Sword id - family heirloom

[Nhhmmm]

Hey guys, this sword was passed down by my great aunt and I have no information on it other than it was passed down along with a Japanese WW2 rifle. I was directed to this message board and any info you guys could give would be appreciated greatly!

[Ray Singer]

There is a mei remnant of Musashi (no) kami __. 武蔵守

 

There were several individuals who had that formal title, it is not clear which one this is.

 

https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?order=field_smith_signature_value&sort=asc&type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=武蔵守

 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

An older family blade re-fitted for World War II. 

[2devnul]

Hi,

 

My humble opinion on this. 

 

Suriage (shorten) Wakizashi. If you can provide Nagasa (cutting blade) length then we can guess if it was Katana or Wakizashi originally.

Early Edo (17th century, second half probably) period so Shinto sword. Sugata looks to me like Echizen Seki school, that plus remaining Mei could point to Kanenaka (thanks Ray!). 

Tsuka+Tsuba late or end of Edo period. Saya WWII Gunto. 

 

Not a bad overall condition, after polish it could reveal more (Hada/Hamon). Worth the effort/money if you ask me. 

 

Pictures of Echizen Seki Sugata/Nakago for reference: 

 

[Michaelr]

Nate, welcome. I like it. No it’s not perfect but it is a very nice package that has been there and done that. It is still a blade that you can be proud to be the caretaker of. Nice to have some family history with. You should inquire more and get all the information that you can from your family and keep it with the blade. Thank you for sharing.  MikeR