Ian B3HR2UH

The handle ,or parts of it , have almost certainly been added Barry .Perhaps the original tsuka is lurking underneath the crap binding and " kashira " I think someone referred to these as bubba jobs . Ian Brooks

These are fantastic Dick . I particularly like that first kozuka panel, it is outstanding . Do you have other treasures like this to show us ? Ian Brooks

Perhaps you should cut down on your consumption Tom Ian Brooks

Your Tsuba is on upside down ! Ian Brooks

For once I kind of find myself agreeing with Adam . This piece is stuffed as is and the rust is like a cancer that will keep getting worse . I don;t advocate that anyone does home polishes but something has to be done about the active red rust . For me oiling it is only going to delay the problem . Ian Brooks

Further photos attached

Does anyone have a sword with a Buka Island tag on it? Buka Island is at the northern tip of Bouganville . At the end of the war the northern part of Bouganville and Buka island were garrisoned by the 87th Naval Garrison unit commanded by Captain Kato . The 32nd Navy pioneers and the 211 Navy pioneers had been combined into this unit . It was said that it consisted of civilians with Naval regulars as NCO's and officers .The units strength was said to be 1000 Naval troops and 2000 civilians. Following the surrender officers from the Australian 2 Corps HQ visited Buka on an inspection tour.. There is a series of photographs at the Australian War Memorial taken at this time showing surrendered swords arrayed alongside a grass hut with Japanese troops looking for their swords to affix the tags to . The photos were taken on the 19th of September 1945 .The swords were later taken to 2 Corps HQ where they were distributed . The tags are all relatively similar . They are on a piece of wood about 9cm by 2.8 cm. On one side written in Japanese is the officers name branch of service and rank . On the reverse in English is a space for a number to be inserted and an English translation of the information on the other side . The number is filled in in a different pencil and is sometimes absent . The translated names are written western style with the forename and then the surname ,as i have done . Over the years I have made a note of these swords when I have come across them. In numerical order these are No 4 Staff Surgeon Takahashi Shin gunto , showa blade No 3837 Sub officer Takashi Hisamatsu Shingunto showa blade No 83 Surgeon Hideo Okamura . Katana style mounts, blade by Hizen Kanehiro with a huge bullet scar on it No 147 Surgeon ( I didn't note the name ) Tachi mount with shakudo nanako fittings with gold clove ( ? ) design . Mumei grooved suriage blade . A fine piece . No 161 1st Lieutenant Akina Saka . Naval kyugurto with mumei suriage shinto blade . This sword was once owned by Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey. No 179 Chief technical warrant officer Kenzo Obe , gunto style mount with mumei old blade No 189 Commander Shiro Suzuki . Shingunto with a gendai blade by Oshu Masatomo. No 227 1st warrant officer ambulance Kichitaro Ogawa. Old blade in saya no other mounts No number Captain Masahira Ikeda . Kaigunto mount . Blade signed Kaneuji and dated 1331 . A showa fake . The mounts all have the name Ikeda scratched on them No number (split tag ) Ist Lieutenant Seiji Okamoto . Kai gunto ,old mumei blade No number equipment 1st warrant officer Matao Amida , Katana style mount with old mumei blade No tag or Number Paymaster Lt Commander Shimao Suzuki ,tanto in shirasaya blade by Hosokawa Masamori .Details written on the Shirasaya . Nice piece It is interesting just how many of what were apparently naval troops were carrying shingunto . Ian Brooks

This film shows swords being presented by the CO of the 13th Field Coy , Major Carmichael to members of his Company . This occurred at Rabaul on New Britain . The Japanese had dug an extensive tunnel system ( 150 miles according to one report ) at Rabaul and the swords were stored in the tunnels under guard to keep them safe from souvenir hunters. There is a photograph in the Australian War Memorial ( number 98687 ) showing Capt Williams of the 11th Division Headquarters issuing swords to a unit which appears to be at the mouth of one of these tunnels. The photo caption states that there were 7000 swords issued to troops at Rabaul as souvenirs . Years ago I bought a sword off a man who said that they found a back way into the area of the tunnels where the swords were stored . He and his mates drove a jeep into the tunnel, loaded it up with swords pistols and binoculars and drove out again.. Records show that there were 53212 Army troops ( including 3661 officers ) 16218 Naval troops ( including 1222 officers ) and 19861 civilians on Rabaul at the end of the war . If all the above figures are correct then it means that about nearly eight percent of ( or one in every thirteen ) Japanese had a sword with them. There is a list dated 2 Nov 1945 which sets out how the swords were to be allocated . Larger units such as infantry battalions received from 250 to 350 swords depending on their size .Small outfits were allocated smaller amounts commensurate with their size . For example the 11th Div postal unit only received four . The 13th Field company who appear in the film received 96 swords . It was interesting to me that all of them seemed to have tags with the owners name on them and some seemed to have multiple tags . Many years ago I came across a sword which had been bought back by a very senior 11th Division officer . This had a piece of paper with it saying that it was the best sword on Rabaul The blade was signed Kunihiro ( Horikawa ) and it was dated 1606 . It had been carried by a Japanese Captain and was in average quality shin gunto mounts with no mon. Unfortunately it was not for sale so never became part of the Brooks collection. Ian Brooks

It is sad how quickly the provenance of these just disappears . The seller told me that he bought it from the family of a marine who got it on Iwo Jima . Ian

One of my Kai gunto has a mon on both menuki ( photo of one attached ) and an identical one on the Kabuto gane . I haven't seen this on a Kaigunto before. Interestingly there is considerable writing under the fuchi some of which reads Kaigun hira maki ( Navy flat binding ) and Mon menuki nyu ( Mon set in menuki ) I can offer no real explanation for John's original observation but agree that the percentage of kai gunto with mon on is lower than the percentage of Shin gunto with mon on them. Ian Brooks

Laurak these signatures are a bit like yours . If you sign your name twenty times and I try to copy it the chances are that my copy of your signature will stand out amongst the twenty one examples as being the one that is faked . Applying this to Japanese swords you need to find authentic examples of Kunisada's signature in books and compare them to that on your dads sword . Like Tom I doubt that this is a genuine Kunisada . Ie there are plenty of Kunisada's with fake signatures around. Yours is no doubt a genuine old sword that has had a fake signature put on it years ago to increase its value. Just like putting a famous artists name on a painting to increase its value. Ian Brooks

Attached is a photograph of the ura of my Katsura Eiju tsuba. Do any members have other pieces by him ? I have obtained copies of examples of his work from the Wakayama books, Nihonto Koza , Zubo Tansen , Mosle , Oeder ,Lethal elegance and various NBTHK journals ( in particular 512 and 649 ). Are members aware of other books where examples of his work can be found? Ian Brooks

I have always understood that the rules or etiquette of the board were that we didn't comment on pieces that were put up for sale ! Notwithstanding Adam puts in his two bobs worth " its not worth the asking price as its unverified, not Jo saku and the mei is all wrong " This sword is a good classy item and in a whole different league than the fuchi kashira Adam currently has up for sale , but I won't comment on them . Ian Brooks

Hi Juan , Bob Benson's opinion , having had the sword in hand, is I think far more likely to be correct than any opinion that anyone here can give you from looking at photographs . Ian Brooks

Hello Markus, I have volume 239 . Scanning is beyond my abilities but if you can wait a couple of days, and let me know where to send it , I will have one of my staff scan it when we are back at work . It is the Queens birthday public holiday here in Australia tomorrow ! Thanks for all the great work you do Ian Brooks