Dennis Smith

Thanks for everyone's help! Upon closer inspection, the material on the scabbard appears to be a skin or leather of some kind. I'm lost when it come to the skins of different species stingrays and sharks! I removed the mouth piece from the scabbard to get a better view. The scabbard is steel, with a wood inner liner. The steel is covered with "leather" that was trimmed down so the mouth piece would fit. The leather has cracked with age. It's hard to get a good picture, but looking inside the crack, you can see cords that appear to hold the ends of the leather together. How they made such things is a mystery to me. Kind of like the pyramids. Anyway, a product that nenews leather and stops it from shrinking might be helpful. Stay tuned for more questions!

Please excuse my ignorance. Can anyone identify the material that covers the scabbard and the material under the cord wrap of this Chounsai Emura? The literature says ray skin for both of them, but can a ray skin have two such vastly different textures? I would like to clean the scabbard. Would a leather cleaning product (like saddle soap) be suitable? Thanks for you help.

I've been studying on-line glossaries of Japanese sword parts. I have yet to find one that labels features along the thickness of the blade, and would like to ask a question of the group here. The thickness of this Emura Saku blade increases toward the tip. The next photo shows that the thickest part aligns with the blade ridge (shinogi). Can anyone tell me the name of this feature? Is this feature common to all Japanese swords? Again, my humble appreciation for your help.

I'm not a collector and never will be, with my measly income! But I appreciate being told about the available options. I'll never sell this sword because it was my dad's. Having it polished would be a "nice thing to do", someday, maybe. But it doesn't need an art polish, just a "near original" polish. I wonder how much one of those costs?

The part of the blade under the brass habaki still shows the original polish. It looks like the flat part (shinogi-ji) was mirror finished and the angled part (ji) had a matte finish. I would like to have it re-polished, if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Can anyone recommend a good budget polisher in the U.S.?

Many Thanks Stephen!

Emura saku... Thanks cabowen. I have more studying to do now! Emura had a sword factory at Okayama prison, right? Somehow I can't imagine how that could work out!

You guys were right all along. The tsuka came off easier than I expected. Anyone so kind as to translate this would have my humble graditude. Many thanks for everyone's help.

Many thanks to everyone for your answers to my questions. I'm glad to learn that it was an army sword and an army private as I could not fathom how a naval officer could have crossed paths with a corporal from 43rd Inf Div out in the muddy jungle. One could speculate forever why Private Seiichi had an officer's sword. Perhaps he was the ranking survivor of his company and was leading a banzai charge with his dead commanders sword. The only people who know the answer are no longer able to tell us. George, the tassel hung from the sword handle for many decades, standing in a closet in my parents house. It had become so fragile that it was sort of crumbly to the touch, so I put it in a little box. That's where the folds that you noticed came from. I don't think the blade is traditionally made. It shows no signs of grain (hada) nor temper line (hamon) that I can see. I took several pictures of the blade, but the pictures did not turn out very good. I will attempt to remove the tsuka some day when I'm feeling lucky. Until then, caution is the better part of valor. I hope someone can tell me what the material is on the scabbard. One website said it's ray skin. The material under the ito is also ray skin, right? They sure don't look alike. I've never seen a stingray, so I don't know if they have such vastly different textures. Again, many thanks for answering my questions and thanks to the owners for allowing me to ask my questions here. Hurray for the internet!

This sword was brought home by my father during WW2. I would appreciate any information that I can get about it. From studying pictures on the internet I believe it is Type 3 Emura or Nagamitsu. Can anyone tell from my poor photography if I guessed right? I would like to remove the tsuka to see if there are stamps or signature, but the screws are partially covered by the ito. They are very stiff and do not move. Can anyone advise me how are the screws removed in a case like this? This is the tassle. It's my understanding that this signifies a company grade naval officer's sword. Is that right? Everything I've seen about the Emura and Nagamitsu swords say the scabbard is made of either metal or wood. This scabbard has a wood core with metal liner. The metal liner is wrapped with an outer covering. Does anyone know what this outer covering is? Is the crack where the covering was wrapped together? This is with the scabbard mouth removed: This is the sword owner's picture and I.D. card. A friend told me that the card is a driver's licence, issued from Manchuria China, 12 March 1944. The man's name was Seiichi Hamada. He was in the Sakakura Division 737 of the Navy. Born December 11, 1921. He either died on New Georgia Island or in the Philippines. My father could have told me but I didn't have enough sense to ask. According to the issue date on the card, it must have been in the Philippines, as the U.S. invaded in 1944-1945. This is the other side of the card. I hope i have it turned right side up. Many thanks in advance for any information anyone can provide about this sword!