An Unexpected Gift....

[Bonty]

Hello,This is my first post on the message board though I have made one post elswhere and got a helpful response from one forum member.

I have been gifted a Sword,it appears to be a WW2 officer katana,The Koshirae are in fairly good condition,,the habaki is polished copper,the tsuba is cutaway design I believe early 1930s ,and the other parts are nice and clean,though I suspect nothing special.

The gent who gave me the sword told me it could be a much older blade .

The Tang has two holes ,one slightly larger than the other,which suggests an earlier mounting.

The end of the nagako is rounded ,kuri jiri.Apologies for any terminology errors,I am using Botts book for reference and have only been familiarising myself with the terminology for a week.

The file marks appear older towards the end of the nagako and slant towards the blade.

The Mei,there are 2 kanji,the forum member I got a response from agreed with me that it could be Tomotsugu,I went through the swordmakers register and Tomotsugu appears to be the closest.

The blade I think has not been treated too well,there is pronounced over grinding just forward of the Munemachi.

The curve of the blade ,Is Koshi sori ( I think)

The shinogi does not seem very well defined There is no Yokote .Either lost or never present ?

The mune is rounded,not ground to a single edge,I hope the images show this.

The hamon is faint to say the least and almost dissapears in place due to the state of polish.

There appear to be ripples and folds in the edge area and metallic inclusions,I dont have a clue how to interpret these,any help would be gratefully received.I hope again that the images at least convey some of this information.

many thanks for taking the time to read this.

I am not a collector or dealer and have never owned a sword before,I am just happy to be the new custodian of this one ,whatever it is.

So if anyone can shed some light,however faint,I would appreciate it,I suspect the damage is too great to make a full restoration possible but I will leave that to you guys.

Thanks again

Kevin

[Brian]

Kevin,
Before anyone else comments, laying a Japanese sword on the ground or on the floor or on rocks is gonna get your ass chewed off here. Don't do it again
Now that we have that out of the way, what is the nagasa measurement? Can't tell if a wakizashi or a katana. Looks like a hand forged blade, but sadly poorly treated and sharpened with a grinder.

[Bonty]

Thank you Brian,will sit in anticipation of an ass chewing,point taken,never again sir,

The total length of the blade including tang is 33 inches,the cutting portion measures 24 and 3/4 inches,I agree it has been badly treated,it's a shame.

Thanks for replying

Kevin

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Kevin,

Before someone else tells you that you need to have the sword restored let me say no.  Proper restoration would be expensive (improper restoration would be terrible) and the sword isn't worth the cost.  Apart from the grinding, which presents a serious problem, there are openings in the steel that tell us this is too far gone.  Tomotsugu is correct for the signature.  Enjoy it for the gift it is and resist the urge to spend money on it.

Here is a care and etiquette brochure; you would be smart to read it.  http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm

Grey

[Bonty]

Thank you Grey,I appreciate the response ,I am in complete agreement,I promised the Gent that gifted it to me that I would never sell it,I promised him I would gift it to someone who would also appreciate it when the time came so it makes me feel better about not having to go through the renovation process.

It doesn't quell my curiosity about the blade,I still have contact with the previous owner and I know he would be very interested in the history of the blade.Something he had limited luck with finding out.

He is an incredibly nice guy and the money would mean nothing to him.

I also realise that it is not forum policy to ask for valuations ,so I won't.

But I would ask how do I find out so I can report back to him.

I am a student of aikido,one of my old senseis is active on this forum and I met with him last week and he gave me some very good pointers and advised that I purchase the " sword of Japan " by Bott,which I have done.

One of the second dans at my dojo has studied Iaido and I would like to use the katana in that setting ,so more valuable to me for this reason than sitting it on a shelf.

Many thanks,all the best

Kevin

[kissakai]

I saw this sword last week but as you know this is not my field

In the last image of the tsuka there looked like a U shaped fitment under the wrapping rather than just larger 'nodules'  but I may be wrong

If possible Kevin would like an idea of age and school

[kissakai]

PS

Pretty sure the nakago has been cleaned - shame

[kissakai]

Can someone throw one of our newest NMB member Kevin a bone so he can at least do a bit more research

When I saw the sword I suggested he pop it on the website for some feedback

One other thing I remembered was that the mune is semi-circular

 

[Grey Doffin]

I will try.  Hi Kevin,  Hawley's Japanese Swordsmiths Revised lists 28 smiths who signed with those Kanji for Tomotsugu.  From the pictures and information you have posted I couldn't begin to guess which of the 28 made your sword.  If pressed for a guess on time I'd say maybe late Koto (16th century) or a bit later, but my guess and a $ gets you on the bus.  Other than for a couple of the early smiths with this name, neither of which made this sword because it isn't that old, none of the Tomotsugu were very important.

