Nihonto Club

I recently discovered this website and am trying to find more information on the sword, when it was made, and who made it. I value any insight that members may offer and thank you all in advance. I have tried to compare the kanji to other characters, but I have no idea what they are.

What I have been told:
This sword was taken during a battle on the Island of Truk (aka "Chuuk") in WWII. It has several chips on the blade. I don't know if that was from combat in WWII or just due to the age of the blade. The sword was brought back to the U.S. and sat in a closet for decades before it was passed down to my father, who gave it to me.

In 2003, I became interested in learning more about the blade and its value and wanted to know whether it was a machine-made sword or a Shinken. I reached out to a Sensei at a local Kendo dojo in the U.S. and brought him the sword. (NOTE: I do not know how experienced he was, but he was local and it was convenient to take it to him. I do not expect anybody to give deference to his opinion, I am only stating what I have been told). He said that the hamon was a "rare" type. I don't know what he was referring to, but I have read that the hamon style was sort of like a signature or brand. He took off the tsuka and tried to read the kanji, but he said that they were "too old" for him to read. I believe he was referring to the style of kanji, but have no idea.

He told me that the tang appeared to have been cut-down, possibly to fit within the shorter tsuka used by the Japanese military in WWII. He asked whether anything had been done to the nakago, because it appeared that the rust may have been "cleaned off" at some point. I have no idea whether that happened or not, since my grandfather passed away long ago. It is difficult to tell whether there is new rust that has formed on top of old rust, and whether the old rust had been removed or partially removed.

The ruler in the photos is a 15-inch ruler, so the blade appears to be around 27-28 inches in length. I am currently away from my katana, so I can't measure it precisely.

I look forward to your opinions.

blade.png	tsuka_closeup....	tsuka.png	katana_next_to...	tip_of_blade.p...	tip_of_blade_2...
hamon.png	mei_2.png	mei_1.png