Island made sword

[Bill M]

It is certainly a Japanese design blade. Difficult to tell the quality from your pictures and the state of polish, but I would not call it "rubbish." It has a nice curve (sori) and clean lines.

Since the cutting edge is less than 24" it would be classed as a WAKIZASHI.

These blades were commonly carried by the non-warrior class as a main blade or by the Samurai class as a secondary sword to the longer blade Katana (over 24" blade cutting edge)

It appears to have some forging flaws or more probably rust pits. If you could take more detailed pictures of the tip and the spine, it would help in further classification.

I would suggest that you do not clean the tang, but are there any markings on the tang? This is where a maker often added details that would help in classification. These are sometimes difficult to photograph, but can be shown by careful rubbing. If there are Japanese characters there, I can show you how to make copies that are more easily seen than with a photograph.

From the shape of the blade I would guess it was made in the last few hundred years, possibly the last century. I can see a faint line where it looks like it has a hardened edge or hamon. If you want to know more, I suggest you visit this link to a website hosted by one of our members.

http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm

It would help to see the fittings.

The people on this board would be able to give you much better information.
http://www.militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/

Welcome to Ethnographic Arms and Armor! Hope that you continue to visit and post.