My Grandfather was in the US military, and was a Naval Seabee during WWII in the Pacific theatre. He saw a lot of combat, and during an attack he lost his closest friend to a Japanese soldier. My Grandfather avenged his friend, and brought the soldiers sword, and rifle back when he came home.
What I would like to know is if anyone here could please help me in translating the text that is on the tang of the sword. I'm told that it contains the sword makers name, the soldiers family name, and in some cases the village, or area that it was made in. My hopes are that some day I might be able to return it to it's rightful family.
The link below is a picture of the markings. http://imgur.com/kOURv7
Update: The same picture, rotated. http://imgur.com/a/MXLeO#0
Update: Jan 17 Better quality photos, as well as the Tsuba. http://bigolfishy.imgur.com/all/
Aww, I know a little Japanese but I can't even begin to read this. I've been spoiled by the standardization of computer-generated text :|
Does it have any symbol stamped on the blade just above the hilt? If so, could you photograph that as well? I've been able to find out some information about a WWII-era Japanese bayonet that my dad owns by utilizing the manufacturer stamps.
I'm on mobile right now so can't read it, but it looks like the picture's upside down. Also, it's quite hard to read when the picture's not taken head on cause of the mismatched lighting, so if you could get another picture that's taken from straight above it could help.
I'll check back here once I get home tonight to see if I can make it out (or if someone's already done so).
I have seen a few captured examples of WWII Japanese officer swords in a local museum. Those particular swords had lacquered wooden tags attached to the scabbards or handles with ornate calligraphy allegedly detailing the owner, his rank, and where he lived. It stands to reason that as the weapons were heirlooms, the current owner and their location would change a lot over the life of the sword and hence this information was written on something that could be replaced. I find it unlikely that the information about the owner would then be engraved on the actual blade; though whatever is there is more than likely interesting from a historical point anyway. I would tend more towards it being a makers mark of some form than information on the owner.
I'm also interested in why you would wish to return it. It may seem a noble gesture but it would possibly not be as appreciated as you may hope. The museum where I have seen similar pieces tracked down the descendants of the officers from whom some of their swords had been taken. At least one family wished to have nothing to do with a relic of a darker time and other were extremely hesitant. The war is remains a touchy subject in many parts of the world.
For what it's worth, the museum decided to keep the pieces on display rather than returning them in the interest of allowing greater access to such a slice of history. If you are so willing to give it away, a museum or public collection where the full history of the sword including that of your Grandfather is available to all could be an option.
I tried to make the characters a bit more legible, but I'm pretty sure that I messed up because I don't recognize some of these as being anything close to kanji:
The first character I think is meant to be the one on the right of it, but its hard to tell due to glare. The second character I think means "transmit." The next three are pretty much a crap shoot for me, although the last one I know means "to make" or "to work."
The handwriting is really bad... and my Japanese is probably worse...
I should probably add, due to the way it was carved, this looks like a mass produced sword, so I don't think the sword maker's name is on here. In all likelihood, it's the owner's name/hometown, or maybe it's some sort of battle inscription.
Hope this helps, the tang (inscription):
No濃 shu州 Seki関 ju住 Hattori服部 Masa正 hiro広 saku作
means: Made by Hattori Masahiro of the city Seki, No province (aka Mino province)
There is also a faded stamp above the tang character, maybe Seki stamp?
Reference: http://www.quanonline.com/military/military_reference/japanese/sword_74.php
Forum discussions on similar blades http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=5374 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7979
Arsenal Stamps: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/showato.htm