This sword is a rare and well-documented example of a traditional Japanese family heirloom blade that was converted for military service during the Pacific War. Unlike standard-issue gunto produced specifically for the army, this piece represents a privately owned sword adapted for frontline use, a practice officially permitted during the later stages of Japan’s wartime mobilization.
The blade itself is traditionally forged, likely from Edo era, featuring a straight temper line and a clearly visible itame-hada, with a nagasa of 58.1 cm. 
What elevates this sword beyond most surviving examples is the extensive handwritten ink inscription preserved on the interior of its leather-covered scabbard. This inscription records the sword’s continuous history in remarkable detail. It identifies the blade as an ancestral sword passed down through generations, later converted for military use in 1941 (Showa 16). The inscription further documents the owner’s participation in the Manchurian Incident, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Greater East Asia War, concluding with the notation of Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945.
The inscription also preserves the identity of its wartime owner, an Imperial Japanese Army Sergeant Major, Hiroshi Hirashima, a native of Tsuno Town, Koyu District, Miyazaki Prefecture. His unit affiliations are recorded with unusual precision, including service within the 112th Infantry Division (Western District, Kurume), the 148th Infantry Regiment, and associated artillery and rapid-fire gun units. Such specificity is rarely encountered on surviving military swords and provides a direct personal and organizational context for the blade’s wartime use.
Taken as a whole, this sword represents far more than a military accessory. It embodies the transition of a privately cherished family weapon into an instrument of modern total war, and its survival with a coherent, contemporaneous written record makes it a valuable primary historical artifact. For collectors and researchers alike, this piece offers an exceptional opportunity to study the intersection of traditional sword culture, individual military service, and the realities of Japan’s wartime mobilization.