Shamsy

Just a matter of using the wrong electronics. I tried on PC (it coughed and wheezed but worked). Cheers Brian

With the amount of these 'rare' fittings suddenly popping up, I'm half afraid China is involved. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18110-iida-kunitaro-gunto-koshirae-help/ We've already discussed the saya fittings in the above thread, no need to repeat here. I'd listen to Grey and Jean and go with the assumption of a gimei until otherwise proven. But you never know!

Hi Sencho, I'm interested in the following books: The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths - Tsuchiko - $40 (slight cover/spine damage, no dust jacket) The Yasakuni Swords - Kishida - $45 Gendai Toko Meikan - Ono - $100 Samurai, The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior - Sinclair - $30 The link to Claire brings up a blank tab for me?

Very ugly, very cheap one. Try Military Swords of Japan by Fuller and Gregory and Swords of Imperial Japan by Jim Dawson.

The original post I linked in was to ensure we were all using the same terminology from a collecting perspective. The discussion seems to have moved to a more detailed one, so I've observed for now. However, Thibault has hit the nail on the head here. It's a fine line between nihonto and showato blades at times. Under the collector's use of the terms, arsenal and non traditionally made blades are showato. Anyway, I'm enjoying the thread so will sit down again.

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/showato.htm Hello Chris, you may find this helpful to read. Cheers, Steve

A cotton patch, oil and a little hard work scrubbing should tidy up and preserve the blade. Sewing machine oil is a very fine, odorless oil and would do the job nicely I'm quite familiar with the mass produced gunto that show up still reasonably often, but there are a few good swords still undiscovered it seems. A nice thought.

As I hear time and again (and completely agree with ), we are the temporary custodians of these swords. With proper care they should last nearly indefinitely. I cannot understand the reasoning behind doing something for your immediate pleasure, but jeopardising it for the future. A selfish and shortsighted approach, hopefully from ignorance as opposed to indifference.

I will always keep my first sword as it the marker for a great journey, only just started. Having said that, I'm still trying to reconcile the fact I will have to clear out other items to make way for the next item. Specialising is a good way to reduce the collection but still have few special pieces. I've decided to collect Yasukuni Shrine gendaito. One for each smith. I'm still struggling to let the others go though. Some wise words here and it makes me feel better to hear them, and to hear I'm not the only one with attachment issues. Cheers gents.

Steve has pretty much covered off the specifics of this sword already. Plenty of info around regarding type 98 and this is standard so won't elaborate. Steve's also given you the name, year and arsenal stamp, but not the English translation. The smiths name was Kanemitsu. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/seki.htm If you give us a close, high res picture of the blade someone will probably comment on quality, but looks to me like lower showata. I'm going off the pic which on tablet are pretty hard to see.

Well it seems they have a good reputation and quality service, so I'll approach the claims of provenance with cautious optimism. Thanks for the feedback.

Good morning everyone, Has anybody had personal experience dealing with Finesword before? http://www.finesword.co.jp/ There is a sword I'm interested in that was originally sold through them and has quite some provenance attributed. However, I'm always quite leery of claims that don't always seem to have a lot backing them up. They seem to be a very reputable company but I'd rather not rush in without some idea first. Thank you

Typically the reinforced corners are a reasonably good indication of being genuine. Very hard to tell out of hand. In all seriousness, old militaria tends to have a certain smell I've never had in repro. Other than looking a little insane, can't hurt to be sure.

Not sure if the story is genuine or supposed to drum up interested parties. I certainly hope the former.

Absolutely nothing to apologise for mate. It's great that you are always so willing to help out and it was a pretty darn good translation.

Hello, First you will need to sign all posts with your name as per forum rules. Regarding the lock, these have been discussed here in some detail: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17825-very-unusual-gunto-koshirae/ They are a rare but genuine example of a privately made accessory for officers swords. Seem to be a few floating around on ebay of late. Hopefully none from China yet. These were created by Mr IIDA Kunitaro who ran a retail sword store. The kanji read Sembai Tokyo IIDA shiki Tei Gai "Monopoly Patent, IIDA Model Lock Cover". Later examples read SEMBAI TOKKYO DAI (number) 132106 GO (number item). These are believed to be the patent number. That is what yours has on the outside of the lid, so you know it is a later iteration. Info sourced from F&G and J Dawson.

I ordered most of the books I was after when lulu had the 30% sale. Timing hey!? I'm still very happy with them, great books, interesting reads and very informative for nihonto study.

As seeing the artisans actually forging blades and mountings is high on my to do list, that village sounds like a must. Especially if it's open for viewing, I'd worried I'd not be able to find smiths willing to allow a viewing. Thanks Ken

That has to be one of the rattiest examples of a military gunto I've ever seen. Mustn't have been a good friend if it was allowed to deteriorate to that degree.

Another informative response Bill and I really do appreciate you taking the time. I have settled on October to November time frame so it would appear that I've had a lucky pick!

The sheathing is so smooth, it's always impressed me how much control and precision it must take.

Thank you so much for a very thorough and informative inventory Bill. As it is my first trip, this is exactly the kind of advice I am after. October and November were my preference months, so I'm glad to see that you're recommending them as travel time. I'll learn some basic Japanese and see about making bookings as early as possible.

Yes, page 56. Upon taking a look (I was going off memory) it's not the exact system here, but a fair representative example of the additional retention employed on these model of sword.

Hi Brian I will donate one ebook by Marcus. This forum is invaluable in my study and I'd like to contribute.

I think they are both a must see. I'd love to see the sumo wrestling to! I think you'll have a ball honeymooning in Japan. Mr Martin is probably the best tour guide you could ask for. Thanks for the link John. He has also solved the question about commissions so an all in one stop.