Dave R

Very like this one I have, a bit of a step up from the typical Satsuma. Note non matching menuki, but same style of wrap which is well done but in cheap material.

I do wonder why we get blades lacking a date, particularly of WW2 era.

He might even turn up here.

It's a late era blade with a Sho stamp, and so also non traditional in some way. No problem with the fittings, they are nice but would not have been expensive as they are contemporary to the blade and cast in non ferrous without inlays. The Fuchi-kashira might even be stamping's though the menuki look to be old. There seems to have been a fashion revival in the Showa era for traditional style swords. I like it, and think you have a very collectable piece there.

Regarding the good same, the hilts of these cheaper swords often re-use parts and pieces, which can have been quite high class once upon a time in the past. This one from my collection is a classic. High class same, spiral Ito, but not katatamaki, the kashira is an old kabutogane from a handachi and the menuki is part of a tobacco pouch clasp.

This does look like the classic two piece mekugi, it could be threaded or just a friction fit.

Do you know what the mounts were like,any photo's? You see, it's so rare to see numbers, stamps and writing on a Japanese sword blade, issue swords excepted, and so common to see the same on Chines blades of any age. Military Dadao are quite often marked up om the blade.

Using a reverse image search I tracked this back to a conversation on Gunboards in 2014 https://www.gunboards.com/threads/late-war-shin-gunto-or-post-war-tourist-copy.356639/ and of course all the photo's and links are dead, but ended at Ebay....

In this case I would suggest a good go over with Uchiko, it won't do any harm to a blade in this condition, and will remove some of the staining and oxide.

What does the K mean then?

A friend of mine has suggested that some stuff goes onto Jauce as a result of wifely nagging, and is then deliberately overpriced so as not to sell..... It's a theory!

I knew, but I have fogotten.

There is a presumption that any blade displaying folding and forging lines in going to be eastern or even Japanese in origin. In fact until cast steel became common in the mid 19th century folding, layering and forging was universally the only way of producing a steel blade. In many places they made a feature of it, pattern welding in western swords, twist core in Turkish and Filipino blades and pamor in Indonesia. This is why I posted the link to the other rapier with a watered steel pattern blade.The same for inserted edges and edge hardening

....and.

From my files, apologies to the original posters, I downloaded them in 2014 without recording where they came from, because I never expected to have reason to share them. Nowadays I do tag where I got stuff from.