Johnny Barracuda

Hello, I do not see any police insignia either. Is there one on the pommel? Also, the pommel decoration seems a separate piece. If it is, to disassemble the sword, you will have to check whether the pommel piece is also a bolt/nut assembly retaining the blade in the pommel in addition to the mekugi fitting. I have seen some examples on early to mid-Meiji era swords, which have both a mekugi and a pommel threaded assembly systems. I such case, the nakago would have been both shortened and threaded. As for the civil or military nature of police during the Imperial era, both existed, due to the large number of police services. Civilian police was part of the civil administration (e.g. Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Tokko high police, colonial police, etc.), and military police was attached to the various branches of the military (Kempeitai Army Police, Tokkeitai Navy Police, etc). For this sword, I would concur on its civilian nature.

Hello, I have been seeing this odd sword on eBay for a few days: it looks to be a patchwork of genuine pre-WWII kyu gunto parts. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-WWII-Army-Kyu-Gunto-Officer-Sword-of-the-ancestral-MON-/282028041804?hash=item41aa2e664c:g:dscAAOSwYmZXKx3g To my opinion this is an "old fake": : - a cavalry backstrap was grafted upon an infantry kyu gunto handle (different patterns); - the scabbard, habaki and blade come from a different sword from the handle (recently-drilled second mekugi ana for the assembly). The seller advertises it as traditionally-made. I would say machine-made with some remnants of an acid-etched "hamon". What do you think?

Judging by the few photos posted by Thomas, it is indeed impressive.

Real. Late war.

About the hamon, you can have one on an oil-quenched sword.

Hello, To preserve you swords, the necessary steps are the nourishment of the leather parts and the removal of antiquated grease and dirt. Beware also of verdigris bronze oxidation. You should also clean it with soft fabric and alcohol. For the rest, it is a matter of personal feeling. Some people restore kyu gunto and have them fully replated, as would be the case for an old military sword still used in the armed forces (e.g. in France, the naval sabre is from a 19th century pattern: an officer can use an old one but it must be impeccable). To my opinion, the result looks very bling.

Hello Dan, The Type 19 cavalry officer sword is the cavalry cousin to the "Meiji era kyu gunto family" officer swords. As such, there is a combat version with a real blade and assembled by mekugi, and a dress version with a chromium plated blade assembled by bolt. The fact is that, due to the small number of cavalry régiments during the Meiji era, this sword is very rare, although the dress version appears slightly more common than the combat version. It is rarer than the Navy kyu gunto. According to Fuller and Gregory, the dress version appeared a bit later than the combat version. I should also be mentioned that some cavalry officers, among whom General Akiyama, favoured dress swords or the arsenal-produced type 32 NCO cavalry sword over the traditionally made but more delicate Type 19 cavalry officer sword. The Type 32 sword was very robust and popular for this reason: it was produced from 1899 to 1945. Therefore, there were only a few cavalry officers to start with, and some of them did not use the sword prescribed for their rank, which makes the said sword even rarer. I like this sword because it is harmonious: the Army and Navy kyu gunto have pommels without floral motif. On the cavalry sword, the pommel is rounded and flows from the back strap: the floral motif is uninterrupted and curves around the pommel, which is very nice. Although the Navy kyu gunto, with its remarkable scabbard and precious mountings, is the most beautiful Meiji era sword, the Type 19 cavalry officer sword is very elegant.

Thanks John for your précisions about the mei. I concur with the fact that the nakago was clearly shortened. For the koshirae, I researched my books and it may be an early version on the type 19 cavalry sword, because it is between the type 8 and the type 19. Thanks again.

Hello, This sword is currently for sale on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINTY-WWII-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-KYU-GUNTO-CAVALRY-Shin-Gunto-KATANA-NIHONTO-/222112337445?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 Having being looking for a type 19 cavalry officer sword for some time, I am rather tempted to enter the bidding competition. However, the mounting is rather unusual (no pierced guard and no floral motif), perhaps early, and I am a bit circumspect about the mei, therefore I am solliciting the opinion of my fellow board members.

Indeed a fake Chinese copy of a colonial police sword. Even without close-up pictures, the metalwork on the handle, the habaki and the scabbard is a dreadful pretense of noble patina. What is more, the shape of the blade is "interesting". Also, a Murata-to on a colonial police sword, which is a rather late pattern of the Meiji-type swords, while not impossible, would likely be anachronisitic, since actual Murata-to were the early incarnation of non-traditional swords and were mainly produced for the Army.

Neatsfoot oil should do the trick for NCO tassels, as it worked perfectly for my great-grandfather's bayonette strap.

