Tang Translation

[Nikkel]

Hello everyone,
I need your help to translate this marking on this tang please. And how old is this blade and is this a Gunto blade ?
Thank you very much for your help.
Nikkel

[ghp95134]

Hi Nikkel,

Sorry to say, but that looks like the tang of a Chinese fake -- no shape to it at all, just a straight piece of steel. Can we see the rest of the blade?

Anyway, the Chinese characters [a Japanese name] are

山田一孝
Yamada Kazutaka

Alternate pronunciations for the given name 一孝 Kazutaka are:

• Ikkou
• Hidenori

-- Guy

[Nikkel]

Hello Guy,
thanks I already had a suspicion, because the habaki has a 5 number code,
greetings Nickel

[Bruce Pennington]

Good suspicions! The numbered habaki is a classic Chinese practice. There are legit gunto with numbered habaki, but they are normally 2 and 3 digits, and are on Railway swords.