Geraint

Dear Franco. It is always hard to value a sword from images but a search of the web should give you an idea. Factor in the idea that full retail value is probably not what you would get if you sold. Value also varies between countries, in the UK at the moment a decent shingunto tends to be around £800 to £1000, I suspect American collectors will fins that rather high. So did you get a bargain? All the best.

Steve, You are right to be suspicious. Darby also says that , "Several reliable Japanese ordnance experts have confirmed that the only the prescribed barrel length and 8mm calibre were ever adopted by the military." Hi style of writing is a little odd but he clealry concludes that these were not official pistols but were marked to make it look as though they were. All the best.

Dear all. I'm well outside my comfort zone but from, "Hand Cannons of Imperial Japan", by Harry Darby, page137. "A number of type 14's have been reported with barrels shorter than the standard 117mm length. Several have also been adorned with special simulated characters, symbols and numerals, perhaps as an indication that the barrel was in fact, "officially" modified by the Japanese military." He goes on to illustrate a gun identical to the one in this thread with the caption, "Short barreled T-14's are are the products of "basement arsenals." The gun he shows has identical markings to this one. Hope that helps. All the best

Hi Franco. Please add your name to your posts, it is one of the few rules here. Have a look at this thread, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14741-looking-for-any-information-or-thoughts/ scroll down to about the 7th post and look at the middle of the three oshigata. This is a genuine sword, not a reproduction, it is a gunto and I am sure there will be a hamon but the condition might make it hard to spot. The kanji on the other side of the nakago from the signature are the date, should be easy to get to if you have a look at the Research tab at the top of the page. (Too late, Sebastian gave you the date.) Enjoy. (OK, rushing again, have added the link now) All the best.

Or Hoshu Takada possibly? Same thing as far as date goes. Nice thing. All the best.

Agreed but there is only a socket at one end, no discernible touch hole and that strange hole right through soooooo....?

Dale. how do you see this "hand cannon" working? All the best

Well Ed. I told you it was a good question! It has got me diving through the library anyway. We know that early habaki were sometimes at least made of iron. We know that blades that have seen many polishes are unlikely to have the original habaki as the fit becomes worse as the polishing removes metal. (We also know that it is probably the most neglected of fittings as far as the literature goes, I would be very happy to be proved wrong on that). Most modern photographs are taken with the habaki removed for very good reasons. The only reference I can find that specifically mentions the advent of the niju habaki is Stone who in his Glossary states that the niju form is the earlier but I am not sure how he arrives at this conclusion nor does he evidence it. I have heard that the niju habaki is more common on lighter blades though this idea only makes sense when you are looking at a blade in koshirae, once the blade has been polished and put into shirasaya then the choice of habaki is essentially aesthetic. I am not sure that a niju habaki would be easier to fit to a sword with a thicker nakago due to polishing, the very fine one that I have on an Oiei Bizen wakizashi, clearly made when the sword was put into shirasaya, is interesting. The internal shape of the habaki has been made to fit the grooves that run the length of the nakago and the internal profile is consistent throughout the length of the habaki. When fitted the habaki has clear gaps between the faces and the surface of the blade but it fits like a glove elsewhere. As far as the fit to the blade is concerned then the register at the machi is the most critical I believe; once the nakago is seated in the tsuka and the mekugi inserted the fit in the tsuka and the slight pressure against the machi is what gives solidity to the whole thing. To follow up on the point that Denis makes I wondered if saya shi would cut a shoulder for the larger part of the habaki. I have been looking carefully at the saya mouth on any of mine that have niju habaki and I cannot see a shoulder but in reality the shoulder is very slim in any case so given the soft nature of Honoki would soon disappear. I can quite understand Mr Hagenbusch suggesting a single copper habaki suiting a sue koto katana, niju tend to be slimmer and perhaps not quite right on a sword with imposing sugata. Not that this helps the discussion but I do have one sword which has a beautiful niju habaki that has then had a single silver foil jacket fitted covering the whole thing and effectively making it a hitoye habaki. The sword is in koshirae so probably the owners fancy. Great fun but not sure that we have the answers yet. All the best and thank you for making me look even harder at some of my swords.

Hi Ed. Hard to tell how many Koto habaki survive, when a sword is polished it is usual to have a new habaki to ensure a good fit. So what we are looking for is an original koto koshirae with a niju habaki. I can't say I have ever thought about this one before so I will start looking. Good question. All the best

I can only echo the "thank you"s. It's always good to re frame your understanding by applying it to really good examples, and of course excellent photographs.

Sorry Michael, I misunderstood you.

