RobertThornton

Thankyou for your time and expertise gentlemen.

Thankyou gentlemen. I tend a few more pics of the weapon in saya and a few closeups of hamon and hatariki.The saya shows signs of severe water damage and rot over its lower third.The rotten leather has been removed and the zukuri bound with strong cotton thread as (possibly?) a running repair in the field.The same cotton can be seen in a repair to the shortened Ito near the Fuchi.The colour is consistent with Japanese field uniform green(though this is a stretch,as it did vary considerably in shade).There are two older menuki-ana in the grip and the ito is forshortened and very poorly bound.There is evidence of fish or rezin glue in the leather repair.I welcome your comments. Rob

Thanks for your input so far gentlemen.I was douptful of its authenticity but it was worth buying simply for its fittings and curiousity value.Ile put up some more pictures,this time including the saya and the running repairs made to the weapon,that led me to believe it was at least used in WW2? I find it difficult to believe that some swordmaker went to so much trouble of baseing this blade on an ancient,historic Japanese design,using a complex folded metal forgeing technique simply to produce a fake? However i am aware that some Japanese military blades were made in China during WW2? The fittings are certainly a mixture,one even has a Tokugawa Mon,the whole setup makes one sceptical but thereare certain personal touches about it that lead me to believe it was carried by a Japanese soldier in WW2.I will put up more pics of this weapon as it is a good analytical start to understanding the others in my rather large collection.Until my recent retirement i have not had the time to research my collection and thus am very much a novice.I thank you for your input to this point and greatly value your comments.Please keep them coming. Many thanks, Rob

I added this unusual tachi to my collection recently but have no idea of its origins,swordsmith,or indeed why it is shaped in this fashion.I would very much appreciate any input that would enable me to find out more about it? I submit the following pictures for this purpose. Best regards, Rob