Dave R

Personally I have no objection to the dealers rigid interpretation of a Katana being over 24 inches blade length. I have picked up a couple of very decent swords for bargain prices as a result.

" I've had some war-era swords pass through my hands, as well as a lower-end but old wakisashi.".... I hope you don't mean that literally, because that hurts a lot and the blood get everywhere. I would say it's a Buke-Zukuri Showato taken to war, that got over-cleaned, and probably acid "polished". Regarding a new Tsuka, look for one minus the Ito, then you can dump it in the bath for a few hours to dissolve the rice glue and re cut the inside to fit your blade. Then proceed to refit and and rebind.

I doubt these are produced anymore, I certainly found all the sellers sites were old, and none in stock.... Though truthfully my search was far from exhaustive. As best I can find, Hanwei found them to expensive to produce.... Why is it here, easy one, "Buyer beware", given a few years wear and a bit of tweaking you can expect to see them on sale as originals.

This why I am so amused when people complain about Ebay and Paypal fees, it's the cost of doing business.

That is a truly lovely piece.

Prime example, after the sword ban the makers of sageo producing obijime instead. https://kimono-kimono.de/obijime-an-introduction-to-the-different-types/ BTW if you want a nice sageo without breaking the bank, look at obijime on ebay or kimono sales sites.

They seem pretty confident in the one they have here... http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro6.html

I was a collector from my early teen years and haunted the local antique and junk shops, not a huge difference in those days in that town, except for one. Manser's which was a classic dusty, packed, antique shop in Castle Gates Shrewsbury full of all sorts, mirrors, old furniture small sculptures, swords and guns. Thinking back my actual first real sword was a knackered wakizashi sans tsuka or any metal mounts except blade and habaki in a same and wood saya. It cost me £4. 10 shillings, and this keyboard does not even have a shilling symbol. Pre-internet, all my research done at the library, which fortunately was a good one because Shrewsbury is a county town and admin centre for a larger area. I was about 12, and oh dear how I abused that blade by current standards. I swapped it for some armour when I was in my twenties, which is just as well in some ways. I have to give Mr Manser and all those other dealers a lot of credit for their time and patience which they never begrudged. Just to give you a taste of the place, this is a photo of No 1, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury, F C Manser & Son (Gordon Manser).where I spent hours antique hunting and learning. I think this was his second shop, across the road from that first shop and where I bought an 1822/45 infantry officers sword from him, my second sword ever. (Unable to locate a pic of that first shop, it might have been demolished).

If it's in Dawson, then it's legit, even if it looks like .... This also answers the question as to why we discuss such things,.... to find out what they really are! If we dismiss stuff just because we don't like it then we are not really engaged in research. Page 82 of F&G Japanese military and civil swords and dirks has a brief mention of very late war "home defence" officers swords. What I noticed was the blade description as having two widely spaced mekugi-ana, though only one is used. It looks to me like someone was making a standard blade that could be used for NCO or commissioned officer.

I thought that was the purpose the very short spear, the Te yari or the Makura yari.

The actual blade itself looks old though.

The Austrian army seemed to be happy with it, using the profile on swords as well as bayonets and faschine messer. Ease of production may well have been a factor. I had a rather beat up Austrian sabre with that blade section years ago and I thought it prone to vibrate a lot. I wish I still had it......

Flat one side and fullered on the other is a very Austrian trait, looks like the Meiji military took ideas from more than the French and the Prussians.

I think it's a hastily repurposed genuine blade, and has de-laminated at the very end of the tang.

I look forwards to seeing your experiments in dying original Generals tassels brown......

It is interesting, I just think we need to know more before reading too much into it.

A couple of people here appear to be somewhat "butt-hurt" over my comment, much to my surprise. All I did was to point out how these tassels were made, with a link, the possibility that it may be a production fault, and that we would need documentation to confirm it as a type. Did I prick someones bubble? By the way, if you think a thread is beneath your notice.... don't follow it!

If it turns up in the regulations, then OK, otherwise I think collectors overthink stuff.... As with "pilots swords" and Kamikaze headbands.

Regarding the tassel, this "could" be simply an accidental product of manufacture, where one thread was a little different to the others. It's not a stitch , its a yarn turning up in the braid, which is made by a process called Kumihimo. armour braiding, obijime, and Ito are made in the same way.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumihimo#:~:text=Kumihimo (組み紐) is a traditional,also known as a kōdai).

It looks typical of the type. The blades are generally "functional", but were at the time not considered worth a polish.... Though some dealers have been known in the past to do "something" to shine them up. Something to watch out for though is that this Itomaki style is typical of the ordinary quite decent swords in some Han, so care needs to be taken. This is why I did a bit of a study of them, looking for reliable diagnostic details. I would not consider this one to be a "Satsuma".

Another way of checking the shape.... http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/shaping.html

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.