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Tang translation please help

Submitted by WestPat on Sat, 2013-05-04 13:54

Hello,
A local shop where I live has a WWII officers gunto, the blade seems a bit different from most of the information I have researched on them. It is 26.5", has a diamond shaped mine down by the kisakki, and a single mekugi hole with 5 characters. Natural hamon. The ha is good and sharp but the blade is black and oxidized in some places. No pitting that I can tell though. There are about four nicks on the ha big enought to put your thumbnail into. He I is asking $750 for it. That seems like a lot so I am trying to find translation to see if the blade is anything special.
Please help and thanks for looking,
David West

‹ Late Koto period Tanto in original mounts unable to read mej / signature ? Mei ›

#1Submitted by WestPat on Sat, 2013-05-04 14:05.

First

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/westpat23/IMAG0796.jpg

First character
[IMG]http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/westpat23/IMAG0796.jpg[/IMG]
#2Submitted by WestPat on Sat, 2013-05-04 14:07.

Second character
#3Submitted by WestPat on Sat, 2013-05-04 14:10.

Third and foirth
#4Submitted by WestPat on Sat, 2013-05-04 14:17.

Fifth and kisakki, hamon

Thank you for your help. I can post more pictures if it will help. The blade is dirty, but the geometry seems in tact. Any and all comments are appreciated.
#5Submitted by saipan59 on Sun, 2013-05-05 02:14.

Masatsugu

The signature appears to be "Maekawa Masatsugu saku". I don't have any references to that smith. I see an ad for a similar blade here:
http://www.antique-swords.eu/Showa-WW2-Japanese-Army-Officers-Katana.html .

Not sure what you mean by "diamond shaped mine"? Did you intend to say "mune"?
And what is "diamond shaped"?
Other comments:
The signature is a common "choppy" style (common on WWII guntou).
The kissaki (tip) looks badly damaged - lots of rust pitting and such. Since the other view of the blade looks much nicer, it appears that it was stored tip-down and exposed to moisture at some point, so that the tip rusted badly.
I consider this to be a serious defect, and I would not want to buy it unless it was very cheap.
Is there any sign of a Seki or Showa stamp on the tang?

Pete
#6Submitted by kazarena on Sun, 2013-05-05 11:29.

Maekawa Masatsugu

Hi David,

Here's another sword with similar signature (not sure if it's the same one):

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7280

Regards,
Stan

P.S. Oh, here's another one: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5621&start=0