Bruce Pennington

If I had to bet, I would bet on an occupied territories made Sword. I know conditions can be faked, but these look to be legitimately worn. Plus the beat up company, grade officer tassel adds, an air of legitimacy. But no one knows about these for sure.

Now that we're off-the-reservation, does anyone know if the Chinese used mon? This is the head of the metal mekugi on a Chinese National Type 19:

Thanks guys! Shige was my initial thought, too, but after referencing the only Kaneshige examples I have on file, they all used the other kanji. I didn't think of checking Sesko's book for this mei. This blade is July 1943 made, I should have posted that side. The NA stamp dominated that year. Just prior, 1942, the large Seki stamp was prominent. So the F&G examples were likely from that year.

Still trying guys! Please confirm mei for me!

That was fascinating, Piers, thank you! There's always hope, Okan! Unfortunately, my limited time and shortage of brain cells keeps me from branching out much, Ha!

Hi Colton! You are pretty wide open as to options. Civil blades re-fitted for the war came in all sorts of fitting combos. I have seen fully civil tsuba/seppa sets on these; mixed civil tsuba with army kabutogane; and finally fully army tsuba/seppa set. So it really depends on your vision for the piece, and maybe the availability of parts. You'll need to buy a variety of seppa to get a good fit. And ooh, I just realized there is no habaki. That could be tough to find one with a good fit. Dave R is a good place to start when looking for pieces.

Noah, It is Field grade Type 19 cavalry sword. From Dawson, pg 101: "On July 6, 1886, the Japanese army introduce a new sword for the exclusive use of cavalry officers." Field grade examples on pg 106-7. The one you've posted is a nice example. I like the arches at the top of the wire wrap. Don't know pricing, so like guys already said, you have to know how much you want it and stick to your high-bid limit. Twice, over time, I've paid way over market value for gunto, but I REALLY wanted those particular ones for my collection. To this day, I'm still glad I over-paid to have them.

Yes, I suspected, as I wrote that. Guys that collect tsuba are probably quite familiar with it. Interesting stuff!

Interesting tidbit about the tsuba with 2 small holes. Haven't heard of that before, nor seen a tsuba with such holes.

Chris and I were tossing around the idea that this may have been assembled by the souvenir team after the war. Reasons - very thin evidence, but you'll notice the menugi is Army, not Navy, yet the ito is black cloth and the fittings are gilded. So we have mixed Army, Navy, and Gunzoku fittings, stadard fare for the PX souvenir. Interesting possibility!

Also, would Thomas or Trystan venture a translation of the first circled kanji? We have circled "K", "Ka", and "(what?)".

Any way to decide on one of these over the other, guys? Do you both have documents to reference? Both sound plausible, but it would be nice to pin it down. Thanks Noah. That's 3 distinct inspection marks now.

We have 2 threads discussing these, so here is the link to the other one: Chris, @vajo has posted one found on, what is probably, a Naval civil employee gunto HERE.

Wow, Chris! I think you are right on, about this. Somebody cleaned the heck out of the fuchi, but everything else looks legit. I've seen those swivel haikan before and the tight stitching on the saya leather looks period correct.

I would have been fooled by the blade, though badly "polished" with a power buffer. But the nakago (tang), like Brian said lacks anything that looks Japanese. I found the last name: 天祐 (Amasuke)

Probably a fake, or a best, an "island made" sword. But Island swords don't, in my experience, have mei (except for the actual Java swords, and this isn't one of them). So, if this mei turns out to be gibberish, then it would be a fake. Photo flipped for a look at the mei:

Rather than a mon, I believe this to be, probably, a Chosen (Korea) Sonin-level official sword. Confusing, though, because it seems from the side view, that there is a 10-petal sakura on the backstrap. Do you have photos of the handguard pattern, and a straight shot of the backstrap? Dawson shows the Chosen swords on page 346-8. Navy Admiral swords can have the kiri, too, but their floral patterns are different than this (page 264).

Wow Noah, great find! And once again, an example showing no rhyme or reason as to why the mark is put right side up or upside down. Here's the only other 19 I have on file and the mark is the other way around. Note both have the Tokyo 1st "TO" but different other stamp. Were they early, personalized inspector stamps? Or shop logo? This new one looks like the katakana I "イ" , but it's got an extra small stroke at the upper right. What do you see @Kiipu or @BANGBANGSAN? other one for the record

I’ve been told that oil will stop the rust too. Your pictures don’t show the extent of the rust, but if it was mine, I would try to rub the rust down as far as possible, and then the oil will do the rest. The trick is being able to rub the rust down without rubbing off the paint. You don’t want to do more damage than has already been done to the remaining paint job.

I've been sick for a few days, and trying to take care of elderly, sick in-laws at the same time, so haven't had much free time lately. You're in good hands, and the info and advice all the guys are giving are spot-on.

It’s a good one, Jay.

My condolences buddy! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody get bit by three fakes before. Will the seller take them back?

I had initially wondered if this blade looked shorter than normal, too! I suppose this isn't in your possession, Noah? Would be nice to know the nagasa and compare to a known Type 19 length.

@Chris1980 Chris, is there a date on the other side? Could we get a photo of it and a shot of the whole thing with fittings for the files? Thanks!

Even the saya seems longer that usual. Slightly different, but I own a Type 32 that came in a Type 19 saya. The blade is longer than the saya, and the end of the saya was cut to allow the tip to stick through. I think mine was likely done by Bubba, as there are other patch-work and piece-together issues.