how my family acquired this sword is my great grandfather's brother was a medic in WW2. He arrived on the beaches of Okinawa and discovered a Japanese Officer who was dying of his injuries. He attempted to help but the Officer was to gravely injured and gave him this sword before he died.

 

Any assistance on where it may of come from is greatly appreciated.  Unfortunately the sword isn't coming to me via wills, but I still wanted to try and find some relative to return it to and talk the current owner into returning the sword.

[Brian]

There is zero chance of ever finding who owned it or returning it. Just make sure your family takes care of it. Potentially a good sword. Fittings are good too. Someone will advise you how to remove the tsuka and see if there's a signature.
As for the story of how it was acquired, I suspect the story changed over time, no offense. This is not the sort of sword anyone in WW2 would have been carrying in battle in those fittings. Maybe acquired after the war or in Japan. It's a nice sword and better than most wartime ones would have been.

[ChrisW]

Agree with Brian 100% here. Looks to be a good sword and there is little to no chance of finding the original owners based on what you've told us.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Dave,

Here is a care and etiquette brochure that will tell you, among the rest, how to remove and replace the handle:

https://nbthk-ab2.org/sword-characteristics/

You and whoever will end up keeping the sword should read it twice.

Cheers,  Grey

[ribendao]

I must say, this a very beautiful sword. I hope you will be able to remove the handle and habaki for us to get a better look.

[Bruce Pennington]

Tap this peg (mekugi) out from the other side and the handle (tsuka) and metal fittings slide off the tang (nakago).  If they are tight, light tapping with a rubber mallet on the handguard (tsuba) or with a wooden block will loosen everything up.  No harm will come to your sword by doing this.

[PNSSHOGUN]

A very nice Wakizashi in fine quality mounts, potentially quite valuable depending on who made it.

 

 

[Zjax]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Ill get with my uncle and see about finding a signature or makers mark. It might be a bit as we are in different states. (I was recently visiting when I took the photos)

 

Additionally, I agree with Brian. It seemed to decorative and clean to be used in battle, (or in the field) but my knowledge is very minimal at best so i couldn't exactly refute it.  My best guess would be it was acquired around that time and the person who got it came up with that story to make it sound more interesting.  

 

Mr. Doffin, thank you for that link.  The sword is going to a different uncle then his son. Ill make sure they have this info. 

 

Ill call my uncle and see if he is willing to remove the peg that Bruce pointed out and give an update. 

[Stephen]

Should be moved to Nihonto, don't belong in military.

Nice bring home sounds like your family is going to honor it well. 

Grey gave good link

The handle is made to come off...but steady as she goes.

[quoshy]

The three circular crests on the small knife (kozuka) slipped in the side of the scabbard (saya) are the Aoi Mon which is the symbol for the Tokugawa family. I wouldn't read too deeply into this though - Kozuka are often lost or replaced so it may be modern replica but still a fun tidbit of information.

[Brian]

Aoi mon are probably the most common symbols used out of all the mon, and rarely signify anything. Used profusely on later koshirae, nothing to do with the Tokugawa in 99% of the cases.

[Rivkin]

Kozuka looks high end. Can be Yoshioka.

The blade is almost straight, very beefy, some taper... Maybe Kambun shinto. The nakago and the boshi are too most important elements to be more precise in attribution.