Japanese Officer Sword Brought Home From US Soldier

We recently bought a Japanese Officer's Sword at an estate sale. Per the auctioneer we were told it was a "bring back" or "war prize" that the estate owner brought back from his time serving in WWII in the Pacific Theater. The auctioneer said he had no reason to believe it wasn't authentic.

The blade shows wear, we can't make out what appears to be a hallmark without trying to clean it; but everything we read says not to try and clean the blades. So we are at a loss.. We love collecting WWII items. But, we tend to keep the US items and sell the foreign. We've had this for sometime but still can't confirm it's authenticity and want to give buyers as much information as possible.

Any help is appreciated. We seemed of have exhausted our research online..

Thank you in advance!

 

I'm surprised that you couldn't find someone who could authenticate it. I know such people exist here in the USA but have you tried Japan? I'll check with my contacts and see if I can't come up with a name or two.

 

That would be great! Thank you!

 

Appears to be a Naval sword. I think I read somewhere that 2 holes in the tang indicate an older blade that was cut down to conform to ww-2 specs. Google Nihonto Message Board , these guys are experts on these swords, they deciphered the name on my sword. You have to join the forum.

 

Japanese swords ?

Have a look here : The mystery behind Dave's Japanese swords

Ron

 

I saw a very beat up version of that long ago, down to the clover leaf button for the scabbard release, the cord stud on the scabbard, and the sting ray skin inserts under the cord wrap. But yours looks brand-new! I think some of the parts are re-constructed.

 

Just a shot to show not all Japanese swords went back to America...