Translation help with a unknown wakizashi

[floridanick]

Hello, I've had this "WW2 bringback" sword from my step grandfather who served in the Pacific theater as a Marine. He passed a long time ago, so my dad and I maintained it as best as we knew how, but recently on a whim I took a closer look at it while wiping it down and realized we had never taken the handle off the tang before. So that was very cool to discover the mei. I have a cursory knowledge of Japanese language, but the complexity of some of these kanji are eluding me. And in my search for common sword related kanji, or date related kanji I found this forum thankfully! So if anyone recognizes any of these, I would greatly appreciate some help translating this. I haven't seen my dad this excited in a while- so it would mean a lot to both of us to be able to understand where and when this sword came from. And my feelings won't be hurt if it *is* a copy, like we suspected. It's still sentimental to us regardless. 
Thanks for your time everyone!
Nick

[mywei]

Looks like Rai Kunihisa 来国久

[uwe]

Fuchi (collar) is signed “一柳大里 + kao” (Ichiryū Dairi + seal, Ōsato would be an alternative reading for the last two kanji).

Tsuba signature says “武州住正?” (Bushū jū Masa ?). Can’t see the last character properly…

[Brian]

It's way earlier than WW2...taken to war later. Definitely a real Nihonto. Double habaki and a nice tsuba and ok fittings. Worth having checked out closer and looking after.

[floridanick]

11 hours ago, mywei said:

Looks like Rai Kunihisa 来国久

 

7 hours ago, uwe said:

Fuchi (collar) is signed “一柳大里 + kao” (Ichiryū Dairi + seal, Ōsato would be an alternative reading for the last two kanji).

Tsuba signature says “武州住正?” (Bushū jū Masa ?). Can’t see the last character properly…

 

6 hours ago, Brian said:

It's way earlier than WW2...taken to war later. Definitely a real Nihonto. Double habaki and a nice tsuba and ok fittings. Worth having checked out closer and looking after.

Wow, this is so cool. Thanks for helping! I'll try and get some clearer pictures today. My dad's gonna freak out 🤣

[SteveM]

For the tsuba, 武州住 正久 would be my guess. (Means: Masahisa from Bushū Province made this). 

 

The theme is broken fans, which is a common theme in late Edo period tsuba. It symbolizes an everyday object that has been used for many years, and is now damaged, but still cherished. A very "zen" image. 

[floridanick]

Okay maybe these will be a little clearer than the last ones I took

2 hours ago, SteveM said:

For the tsuba, 武州住 正久 would be my guess. (Means: Masahisa from Bushū Province made this). 

 

The theme is broken fans, which is a common theme in late Edo period tsuba. It symbolizes an everyday object that has been used for many years, and is now damaged, but still cherished. A very "zen" image. 

And yes, now that you say that I can't help but see the broken fan.