JAPANESE WAKIZASHI WITH SIGNED TANG
Japanese Wakizashi mounted in an oak shirasaya. Clean blade with a signed tang, I have had the signature interpreted and it is signed Mitsuyoshi. Who was a sword maker in the Koto period.
HISTORY
The swords made between the Late Heian Period towards the end of the Warring States (930-1595 A.D.) are called KOTO (古刀: Old-Sword) in Japanese. Those swords were likely to be used in real lives of Samurai, so their designs had to fit the way they used the sword.