Pavel

I send photos out to a few different experts and websites everyday, it is running about 50/50 on real or not. It is fun for me because it does not matter if if is worth $10 or $10,000, I am not looking to sell it. Some tell me there should be a leather cover on the saya, and it looks like it was covered in something, there are still chisel marks on the saya and almost no finish, it is honoki wood. To me there is maybe a small chance that it had immediate battlefield surgery preformed on it by shortening the tang, regrinding the tip and a quick tempering. My roommate who has better eyesight, says they see a undulating grain to the blade(hada?) and there is a visible hamon. I will take a few days and use pikal on it, to hopefully bring out the hamon, that will tell us more right? This is one of the sharpest swords I have ever seen, you cannot see most of the edge at all. The balance even without the rest of the furniture is fantastic, it makes me wonder if the tip and tang weren't shortened to cause the corrected balance, I wonder if the tip was busted so it was reground and the tang was shortened for balance. Do You think I have created a fantasy scenario or a plausible story? Even if Brian is right a field creation, to me there is enough doubt for me to treat it as real. I would think that at the closing months of the war, everyone and their kids were making weapons. I have talked to Japanese Smiths and they say they moved from Japan to ply their trade because there were too many restrictions. There must be a few different reasons that so many blades were unsigned Thanks for the definition of ersatz, I will remember it. Here is where I get a little confused so I brought you this from a great site, what do you think?: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/kizu.htm "# MIZUKAGE - Cloudly line running diagonally from the ha (edge) near the ha-machi. This is commonly a sign that the blade has been retempered. While there were a few smiths that made mizukage deliberately, most often it is considered a flaw and indicator of a retempered blade. On retempered blades the hamon will sometimes stop in front of the ha-machi. Again, some smiths did this deliberately, but most commonly it is a sign of a retempered blade." Regardless of anything else I want to thank you all for taking the time with this, it has already provided more fun than I paid for. Pavel

Nice to meet you, At the ending of the war, weren't many swords made by less than Master Sword Smiths? I am unfamiliar with the term ersatz heat treatment. Were some mizukage deliberate?

Nice to meet you ALL Thank You for the replies. You are concurring what Alf at Japanese swords.com just emailed me, he said that the tang was hastily shortened, I think the mizukage might be an indicator of a shortened blade as well. The yokote is slanted but there is one, and the sword is four inches shorter than the saya. I have quite a few fakes, I make them into shirasaya and it is different than any of the fakes I have, this blade is thicker and wider and the balance is superb. I have no proof other than three experts saying it is a real Japanese sword and a gut feeling. I think it might be a home or field hack job, it doesn't feel like a machine made blade. There is a hint of a undulating hamon and there appears to be waves in the steel itself almost a damascus wave. BTW. I was just emailed by Pawel Nowak with an offer of two antique swords, never heard of the guy until you mentioned him. He must of got my email from here. And No I have never used the name.

Hello Everyone, Great to be here, looks like a fantastic forum. I wonder if I could get some information, I have been into swords since the 1970's and I still don't know anything, but I listen well. This sword has been identified by Fredricks Antique Swords as being a late or "last ditch" machine made real Japanese WW2 sword. It has also been identified by Wally a las Vegas Collector and Gunto expert, as a chinese forgery. I am not concerned about the monetary value of the sword, I would like to know before I use my crude attempts at polish or put into shirasaya, and take the chance of harming a piece of history. The only thing I do know for sure is that this sword feels good in the hand, the balance for such a wide(1 1/4"),thick(5'16")and long(25")blade is astonishing. It feels sturdy and light. So I want to treat this sword as a real gunto, until I know for sure. There is a line on the blade both sides. Is there a safe way to remove it? Or is it possibly a mizukage? I have pikal polish or uchiko ball and choi oil. Thank You, Pavel