For renovating and rejuvenating old military leather, I use neatsfoot oïl, a very traditional product. You apply it on old leather with a handbrush, let it be absorbed for 24 hours, then apply another layer. With three layers, your leather should be perfect, if only a bit darker. It is traditionally used for saddles and leather straps and also for horse feet and hooves. Therefore it is readily available from horse gear shops. It is also very useful for long-unused shoes that may crack when put on. The only downside is regarding light coloured leather, which tends to become slightly darker, specially uncoloured tan leather. I used it on family military gear from WWI and it worked perfectly. Dry straps that would break like twigs became souple and sturdy anew.

Goes well with the "penetrating brilliance of swords" on the photos page... Oh dear, oh dear...

The ashi looks fake and artificially aged and I am rather circumspect about the copper paint / brass fittings. I would say very good fake.

I nearly bought this sword, but am saving for another one. I get Hamish's point but I must say that all the developments by various members about "family blades" were very interesting.

Wow, very impressive! What a jewel for a gunto collection! As for the ashi, I know that in Japan some sword makers produce replica kai-gunto ashi with proper gilt (unlike the crap from China). Those could be fitting.

Sadly, as many Wikipedia articles, it is both incomplete and imprecise. Such an odd mix of very precise information and BS can be misleading. This is not helped by the fact that the notion of "shagreen" in English can cover either the French definition of "chagrin" (i.e. a specific kind of leather) or rayskin/sharkskin, whose definition is covered in French by the word "galuchat". One has to admit that rayskin is very different from horseback leather. Therefore, if one wants to be precise, the words "rayskin" or "sharkskin" should be preferred to shagreen, or the word "galuchat" should be used.

I concurr. I am not sure whether sanded, polished and lacquered same can be fixed, because, as you pointed out, it consists mainly in sanded nodules held together with lacquer. Unless a craftsman can add similarly worked nodules and fill in with lacquer, it would have to be fixed with synthetic components. Anyway, supposing that you can find a skilled craftsman proficient in lacquerware, in my experience a traditional restoration of Japanese lacquer is very expensive. I am not sure it is worth it.

Fake indeed. A WWI gunto is a kyu gunto. It does not look like a katana or a tachi. It is a hybrid between Occidental and Japanese swordmaking: European-shaped with a Japanese-style blade (either traditionally or arsenal made), and can be one or two-handed. Very elegant swords, with different versions for the various military banches. The most remarkable is the Navy version, probably the most beautiful military sword ever made. See attached pictures.

Machine made can be confusing. I prefer the term "arsenal blade" or "non-traditionally made blade", because many different non traditional techniques were used in the arsenals: blades forged but iol-quenched, blades forged from Western steel, blades machine forged (with steam hammers), blades ground from steel bars, etc.

Hello, This sword is of low value because it is purely ornamental and common. As Thomas pointed out, it is a type 19 (1886) Army company-grade officer dress sword kyu gunto. The blade is machine made from a soft alloy, unsharpened and chrome plated. These swords were made in huge numbers, because they were used for nearly 60 years (1886-1945). When the kyu gunto was replaced by the shin gunto, its dress counterpart remained in use. Dawson shows a dress shin gunto in his book but mentions that those were very rare, the officers preferring the kyu gunto-shaped dress sword. That said, I concur with Rob M and would not separate sword and tassel. It may not be the original tassel, because the sword may have been made before the introduction of the shin gunto. However, it seem to be the tassel it was used with during WWII, so I would keep both sword and tassel together.

I was of course referring to the 1996 F&G book titled "Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks", a copy of which is currently proposed by an ABEbooks bookshop for $138, which is a good price, to my opinion (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=16150895953&searchurl=bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26sts%3Dt%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D17%26kn%3Dsword%26an%3Dfuller%2520gregory%26recentlyadded%3Dall).

A mixed blessing, indeed... I concurr on the "Quite a monster at the top of the rack!" remark by Barry, although the expression itself reminds my of my college years and ladies, but I would not digress further by fear of being rightly castigated by our beloved moderators! What is the size of the nagasa on this impressive sword?

Well, I only partly agree with you. While Dawson's Cyclopedia edition had fantastic colour pictures, especially on rare swords, I still think that F&G's text is more detailed, although, as you say, it can be outdated on some aspects (for example, on some sword knots). On the other hand, Dawson's book is a bit light on the description of military swordmaking techniques, where F&G are abundant and rather comprehensive.

Hello, The Fuller and Gregory book is verry detailed on the various ways military blades were made, from the most traditional one to the most machine-made one, with all the intermediary methods. Perhaps someone on the NMB can scan the relevant pages for you. My book is at home and my scanner at the office, so it is a bit complicated for me.