It's a relative short square blade with a tapered edge. Reddish wood. Asian script on blade and a chrysanthemum emblem on hilt (?).
My grandfather was a colonist in Malaya when it fell to the Japanese, escaped, and joined the British army in India just after. The story is it isJapanese but I guess it could be Malayasian?
There is script on all four sides. which I can post if it makes a difference.