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Later War Pilot or Shorter Gunto with Leather Wrapped Saya. Signed Kanetsugu


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This was a recent purchase. I liked that the blade was a bit shorter than most of the swords made during WWII (23 3/8"). I know its tough to tell the difference between pilot, tanker or just smaller officer swords, To me, everything checks out okay, the only thing I would like to have more info on, if anyone knows, is the leather wrapped saya. It seems to be in good condition for its age and the style is different than most of the other ones I have found. What do you guys think about it? 

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Kenny you have purchased one of the best leather cover in condition i ever have seen! Care good for it. That cover is over 70 years old and looks like made yesterday. Your sword has Katana size. Normal lenght for a smaller soldier.

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That is awesome information. To me it looked too good to be true. Yeah the total length is 35 3/4" in mounts. The seller had said it was a pilot or tankers sword but I was very skeptical of that. 

 

 

Kenny you have purchased one of the best leather cover in condition i ever have seen! Care good for it. That cover is over 70 years old and looks like made yesterday. Your sword has Katana size. Normal lenght for a smaller soldier.

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I Kenny

I am very un knowledgeable about Japanese swords but the scabbard leather does not look 70 + years old to me.

especially where we see the fibres at the top of the Saya, this invariably gets stained and gets dirt/grease ingrained.

where was the sword kept to be in such good condition?

As I say styles etc of scabbards etc, have not got a clue but I think I am OK at guesstimating the age of things 

Looking forward to the education if i am wrong 

 

Ken 

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There are guys that can just look at the snaps and tell if they were WWII era. I don't know if they are here or over on Wehrmacht-awards. I have a leather saya, too, that looks too new. But the fit is good.

 

Your blade, with the Showa stamp, was likely made in the 1940-1941 range. It's possible that both our swords had saya damage along the way and had these leather saya made as replacements, near the end of the war.

 

Agree with Brian, the "tanker" "pilot" terms got started in the early collecting world by guys that didn't know about blade length classsifications. Plus, we are fortunate, today, to have internet access to tons of photos and war documents that weren't available to early collectors.

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The pins on the leather looks absolute authentic to me. Ok the color is not that cherry red from the normal leather cover but the sword has not the standard army fittings too. I think it is original. And the condition is overall very good.

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Btw i have a leather jacket from the federal border protection dated 1956. I get it as i joined into the protectet platoon 1991 for driving the SW2 armoured vehicle. It look doesn't altered all the years and the heavy leather is smooth like i get it.

 

That was the vehicle (not my pictures)

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Without passing any judgement, I would like to the other side of the saya, is there a snap catch on the other side?. The tsuba is pierced so that a leather securing tab is used. On an outfit in this new condition, it should have a leather tab in the same condition.  

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 You do see Showa era blades in Buke Zukuri mounts, and they are quite often seen with metal kurigata. You also see them then mounted up for use as Shin Gunto, so no real surprises here.... As for the lack of a snap cap, leather strap retainers passing through the kurigata and the hole in the tsuba are not unknown.

 

 Not common, but not especialy rare either.

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Dave R ,

 

I don't see there would be any other way for a leather retainer to work for Kenny's sword other than what you suggest. It's obvious the saya was modified for military use as the tsuba also has an opening for a chuso.

 

It's possible I suspect, the leather retainer was the original plan, but was left as a simple compression fit, yet, who knows...

 

Should you happen to have a picture in your files of a leather retainer that attaches to a kuri gata , I would love to see it !

 

Best regards,

 

Dave M.

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I wanted to chime and just thank everyone for the discussion this sword has brought to the forum and learning about it has been really awesome. Anytime that I post a purchase, I always hope that it will be like this post where lots of knowledgeable members can chime in and discuss. One of the Seppa has the remnants of leather on it. I would definitely love to see what it would have looked like if it were whole in hopes of maybe running across an original piece and being able to put it back together.  

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Dave R ,

 

 

 

Should you happen to have a picture in your files of a leather retainer that attaches to a kuri gata , I would love to see it !

 

Best regards,

 

Dave M.

 

 I found this one, which is similar but is also rivited to the cover. I might have other pics, but it would mean a long search through my files. I think Ohmura shows something like this as well.....

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 I found this one, which is similar but is also rivited to the cover. I might have other pics, but it would mean a long search through my files. I think Ohmura shows something like this as well.....

 

Probably close to what was used for Kenny's sword. No, please don't spend a lot of time searching files. Other examples of leather type retainers will likely show up in the future.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave M.

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