James. I think you are right but I expect it will make rather more than the starting price. Interesting blade, cracking koshirae and half a library as well, what's not to like? All the best

Dear Michael. I am sure you already know this but this is just the Japanese registration for the blade, it won't tell you anything more than you already know and it carries no weight. I believe that officially this should have been surrendered when the sword left Japan. All the best

Possibly Hankei?

As it happens, yes. http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/index.html And of course he can get it properly polished for you if he thinks the sword is worth it. Whatever you do do not do anything more than wipe with light oil or let anyone who is not properly qualified do anything, if in doubt as for recommendations here. This looks interesting, worth the effort to follow up. All the best.

Looking good! Now all you need is to have the shoelace taken off the tsuka and have it rebound nicely and you will indeed have a nice package' Enjoy!

Henry I'm not qualified to say what constitutes grounds for a refund but if you have seen the blade in hand before buying then I would think probably not. I have to admit that the mune is not a part of the blade that I would examine closely when buying other than to establish what sort it was. After this I will be sure to check. If it's any consolation I don't think muneware are a terrible flaw and if you didn't spot it then it will hardly detract from the blade. If that is all that is wrong then I don't think it would bother me. Oh, and does it have papers? If so then one would suppose that it didn't bother the shinsa team. Any chance of pictures then others will be able to judge? All the best

Hi Henry. I believe they are muneware. Not too bad I hope? All the best

Interesting Peter, I have been lead to believe that these were doctor's swords. I have one similar though no where near as good and many of the inlays are missing. I cannot give you a reference for this idea so it may be completely off the beam. Looking forward to what this thread brings up. All the best.

Dear Kris, The first thing to say is that if you chose to restore the sword it is very important that you get it done properly, it's a nice sword and it's coming on for four hundred years old so it deserves to be looked after. There are many people who say they can polish Japanese swords but everyone here will tell you tio avoid anyone who is not properly trained, we can recommend people for you if you go down this road. The second point is that proper restoration will cost quite a bit, after the polish you will need shirasaya, a plain wooden sheath and hilt made to store and protect the blade. In financial terms this is not a sound investment but in terms of what the blade will become you might want to do it to preserve and enhance the family history. (I would want to just to see what is really in this sword.) Have a look at this to see a sword in polish and shirasaya, please remember that this does not mean your sword is of the same value, this is just an example. https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-yamashiro-daijyo-minamoto-kunishige For the time being, and if you decide not to go ahead with restoration keeping the blade lightly oiled and covered, even if you wrap newspaper around the blade and tape it to make a temporary sheath, will keep it in good condition and prevent deterioration. Hope some of this helps, let us know what you decide to do. All the best

Jean you are quite right, Norimitsu is what I intended to type, should have checked.

Dear Kurt. No one seems to be commenting so here goes. If you do a search for iron daisho tsuba you will see two things going on. Sometimes you will find a true daisho pair; tsuba made by the same hand and intended to be together. If this is the case then you would expect to see the same quality of plate, the same surface treatment, the same technique, the same shaped seppa dai and hitsu, thematically close though often with slightly different aspects in design. The second thing you will find in your search is daisho sets made up of broadly similar tsuba. Sometimes this might be one of the more common designs by for example the Kinai or Bushu groups who tended to repeat certain designs rather often. (Kinai dragons or aoi leaves for example) I am afraid that yours slips into the second category in my opinion. The plates are different, the shape of the kogai hitsu is different, the technique is different, the quality of design and carving is different. They do both happen to have flowering trees. Of the two I like the larger more though I want to know what has happened to the blossom below the seppa dai. Have a look at these, http://www.nihontocraft.com/Echizen_Kinai_Daisho_Tsuba.htm This is NOT a case of two common designs married as the write up points out. I am sorry if this feels like rain on your parade. I hope it helps your studies in some way. All the best

Hi Ed. I think I can see Bishu Osafune Morimitsu. Nice find, the dark brown is pretty common. All the best Snap!

Hi Grev, Grey has this one, http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/holbrook-tsuba/h222-shippo As yours look as though it may be tachikanagushi it might fit with very early enamel which I believe is called doro shippo, need to check that. As far as I can recall early enamels were muddy and not translucent. Later ones were much finer and Hirata work uses these. Have fun with this one. All the best.

So pretty much all you are left with is sugata. Get the habaki off and see if it is machi okuri. The nakago jiri is not Kaga so assuming it's ubu that rules them out. Nakago shape leads to Bizen so if the sugata says sue koto then you have a nijimei Kiyomitsu from Sue Bizen, not too much hope of narrowing that down in this condition I fear. All the best.