Bruce Pennington

The sword on the right is the Type 19 officer dress sword.

I noticed that point when you made it earlier, and it’s a very good point. I’m going to keep an open mind about it all.

You may be right. Seems a little unusual that the handle cord would be two tone colored. The tassel seems to be darker on one side than the other. Such a railway tassel would add considerable weight to the legitimacy of the sword. Fakers wouldn't likely know about the brown/tan or brown/cream colored tassels.

Trystan, Isn't this tassel the Brown/Tan Railway tassel? Do you have more photos showing the tassel?

Thanks Bryce, great collage of kao! And you're right about my post above coming from Sadakatsu rather than Sadakazu. Took me a while, but I've finally got the two mei down. Out of time for now, but I still want to see if there are any distinguishing features that set the two kakihan apart. So, just to be sure: Sadakazu mei Sadakatsu mei

Pretty amazing stuff!

$400 used to be the going price for a leather tassel. Last couple of years, because of the Covid, slow down, the prices have fallen a little bit, but not much. They are harder to come by because the leather, over 80 years, degrades.

Agree with Chris, stamps are good. I was also thinking “why would a fake have old cosmoline?” Good photos make all the difference.

I wondered about that! But I assumed it just held the fuchi to the backstrap. Well, learned something today.

If you’re trying to stay with an original look, I’d go with a tassel without buckle. Question - never heard of that whistle. Do you have an example?

I see what you mean about the sides of the throat opening being flat. The dimensions of the bohi seem off. Photos aren't clear enough to see the detail of the bohi start and end, but they seem too imprecise for a Tokyo blade (more like what you would see on a Nagoya). Also, I'd request a clear shot of the stamps on the fuchi from the seller. Photo is too blurry to see them. Serial numbers are a bit far down the blade, and the "TO" stamp is poorly crafted. I have seen this style TO before, but added to all the other off details, it's a question. Better photos of bohi and stamps are needed from seller. Unless @Shamsy or @Stegel can quickly settle the matter.

Here is another Takeyasu with the same yasurime found HERE.

Sweet! Thanks Steve!

Thanks guys! Hard to see under the paint:

I have one or 2 swords in my collection that are so tight, I have to tap the tsuka/seppa/tsuba off every time. Yours might be like that.

I only have 2 other examples of Sadakazu kao, both kakihan and kokuin. He seemed to have a bit of variation in his kakihan, but the kokuin seems singular. Until Bryce's example, the only ones I've had were from Slough: But you can see in all of them, the horizontal lines inside the owl do not touch the sides, whereas the lines go all the way across in the one in question. The overall crudeness of that one stands out as well. The kakihan of Sadakazu seems to have some variation, but my sample size is extremely small. The 2 strokes on the upper right, in my other samples have more flair than the one in Bryce's picture. But none of the 3 bring the top left stroke around and down the left side, as we see in Andrew's. Just based off the kakihan, I wouldn't rule Andrew's out, but considering the kokuin and the rest of the discussion of the mei, I'd say the kao evidence supports a gimei verdict. Sure seems like a lot of hard work went into it. But, I suppose it would be worth it for the increased asking price.

Thanks Rob!

It's the only thing holding the fittings to the nakago. The rig is likely 100 years old and is probably just stuck with corrosion/grime. Have you tried the wooden block and hammer method?

Dang!!! So, we are possibly seeing a custom order Mantetsu made with tamahagane - fully traditional, gendaito?

Thanks to Kevin, @Beater, who brought a couple of Mitsunobu blades to my attention. I only had 1 other on file, and had not noticed, until Kevin pointed it out, the kao/kakihan is identical to kao found on Teruhide blades. Doing a search, I found a thread where Ray Singer had quoted Rich Stein on his Japanese sword index website stating his opinion that the two may be the same guy. Ishido Teruhide is a well known smith, but I don't see Ishido Mitsunobu in Sesko's list. He's listed in Slough, but Slough believes the mei to be daimei (one smith signing for another). I agree with Rich, and doubt a smith would share his kao with another smith, plus we know of several other smiths that changed their art names over time. So, it's quite conceivable that Ishido Mitsunobu is simply another name used by Ishido Teruhide. Teruhide Mitsunobu I've regrouped the two in the upcoming Stamps doc revision to include this possibility. Another interesting development is the realization that Mitsunobu blades have stamped numbers on the mune under the habaki! I now have 3 on file, all undated - 707, 925, and 958. Hate to think of the rest of them out there undetected because guys post their photos, often, with habaki in place.

John, I was looking at my one-handed Kyu gunto and noticed that it has a node. You can also see that there were larger nodes all the way down the handle compared to the ones on the sides. After seeing this, it does not surprise me to see multiple larger nodes on yours.

Thanks for posting that Chris! I only had 3 (now 4) in the "MI" line of blades. Two are Ren stamped and two are Koa Isshin. Nice to see that one. What would you say, still oil quenched? or water?

Another red one, this time on a Type 95. Posted by Leo2018, on this Wehrmacht-awards thread.

Thanks Steve. In the one shot that shows a partial view of the saya throat, it looks like it was newly made and not even close to WWII shape. Also, I was initially put off by the angled file mark pattern on the fuchi, but after checking the only other one I have on file, it has the same look/texture. Seems to be a Mizuno fuchi style.

OOPS! Thanks John!