Samurai Sword Age

Donneybrook · Dec 30, 2017

Hey guys, my great-grandfather brought this back from Japan during WWII. This photo is from the tang. My grandfather says the anchor has to do with being a Navy officer’s sword. Can anyone tell me what the other letters mean? I assume it’s either the sword smith or date. Thanks!

ncplumber · Dec 30, 2017

http://www.quanonline.com/military/military_reference/japanese/signatures.html

Silversmith45 · Dec 31, 2017

I don't believe that I have ever saw one with a hole in it before.

NHBenz · Dec 31, 2017

They all should have a hole. A bamboo peg goes through it to hold the handle on.

Silversmith45 · Jan 1, 2018

That's with the handle removed?

Stiffwrists · Jan 1, 2018

Silversmith45 said:
That's with the handle removed?

Yes. It's a picture of the tang.

Silversmith45 · Jan 1, 2018

Stiffwrists said:
Yes. It's a picture of the tang.

I thought that it was perhaps a picture of a hole lower in the blade and I had never seen one like that.

Coinshark · Jan 1, 2018

Sword Signature

It could be a signature, a two character 'Mei'.
The third character may be 'saku' which means made this.

I know zero about these things, just found this:
https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/kanji/kanji1.htm
Good luck! I think your answer is there.

Samurai Sword Age

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