Wakizashi Sword

It's a real nihonto, with a pretty nice hamon, though the polish is in rough shape. I don't think the blade was made during the war years, maybe Edo or before. The ko-shinogi is an unusual shape, but it is finely shaped. Maybe it got a low quality Japanese sharpening/polish around the war time, the kissaki polish is quite rough on a finer base, but looks deliberate. The tsuba is authentic, and looks like it was made for this blade (which is rare), but is not a high quality one, and it is in rough shape (looks older than Edo to me). The seppa are quite nice, also made for the blade, probably Edo period. I think the menuki are probably Edo period, could be shakudo, but the orange-brown wear/repatination looks to be later, maybe during war time. The saya is a wartime saya, as is the leather clasp, and as are the fuchi and kashira of the tsuka (so tsuka/ito wrap probably also from this period). So overall, I think it's a pre-Edo blade and tsuba made for it, which had new furniture made for it in the Edo, of which we have left only the seppa (and maybe the habaki). Then, it was remounted to fit regulations before or during the war.

I think it's a nice piece though, most of the value is in the blade. It doesn't have a signature, but it has a lovely hamon.

Standard advice, if you want it properly polished, it will likely be more than the sword is worth. Trying to polish it yourself will likely ruin the value. So it's usually best to leave it as is. There's other sources online for more information online regarding these, but more definitive assessments usually require authoritative evaluation, which usually require a traditional polish.