Recent find - short sword & flag

[Rich Landy]

Gents, I recently acquired this short sword ( not sure but may be called a wakasaki (?) or tanto) and a Japanese flag with tons of writing & inscriptions- all from the daughter of a US Navy vet. I carefully removed the dowel in the handle to reveal some type of maker mark. I tried to capture that in the photos. Also, there are the remains of paper with characters on the scabbard - none of which I can begin to translate. My area of interest is primarily WWII German but she answered my ad in the paper. Any insights would be most helpful and any idea of value would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rich

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[Rich Landy]

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[Rich Landy]

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[Rich Landy]

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[GHP]

The paper might be an address, but the center two kanji identify the swordsmith; same kanji on the tang. We'll need an expert to see which one it is ...



國久
Kunihisa




--Guy

[Rich Landy]

Help identifying the swordsmith

Gents, I ask your assistance in learning the maker of this short sword. Many Thanks,

Rich

[GHP]

Many to Choose From .................

Here's your selection ..... from Markus Sesko's book Swordsmiths of Japan.
Due to the poor condition of your blade, it will be hard to see what sort of attributes the steel skin posseses ... valuable in pinning down blades.

The tang looks older than 1700, but **I am not an expert***

List:

KUNIHISA (国久), Kenchō (建長, 1249-1256), Yamashiro – “Kunihisa” (国久), Awataguchi school, first names Tōbei no Jō (藤兵衛尉) and Matatarō (又太郎), son of Awataguchi Arikuni (粟田口有国), suguha mixed with ko-midare

KUNIHISA (国久), Shōkyō (正慶, 1332-1334), Yamashiro – “Ryō Kunihisa” (了国久), “Rai Kunihisa” (来国久), Ryōkai school, according to tradition the son of Ryōkai (了戒), first name Umanojō (右馬允)

KUNIHISA (国久), Ryakunin (暦仁, 1238-1239), Bizen – “Kunihisa” (国久), Ko-Bizen school

KUNIHISA (国久), Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Bizen – “Bishū Osafune Kunihisa” (備州長船国久)

KUNIHISA (国久), Kōei (康永, 1342-1345), Bitchū – “Bitchū no Kunijū Kunihisa” (備中国住国久), Aoe school

KUNIHISA (国久), Ōei (応永, 1394-1428), Iyo – “Yoshū-jū Kunihisa” (予州住国久), according to tradition the son of Kunimasu (国益)

KUNIHISA (国久), 1st gen., Ōei (応永, 1394-1428), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久), student of the 1st gen. Uda Kunifusa (国房), first name Uemonsaburō (右衛門三郎), priest name Jōkei (浄慶), mostly about 27 cm measuring tantō with normal mihaba are extant, the jigane is a dense mokume with ji-nie, some blades also show nagare and masame, bō-utsuri can appear, the hamon is a suguha or slightly undulating notare mixed with gunome in ko-nie-deki with a tendency to hotsure, his hamon is bright, we know horimono in the form of the deity Marish!ten in a broad hi, chūjō-saku

KUNIHISA (国久), 2nd gen., Hōtoku (宝徳, 1449-1452), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久), dense mokume with nagare and masame, some blades show uzumaki which reminds of the jigane of Norishige (則重), the hamon is a suguha mixed with small ko-gunome knots or also a ko-midare which bases on suguha, the habuchi shows a lot of nie and often tends to a kind of nijūba, we know horimono in the form of hi or gomabashi, the tip of the tang is a bulbous kurijiri, the yasurime are katte-sagari, the signatures is executed with a rather thick chisel

KUNIHISA (国久), 3rd gen., Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久), son of the 3th or 4th gen. Uda Kunifusa (国房), itame mixed with masame, suguha or ko-midare
– 423 –

KUNIHISA (国久), 4th gen., Eishō (永正, 1504-1521), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久)

KUNIHISA (国久), 5th gen., Tenbun (天文, 1532-1555), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久)

KUNIHISA (国久), 6th gen., Kōji (弘治, 1555-1558), Etchū – “Uda Kunihisa” (宇多国久)

KUNIHISA (国久), Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Hizen – “Hishū Takagi-jū Kunihisa saku” (肥州高木住国久作), “Hishū Kunihisa saku” (肥州国久作), Sue-Enju school, called Kido Jibu no Shō (城戸治部少輔)

KUNIHISA (国久), Meiō (明応, 1492-1501), Mino – “Kunihisa saku” (国久作), Akasaka-Senju´in school

KUNIHISA (国久), Tenbun (天文, 1532-1555), Iga – “Kunihisa” (国久)

KUNIHISA (国久), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Musashi – “Yūzan Nyūdō Kunihisa” (友山入道国久), nyūdō-gō Yūzan (友山)

KUNIHISA (国久), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Ōshū – “Ōshū Wakabayashi-jū Kunihisa” (奥州若林住国久), student of the 2nd gen. Sendai Kunikane (国包)

KUNIHISA (国久), Jōkyō (貞享, 1684-1688), Settsu – “Settsu-jū Minamoto Kunihisa” (摂津住源国久), student of Ise no Kami Kuniteru (伊勢守国輝)

KUNIHISA (国久), Keiō (慶応, 1865-1868), Izumo – “Unshū-jū Kunihisa” (雲州住国久), he lived in Hirose (広瀬)