Thoughts And Info On This Unsigned Piece.

[Bob-K]

Being new to Japanese swords, I'm not good at the proper terminology of the Japanese swords or components of the swords. Can someone tell me what this sword/dagger is called? The blade is 13 3/4" long and the handle is 5" long. The tang is unsigned. The wrap around the handle is deteriorating rapidly. It falls apart as you touch it. Would it be wort re-wrapping? Any other suggestions or info would be appreciated.

[ROKUJURO]

Bob,

this seems to be a short WAKIZASHI in UNOKUBI-ZUKURI shape. It has only one cutting edge, so no dagger.

Do not attempt to restore or fix anything until you know for sure what it is that you have. Keep the blade away from children and moisture and don't touch it with your bare hands. 

Please read a lot about Japanese swords, we have a wealth of good information here on the board. 

It is probably not a national treasure, but it is a solid and authentic Japanese sword of the very late EDO period (my personal guess) in fair condition, and as such a good start for a collection.

[Bob-K]

Thank you. That's a lot more than I knew about before I made the post.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Bob,

Care and etiquette; you would be smart to read it twice.

http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm

Grey

[Bob-K]

Grey, thank you very much for the care and etiquette link. A very interesting read.

[ggil]

The fittings are nicely done. Maybe some cloud designs on the saya but can’t see too well. Personally I think a re-wrap wouldn’t be out of the question. You could use girls hair ties (I have daughters so I am adept at hair tie use) keep what is left together. Anybody know who could re-wrap this or what they charge?

 

Sometimes the tsuka is damaged during a re-wrap. Hopefully the tsukamakishi wouldn’t wrap it “for battle” if the tsuka core is deteriorated badly or too old. Probably they would want to make a new tsuka.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Bob,

Having the tsuka (handle) rewrapped would make sense and won't set you back too much.  David MacDonald in Montana can do your rewrap; he does a great job and is reasonably priced.  I doubt that you'll need a new tsuka, just new wrap.  He should be included in the links up top.

Grey

[vajo]

That waki has a nice shape. Looks like late muromachi. Take care of it.

[UnoKubi]

Both an unusual shape, and unusual workmanship - I like it!  :-D

[Bob-K]

Thanks for all the info thus far. I normally collect US and German WW2 weapons, so this is way out of my comfort zone. I'm hoping to learn a bit while I'm here, although it will be slow going for me as this stuff is very confusing to me.

[Bob-K]

Some more pictures...

Sorry about placing the sword on the cutting edge, but these pictures were taken before reading the care and etiquette link.

[vajo]

Bob very nice. Avoid to touch the blade with bare hands. Oli it with choji oil.  The fittings are nice. Look for a professional re-wraping the Tsuka. The texture of the saya is well done.

 

Presave that sword.

[UnoKubi]

Nice find!  You should look into cleaning it properly, and for the love of god, oil it!  You can just use mineral oil if you don't have ready access to Choji or Tsubaki oil...

[Geraint]

Dear Bob.

 

Congratulations.  This is a nice find.  When you have the tsuka re wrapped take some time and advice about who does the work and please have it wrapped in ito that matches the current weave and colour.  This is a nice Higo flavoured koshirae and deserves the extra attention to detail.  As far as the blade goes I think it much later than late Muromachi but happy to be wrong.  As you study you will have to decide whether to put the money in for a good polish, again, please take advice here about who to get to do the work.  I would want to get this work done but as many will advise you here you stand little chance of getting your investment back. None the less I would be very tempted to do it as I think this sword deserves it.

 

Enjoy this sword and take your time with it.

 

All the best.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Bob, to give you some useful generalities, items that are directly mounted on the blade are called tosogu, & everything else (besides the blade) is called koshirae. Very seldom are tosogu or koshirae made at the same time as the blade.

 

Also, koshirae aren't made for long-term storage of a blade, so if you happen to also have the plain-wood shirasaya, that's what should be used to keep it from rusting in the Indiana humidity. Otherwise, please be sure to keep the blade (less the nakago) well-oiled. Before you ask, the hakobore on the blade were probably not made in battle, but are likely caused by some idiot trying to cut something stupid.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[Bugyotsuji]

Nothing to add, except extra noise.   Plenty to enjoy in that blade and those fittings.

[Bob-K]

Thank you gentlemen for the help and advice. Is Singer sewing machine oil ok to use on the blade? Anyone care to give a ballpark figure as to the value of this Wakizashi as is and a value after having the handle rewrapped and blade polished?

[SteveM]

Hello Bob,

 

These are two very sensible, and very common questions we get asked here on NMB. If you perform a search on sword oil or machine oil, you should be able to find a great thread that compared the various oils available. Spoiler: sewing machine oil should be fine, but use sparingly. Value is probably the most often asked question, so, again, have a look around using the search function and you should get many, many useful hits.

 

The market is awash in unsigned, unpolished wakizashi of unknown provenance in distressed mounts. I think you would be looking at about $700 - $800. If you spend any money towards a restoration, that range hardly moves, but the chance of you achieving the upper end of the range becomes higher.