A bit of help requested with an older blade by KANENAGA.

[tbonesullivan]

This blade came in Type 98 Mounts, but it's quite long, 28 1/8" or 71.4cm. The Habaki definitely looks to be older than WWII, and the Tang is worn and patinated. I can't see the yasurime, tagane, or tagane makura anymore. Some of the characters are not exactly clear.  My inexpert eyes have gotten the following characters:

 

武 州 ? ? ? 神 田 住 兼 永 作 - BUSHU ? ? ? KANDA JU KANENAGA SAKU

 

I think this is the correct reading, but I haven't been able to find any KANENAGA that used this exact signature. It looks like an older blade that was refit for WWII use.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Ray Singer]

江戸神田 = Edo Kanda

[Ray Singer]

See below from Sesko.

KANENAGA (兼永), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Mino/Musashi – “Musashi no Kuni Edo-jū Fujiwara Kanenaga” (武蔵国江戸住藤原兼永), “Kanenaga” (兼永), “Bushū-jū Fujiwara Kanenaga” (武州住藤原兼永), this Kanenaga moved later to Edo´s Kanda district (神田)

KANENAGA (兼永), Genroku (元禄, 1688-1704), Musashi/Ōshū – “Kanenaga” (兼永), “Bushū-jū Banzai Kanenaga” (武州住万歳兼永), he moved from Edo´s Kanda district (神田) to Ōshū province, it is unclear if he was the same smith as the Kanbun-era (寛文, 1661-1673) Kanenaga who moved from Mino to Kanda

[tbonesullivan]

29 minutes ago, Ray Singer said:

江戸神田 = Edo Kanda

OH wow! Thank you so much! Those are definitely some characters I have not seen before in a Mei.  Do you know if there is another character between 武州 and 江戸 or is that just part of the first character?