WWII Bring-Back Sword — Signed Tang, Requesting Translation & ID Help

[drowe98]

Hello all,

 

I’m hoping for help identifying and translating the signature on a sword my grandfather brought back from the Pacific theater in WWII. He took it from a Japanese officer during combat. It’s been in the family since, largely undisturbed, and I recently removed the tsuka for the first time to check the tang.

 

What I’m hoping to learn:

 

• A translation/reading of the mei (smith name, province, date if present)

• Any thoughts on rank/unit based on the fittings and sword knot

• General authenticity assessment (older blade in military mounts vs. wartime-made blade)

 

Details:

 

• Full mei on the tang, approximately 8-10 characters, last character appears to be 作 (saku)

• Single mekugi, screw-type rather than bamboo peg

• Tsuba: brass/gilt, scalloped edge, carved sakura (cherry blossom) motifs

• Kashira/fuchi: matching sakura design, genuine same under the ito wrap

• Sword knot (tō-himo): brown and blue braided cord — my understanding is this indicates field-grade officer rank, but I’d appreciate confirmation

• Kurikata: carved animal-head design on the saya

• Blade appears clean, no active rust, good polish

 

Photos attached: full tang inscription, tsuba, kashira/sarute, kurikata, and the full mounted sword.

 

I haven’t cleaned or altered the tang and don’t plan to. Any help — even a partial reading or general era/school assessment — would mean a lot, given the family history attached to this piece.

 

Thank you in advance.

[SteveM]

Two characters on the front: 振武 (Shinbu. Kind of a brand name)

Nine characters on the reverse: 東洋刃物株式会社作 (Tōyō Hamono Kabushikikaisha-saku. "Made by Tōyō Blade Ltd. Inc.")

 

This is a sword made with special cold-resistant steel, particularly for use in Manchuria and North China. I think it is a bit rare. You can read about it here (English at the bottom of the page). Mr. Ohmura, the author of that site, used some old English translation software to translate his text into English, and the end result isn't as great as what you can get from Google translate or AI nowadays, so you might want to run the whole body of text through an online translator to get a better translation. 

 

http://ohmura-study.net/207.html

 

[Nobody]

As a side note, “東洋刃物株式會社” is a proper noun, and it has a specific English name.

東洋刃物株式會社 – Toyo Knife Co., Ltd.

Ref. TOYO KNIFE CO., LTD.

[PNSSHOGUN]

These are rather uncommon, it's possible the Japanese officer originally served in China. As an aside, the order of the seppa is incorrect, there should be three of equal size on each side of the Tsuba.

[Marcin]

Show us tip of blade please. It should be ikubi - boar's neck type.

[Bruce Pennington]

Davis,

Thanks for posting your sword, it's a very nice one.

As John mentioned, the seppa (spacers around the hand guard) should be in this order, with the larger of the 'fat' seppa on the side of the blade:

Mounting Details - Ohmura Site

 

Yours would be the one on the left.

 

You can read up on these on Ohmura's site: Army Commisioned Officer's Shingunto - Type 98

 

Your sword has the blue/brown tassel, which is the Company Grade tassel, meaning he could have been either Warrant Officer, Lieutenant, or Captain.

 

One final note - the bolt and nut holding the tsuka to the blade is not "normal".  It would originally have been a bamboo peg, called menuki.  If someone in your family didn't put it there, then that means the officer must have lost his menuki and replaced it with the bolt.  Very interesting, if it was so.

 

 

[Nobody]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

............................................................................

 

One final note - the bolt and nut holding the tsuka to the blade is not "normal".  It would originally have been a bamboo peg, called menuki.  If someone in your family didn't put it there, then that means the officer must have lost his menuki and replaced it with the bolt.  Very interesting, if it was so.

 

 

 

Not "menuki", but "mekugi".

[The Blacksmith]

A slight correction if I may Bruce, mekugi, not menuki. I know you know this, but for Davis sake and in case he doesn't, The mekugi is ths small bamboo peg that Bruce mentioned. These are slightly tapered to ensure a tight fit. The menuki are the two small metal mounts in the grip (tsuka), under the binding (tsuka ito).

[Bruce Pennington]

Dang!  Thanks guys.  I get those two terms blended in my head and have to look it up half the time before I type.  Just thought I had it today!

[drowe98]

Thanks everyone. I am a newby, it was my grandfathers.   Attached is a picture of the tip of the blade as requested. I will put the order back and post a picture to confirm I did it right.  Can I get a new piece of bamboo?  Or leave it with the bolt/screw?

[Conway]

Hello Davis! Unique sword and a very nice display you have for it! The fittings look to be in nice condition as well. It’s always a plus to have the leather cover intact. Just make a new peg using a chopstick. It’s easiest to use the tapered end of the chopstick that way you don’t have to whittle it down as much to fit the smaller hole in the handle.