Help with ww2 Japanese Katana

**Excoalminer** · 12-23-2019, 02:59 PM

Hi all
I have this ww2 Japanese Katana that was captured and handed over to a corporal J Evans from a Captain T.Kuroki. Can anyone give me any insight to any information, is the sword as the captains statement says. The tang is not signed but there is writing on the seppa, there is nothing to tie the sword to the paper work. Apparently the vet who received it did not say anything about the sword to his family until just before he died. Than you for any help Neil...

**Ryoyo** · 12-23-2019, 04:48 PM

I'm sure the sword people will want to see the blade and tang (regardless of not being signed) close up. It will help them judge when and how it was made.

**Sporter90** · 12-23-2019, 04:56 PM

It doesn't seem like the Japanese Captain was the owner of this sword. His letter is to explain a few things about this sword.

Many smiths used name Nobukuni 信国.

**mauser9** · 12-23-2019, 05:03 PM

Looks like a real treasure to own and display. Can the maker be identified by removal of the handle? Thanks for showing.

**Sporter90** · 12-23-2019, 05:09 PM

by mauser9

Looks like a real treasure to own and display. Can the maker be identified by removal of the handle? Thanks for showing.

The name on the tang has been identified by the Japanese Captain Tokue Kuroki. However, whether the name authentic is a different story.

**Sporter90** · 12-23-2019, 05:24 PM

I missed the part that the tang is not signed. Now I start to think that the Japanese Captain Tokue Kuroki maybe the owner of this sword after all, because otherwise, he wouldn't know that much about the sword.

**Alan M** · 12-23-2019, 06:22 PM

Hi Neil , the tang will need to be seen to be able to give a decent approximation of the age of the blade ..patination tells an awful lot . Sets of seppa are normally marked as a set on gunto fittings to aid identification to a particular blade . Hope you can supply some close ups of the tang and seppa and also the tip of the blade .
Happy Christmas
Alan.

**Excoalminer** · 12-23-2019, 06:39 PM

Hope this helps, some writing on tsuba and seppa. thank for your replies..

**Excoalminer** · 12-23-2019, 07:05 PM

Here are rest of photos you requested

**ghp95134** · 12-23-2019, 07:37 PM

The seppa are signed
竜山
Tatsuyama [dragon mountain]

And the tsuba:
竜山社
Tatsuyama-sha
Tatsuyama Co.

This (more than likely) was the subcontractor who put together the fittings.

-- Guy
As an aside, there is a section of Seoul called 竜山 .... Yongsan (Dragon Hill) where the US Army has a sizeable garrison whose buildings (when I was there in 1989) still had the Imperial Japanese star at the apex of many buildings on post. It was the former Imperial Japanese Headquarters for Korea.