I think this is a Muromachi period sword made to be used in battle, not exceptionally well made to begin with, and now in pretty rough condition.  The sword has been shortened, most likely when it was mounted for WWII.

That's what I think I know.  Anyone have a better idea?

Grey

[Bonty]

thanks again Grey,I was not under any illusions about the sword but I appreciate your time and expertise,knowing a little makes things interesting,it is nice to know it could be quite old and the condition  doesn,t worry me too much.The fact that it has been used hard will not detract from its value for me.Thanks again

Kevin

 

PS Thanks Grev I ,appreciate your input

[kissakai]

Using Grey's date I've found 5 schools within this period but as it is not well made it may be unrecorded

Schools were:

Echizen

Kaga

Uda

Bungo

Kii

Satuma

So may someone can delete the schools that it isn't and go from there

[kissakai]

Hi

Do I assume this post has run it's course as I understand how difficult it is to take it further

So Tomotsugu - Muromachi period sword made to be used in battle, not exceptionally well made

 

 

Grev

[PNSSHOGUN]

The mounts are in excellent condition and are of the higher quality type, there looks to be a silver Mon on the Kabutogane as well. Perhaps when the officer had it mounted the blade was a nice family piece, sadly now the blade has been reduced to a shadow of its former self.

[Bonty]

Thank you Gentlemen,I appreciate your expertise and time.It would be nice if it were in better condition,but I can enjoy it for what it is,I had thought of replacing the koshirae with more traditional parts but the present military hardware has grown on me ,and it is in really quite good condition.

So I think it will remain as it is.

I think I will continue to watch the forums and pick up as much information as I can before venturing into a purchase,I still have a lot to learn ,and a book to read !

Thanks to you all

Kevin

[Mark C]

Hi Kevin,

 

If you can get to the Motorcycle Museum (NEC) this Sunday, there is a military fair that The Northern Token Society stalls at plus plenty of other knowledgeble people.

Bring it along and show them.

 

All the best

 

Mark

[kissakai]

I will be there on the early entry

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes, most of the value of the piece is in the WW2 mounts now, keep it as is.

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Kevin.,

 

"One of the second dans at my dojo has studied Iaido and I would like to use the katana in that setting ,so more valuable to me for this reason than sitting it on a shelf."

 

Just a heads up, it is not a good idea to use an old mounting for any form of training, due to the possible deterioration of the Tsuka.

 

PS the Tsuka was quite a high status job back in the day.

 

[Bonty]

Thanks Gents will try to get to the show,and Malcolm ,understood,Possibly a replacement tsuka for the practice and save the military mounts,as John said most of the value is in the mounts so we dont want to damage them.

I may do what you have done Grev and have the mounts fitted to a wooden blade ( sorry cannot remember the name of this !) and get some mounts for any Iaido.

Kevin

[Baka Gaijin]

Sound thinking on the Tsuka and Gunto Koshirae Kevin.

 

However, please choose your Tsukamaki shi very very carefully, and make doubly sure that they understand that the Tsuka is to be used for training.

 

I would suggest a full Samegawa wrap and that the Itomaki is both paper packed and glued in the traditional manner at each twist.

 

It ain't cheap, but well worth going the extra mile, as I've seen a few near misses and one unpleasant Atari with both Gunto and "Collector Display level wraps" being used for training in the UK.

 

Good luck with the project!! 

 

PS the term for a holding blade in wood is Tsunagi  

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes, even among Shin Gunto the quality of wrap differed greatly, I have encountered Mint condition Type 98 Koshirae with Itomaki that moves and old, beaten up Type 94 mounts from the 1930's that are still rock solid.

 

Fred Lohman "Tsunami" Ito is firm favorite among many practitioners and gets better with use as the sweat and oils make it a little tacky to grip.