r/Katanas • u/Present_Days_740 • 2d ago
Help Identifying
Recently, I bought this from a 78 year old who was cleaning out a trunk of his father. This trunk had been sitting at his aunts house since the 1970s. He reported that his father liked to collect weapons and was stationed in Okinawa in the mid 1940s.
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u/FiveStarFaceplant 2d ago
Since it's unsigned and somewhat out of polish it's going to be pretty hard to guess from just pictures, but I'm going to take a stab and say Satsuma, mid-Edo period based on the very regular notare hamon in nie-deki, elongated kissaki and some long nie structures that could be imozoru in the second-to-last photo. Kashu (Kaga) is also be a possibility.
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u/Present_Days_740 1d ago
Do you think it’s worth having it professionally looked at? Or hang it on the wall? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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u/FiveStarFaceplant 1d ago edited 1d ago
The cost of a full restoration is unlikely to be profitable (you're looking at around $1.5-2k) but getting it authenticated by the NTHK at a sword show/event might be nice if you're interested in its origins and history, and perhaps where it might have been used in battle. Otherwise, it's in decent enough condition that proper care and maintenance will prevent the rust from progressing.
Refer to this for information on how to care for the sword and the best way(s) to display it safely: https://www.militaria.co.za/faq/care-and-maintenance/
The folks over at that forum might also have a better idea of what your blade is, so if you're interested you could consider creating an account there and asking them.
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u/HFentonMudd 2d ago
A shot of the tang would help. Don’t clean anything by the way.