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Posts posted by Bruce Pennington
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They are not very common, but I have seen two or three.
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19 hours ago, Swords said:
one listed on EBay his is NLF
or states NFL mounts So what’s the difference?
This is quite common. Mostly, I don't think many collectors, or sellers, know of the history. Even when they do, I still see them use such terms most likely because there are certain names prospective buyers use to google search. Type 44, Type 3, Late-war Army, NLF, Marine Landing Sword are the most common names used for this style, so sellers will put such names in the titles to draw in searches.
I know a seller that puts all sorts of names in his titles, even though I know he knows the names are inaccurate, like "WWII Japanese officer NCO shingunto sword", just to maximize the search engine results.
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Hello Mike!
Wow, that's a blade made in the mid-1500s brought to the war, re-fitted in Type 94 fittings. @PNSSHOGUN might correct me on that. It was a fairly common practice. Many family blades were brought, or donated, or sold to the military for the war effort. The brown/blue tassel was used by Company grade officers, Lt's and Capt's.
You can read up on the war swords, with plenty of great examples here:
Army commissioned officers Shin-Guntō 1934 (Type 94 Guntō) (ohmura-study.net)
And read about the effort to get family swords for the war here:
https://www.warrelic...blades-gunto-688110/
Ray, and others, could give you a more precise value range, but these tend to run $2,400 USD or more, depending on the reputation of the smith.
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16 minutes ago, AQBTX said:
Hmm. I was given to understand that it was a family blade that was purposed during WWII - something that officers did at the time. Obviously, I could be well wrong of course.
This was done with old blades, that's true. But this one was made during the war.
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Hi Ali,
Sorry to tell you, but this blade was made during WWII. The small Showa stamp at the top was used from 1935 - 1945, but mostly 1940-1941. The smith is a Seki area smith named Kanemichi.
Someone else can give the full translation.
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Hi Steven,
This was made (date upside down) March 1944. Someone will have to help with the mei (maybe Masatomo? But I'm not good at mei).
On another note, this is not an NLF sword. Never used by the navy. It comes by many names, since for decades no one really knew what they were. Nick Komiya found the documents and history of them, though, a couple years back. They were a contingency model produced for the Army, designed to cost less but be more durable in the field. Since there is no real name for them, they are now called Contingency Model, or Japanese version - Rinji seishiki. Thomas calls them a Type 100 as they were officially announced in 1940. You can read all about them:
and
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Agree with Chris. Whoever did the re-paint, painted the handle 'diamonds' the same brown as the ito. Real Type 95, though.
Your price range is good, but like Stephen said, you can get one at that price with legit paint too.
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Didier,
I am absolutely the wrong guy to ask on that, sorry! My post above was just a quote from the Aoi site. There are plenty of nihonto guys that can address that for you.
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For what it's worth, I find no WWII smiths that use "川" in thier mei. There are lots of smiths with gawa in their real name, but not in the mei. It is found in location names. Edogawa is a ward in the Tokyo area, but I don't know if they spell it the same way.
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The source being New Guinea could explain the low quality. These might be "island swords" made on location by locals. The quality of their work is always quite poor. If you are looking for legit Japanese WWII swords, you should pass on these, unless you are attracted to the island sword category and the price is right.
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Are you talking about the Aoijapan blade or Didier's blade?
Guys may correct me, but the Aoi blade is described as:
Jigane :Niedeki suguha with small ashi and Kinsuji work.
Bo-shi is rather long and hamon is komaru.
Hamon :Nie deki suguha based koala well work and kinsuji work.I don't think oil quenched blades have those details.
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勝則 (Katsunori)
Real name: 北川 勝一 (don't know the English on this)
Looks like the larger Seki stamp at the top.
Sesko lists 1 Katusnori, but it's not the same one, I don't think.
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It was a tough decision, because like you, I could see the marks of time and use all over it. It looked like it had quite a life. I knew I would lose that be renovating it. Maybe for balance, I've left my star-stamped Rinji untouched. They both can be appreciated, but for different reasons.
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I'll join in.
Out of my 21 swords, I only had 1 polished. It was my dad's Mantetsu and I spent 3 years getting it returned to its original glory (probably better than original). The rest, like you say, are as they came to me. Well, I take every one apart that I get and clean it of dirt, debris, active rust, etc, and oil all the parts. One could argue that leaving the dirt and grime is preserving their history. But the "preserving" part is important to me and dirt and grime aren't preservative.
Now, to play devil's advocate - for someone to receive my dad's Mantetsu several decades from now, my restoration job and polish, to them, WILL be part of the blade's path. Even Bubba, badly done, becomes the "life of the blade."
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Considering all of John's points, it is moderately likely the blade is an older blade donated, brought, or bought for the war, remounted in military fittings. As such, it's quite possible it's traditionally made.
Having said that, we could all be wrong and it's simply a WWII showato re-fitted for one reason or another. Seeing the nakago, and close-ups of the hamon (temper line) would help.
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You'll find a few mon experts on this thread, if you care to post yours there:
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Lots of 'personality' on both of those! And that backstrap rig is pretty rare!
Good luck with the sale, they both deserve a good home!
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12 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:
Hoping this helps!
Thanks PIers! While I've seen this discussed briefly in various threads, over time, I've never had the time to sit and get a real understanding of the practice. I'm gaining a gradual comprehension of the language and concept of it all, slowly, so your explanation helps and is appreciated.
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Wow! Wish that was in color.
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The mei looks the same to me. Sesko only lists 1 Showa era Amahide, but that doesn't mean there weren't more of them during the war.
Isn't "Ichimongi" one of those honorary titles smiths sometimes gave themselves? Or a "tip 'o the hat" to the Ichimongi school of swordmaking?
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10 minutes ago, katonk66 said:
1)This is very subjective, as it was told to me by my late Nisei Grandmother. (With complete respect, but she was "grain of salt" at times) She stated that in Japan, there was a "family" nihontou, but it had to be relinquished to the Japanese government/authorities to aid in the WW2 efforts (lack of metal)? Is this true?
I am not aware of any mandatory programs to give up swords. You can read about the government's efforts to get families to donate or sell their swords for the war effort here:
https://www.warrelic...blades-gunto-688110/
Now, as we are all aware, official documents don't always tell the whole story when it comes to local politics and power elites. Maybe she lived in an area where families faced public shame if they didn't join everyone else donating swords. That could be a cultural aspect of her recollection.
Someone else will have to answer your naganita question.
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That's a deal, considering the polish would cost more than the asking price!
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Menuki
in Military Swords of Japan
Posted
One good clue in checking for fakery is to check where the item is shipping from, in this case:
"Located in: he nan , nan yang, China"
Very common to see fakes shipping from China.