stevennorton

Thanks for taking the time to respond guys! I really appreciate it. Thank you. Steve Norton

A friend posted this on Facebook asking for opinions. I believe it to be a copy and probably newer Chinese made. To me it just lacks the quality of being a real one. The blade looks sharpened with a grinder and I'm thinking it's acid etched. But I want to make sure and he is asking for a second opinion. So what is your expert opinions? I know you guys have forgotten more than I will ever know. Steve Norton

Great! Thanks so much guys, you have helped me a lot! I am curious if anyone knows when it would have been made? I'm sure it would have been right prior to WWII or done during WWII. And does anyone have an idea on why it was put in a Shirasaya? Was that common practice during WWII? I would have thought a machine made blade would have been installed in military mounts at the factory before it was shipped or picked up. I don't really see a reason a Shirasaya was made for it at all.

I love Japanese swords and I have tried to read up a lot on them. But I'm still a newb in some aspects as some of this is hard to understand. I bought this sword at a show and would like to find out more about it. From what I can research on it, it is a WWII stainless steel machine made blade. It has the Toyokawa naval stamp on it. It also is in a Shirasaya which I believe is for a blade to be stored in. Not actually used. Even though I have to admit I think it looks really neat. From what I read online I saw that most Toyokawa stamped blades aren't signed. This one is, and I tried to find a picture of a signature like this one and I could not. I was curious if someone could tell me what it means. Also why would the sword be in a Shirasaya and not regular military mounts? The blade looks to have been never used so maybe it wasn't? I am curious everyone's thoughts. Also the Shirasaya is coming apart on the scabbard. It's only held together with a piece of tape. Otherwise it will separate in two halves. Do I just use a little bit of wood glue and rubber clamps to glue it back together or is something more acceptable than this since it is a Japanese sword? I think I am going to get a sword display stand and put this up on the mantle. I think it is very neat looking! Steve Norton