Bruce Pennington

Got a nice addition to the Gunto Repair discussion fron Nick Komiya, Warrelics forum: "You will find a fair number of documents in the archives by using 軍刀修理 as a search word. These teams were sent out in groups of 10 or 20 to various destinations overseas from 1939. After they finished their term of 6 months, they were offered employment by the army and even supported for local settlement should they wish to open shop abroad for the service they provided. Thus it appears only about half of them returned home after the mission, judging by the reports about their return. They also issued a detailed repair manual, but I do not know whether it can be found in the archives, sorry. The mission statement for these repair teams says their purpose was primarily repair of external fittings, not the blades. Last edited by nick komiya; 10-04-2016 at 02:36 PM."

I agree, but I'm wondering just how loose are you talking about Randy? Have you taken the handle off yet? Is it so loose that maybe the wood liner has been removed by a previous owner? If it's just a little wiggly, a few of mine are that way, and I just accept it as the wood has dried and shrunken over the lay 70 years.

Ok Randy try this website for wood: http://www.ryujinswords.com/saya.htm Also, a friend says he has gone to boat shops to get magnolia wood.

Randy, Could you post some picks of the handle and hand-guard so we can take a look?

finished reading Kapp & Yoshihara, "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths, From 1868 to the Present" and came across an interesting discussion of gunto repair teams: "...so many smiths and sword craftsmen were sent overseas to battlefields to repair and maintain swords. ... Kurihara organized a group of sword craftsmen that included smiths, polishers, and koshirae craftsmen, to go to the wartime battlefiedls to repair swords on the spot. The group was called the Gunto Shuri Genchi Hoshidan (the Volunteer Gunto Repair Group), founded in 1936. Kurihara's original plan called for five to seven smiths in each group. A group was to consist of twenty people and include polishers, tsukamaki (hilt wrapping) craftsmen, and other. Theoretically, each person would work on ten swords a day, but they had to remain at each location far longer than planned and often worked on more than the original quota." I thought it interesting that so many gunto needed repair! I wonder to what level of quality the repair was. Did koshirae have to meet IJA spec? Or might it look like some of the odd-ball stuff we see on these forums? Anyone have more info on the repair teams and the work they did?

Thanks Franco! Yes, the smaller hole nearer the habaki is the one in use in the kai-gunto fittings. The larger one isn't being used at all, so was probably the original.

Sure, learning as I go! The nakago, about half-way back, at the widest is 6.63mm, tapering both to the mune-machi and the nakago-jiri.

Ah-so! I see the confusion is all mine! I see now that Randy was talking about the wooden lining inside the tsuka, not seppa problems. In light of many previous discussions of how NCO blades never seem to fit tightly again after being taken apart, it just occured to me that the wood, inside the tsukas, must dry out over the decades and shrink. I agree with Steve - please keep the original liner. I wonder if there might be a simple work-around fix, like wrapping the nakago with a layer or two of plastic-wrap to snug the fit up? I don't know if plastic wrap will discolor the nakago over time? Another idea would be to thicken the wood somehow - maybe fitting thinly sliced slivers of ice-cream stick inside, or even wraping the wood halves with a very thin cloth?

Franco, I'm still rough on the difference of Haba and Kasane, so I'm calling "A" the measurement of the mune, and "B" the measurement of the widest part at the shinogi: Moto-haba "A": .533cm Moto-kasane "B": .61cm Saki-haba "A": .406cm Saki-kasane"B": .514

Steve, this question from Randy, American-Falconer, is a new one tacked onto a 6 year-old thread. I wonder if a moderator could split this into a new thread to avoid confusion?

James, Stephen is correct, this thread is huge and about the "stamps" or individual marks that mean things other than the swordsmith and date. Yours has a "Sho" or Showa stamp, closest to the handle, shaped like a flower with a symbol inside. It was used, according to Fuller & Gregory, from 1926-1941 on blades made for war using non-traditional methods or steels other than tamahagane.

A-F, it would be nice to have a first name to call you by. Do you mean you have a 1935 Type 95 NCO gunto with copper handle? It would help to see photos of the problem area, but chances are you simply need 1 or 2 spacers (called seppa) either side of the tsuba (hand guard). I'll post pics of what I mean. If that's this issue, you can find them at almost any online store that sells Japanese swords, plus there are guys on this site that sell parts like that.

Franco, I'll have to buy a measuring caliper, but I'll do that soon and post the measurements!

Jamie, check your PM's for possibly getting together.

The nakago has feint Kiri-style file marks, and even the nakago-mune has file marks decernable

Ok, lots of new pics! I was surprised when I found out how to properly measure the sori, I have been looking at it wrong and it is very slightly Saki Sori - the deepest part of the bend is 1" forward (toward the tip) of center!!! The website I've been referencing comments that sakisori was popular during the Muromachi period (1392-1572). However that doesn't prevent someone later, like Shinto, from liking and using the style. Dimensions: Nagasa: 26" (66cm) Full length: 34 3/8 (87.3cm) Sori: 17/36 (1.19cm) @ 12" from tip (center would be 13")

Have any pics yet?

Also, the kissaki looks like it must have been damaged at some point and reshaped.

Franco, I'm on a road trip. It will be Thursday before I can get the measurements and post them. Sorry!

Alex, I'm afraid I'm on the road and won't be home for a few days. I'll find out when I return and post answers!

Thanks Malcolm, interesting read! I have seen a few gunto over the past year with the wisteria mon, which I thought was odd, and someone mentioned on a thread somewhere, that by WWII, an officer buying a gunto at the club was shown a book of available mon and could literally pick whichever one he wanted. Now, as I wrote that, it did occur to me that if a guy NOT named Fuji/Fujiwara picked a "Fuji" mon, other officers in his unit would question him and give him crap about it. Knowing how "face" and/or shame played a powerful role in the culture, I would be very surprised if a guy would risk such getting caught with a fake mon. I wish I knew more about the customs of the day. Is it possible a guy, with now Samuri lineage, would pick a mon and say "I've picked Fuji in honor of the great So-and-So Fujiwara. May his spirit guide my hand in battle."????

Paul, Multiple polishing let over a 400 year period just might do that! I found a decent pic of it. Also, a better pic of the Nakago. It's got a mix of orange and black:

Ok, so is it correct to say the mon is for the "Fuji" family name?

PaulI appreciate your comments, as I'm learning as I go with this! Maybe your eye on the curve is better than mine, but to me it looks like the deepest part of the curve is closer to the nakago end. I only have one source, the website listed above, but doesn't that make it a Kashi-sori? On fumbari, I was puzzled by that too, as this website uses the term in reference to the width of the blade as it's laying flat. I'll post the description from the seller where he uses it in reference to the thickness looking down at the back edge. It really is peculiar! The nakago thickens from the machi back to the jiri, so much that the habaki won't slide off without litterally bending it! After re-reading his notes, I see that he actually does state it could be late Koto or early Shinto.

Malcolm, As far as I can see there is no ring around the wisteria, and it sits on the outside as the gunto is worn. So what does "Sagari Huji" mean? Is that a name?