Merry Christmas Manolo & all,
The nakago (tang) inscription reads "ISHIDO TERUHIDE SAKU" Meaning ISHIDO = school, TERUHIDE = sword smiths name, SAKU = made.
While this sword is not dated I found another sword by this smith that is dated DEC. 1938. He is listed as to making both Showato (machine made) and Gendaito (hand forged) blades. The well cut inscription would seem to indicate that this is hand forged.
You should be able to make a mekugi (peg) from a bamboo chopstick if you can get one from a Chinese restaurant though recently I've found they are mostly using a cheap soft wood for chopsticks. If you can get the black goo off the tsuka (grip) traditionally rice glue was used but Elmer's wood glue seems to work fine. Hope this is of some help.
All the best,
Maskell
Jerry
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