PNSSHOGUN

My best guess is it's supposed to be a rare, unknown and unique Mantetsu never seen before. The seller keeps his descriptions very short and offers nothing but what the photos show, which is smart because he never claims the swords are genuine. Whoever the seller has doing his Gimei is good, and capable of replicating many Showa era swords quite well. The sword itself makes no sense because the entire point of the Mantetsu was to marry extremely pure steels together to create perfectly distributed core and skin steel using the rod and sleeve method. The presence of complex Hada defies this principle completely. I have no doubt Mantetsu swords were water quenched as it would be necessary to achieve the quite high hardness levels of the Hamon. From memory it is much more difficult to achieve that hardness with oil quenching. The Hamon is also radically different from the other examples of Notare Hamon Mantetsu we have seen earlier in this thread. The Sori is also wrong, along with the proportions of the Nakago. This leaves us with a couple of options left: A: An entirely undocumented, special order traditionally made sword made by the smiths at the SMR factory and then oddly signed as a normal production Koa Isshin B: A fake I will wear it on the face if wrong but I wouldn't touch that sword with a 20foot Koa Isshin signed pole.

Bruce you need your eyes checked! The blade has complex Hada, Hamon and the Mei is extremely suspect!

Here's an undoubtedly suspect Koa Isshin: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SA1236-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-IJA-Army-Gunto-Koa-Isshin-Mantetsu-65-5-CM/132884190044?hash=item1ef083d35c:g:-bAAAOSwa1ZcDrMs:rk:31:pf:0

Not everythng Showa sells is suspect, this one doesn't appear to have been molested in any way.

If it was designed for use in Manchuria it would also explain the rarity of these swords in the west, considering the ruinous conditions vs Russia. I wonder if they are any more common among Chinese collectors?

The crowns of the tassel are all wrong, the patina does not even begin to match the rest of the sword either, unknown colour variant etc etc

Looks like a fake.

At first glance the blade looks like Hizen sugata.

From what I've seen in many wartime photos the civilian mounted swords were often seen with NCO's and lower ranks, especially in Manchuria.

Another clean sweep by the Rai school, thank you Jussi.

Hi George, pictures can be posted easier on mobile by using the "Full version" of the site rather than mobile which is at the bottom of the home screen. Make sure to hit "more reply options" in the next post you make and then you have to "attach photos" then click "add to post" for each photo. All of the military sword collectors would be mightily interested in seeing these swords, especially with the history behind them.

Authentic Kai Gunto Saya but somewhere along the road all but the original Koiguchi have been lost and swapped for Shin Gunto parts. If you bought a replacement Kai Gunto Saya with all the fittings you could restore it to original pattern. The wrap looks wartime to me, not sure what you're seeing there Bruce?

Please sign with your first name per forum rules. As for the sword it appears to be an older sword in Shirasaya adapted for army use in the last stages of WWII. I can't recall seeing one like this before but there are quite a few examples of other civilian mounted swords adapted for army use.

Hi Ben, complete Kai Gunto with family blades are quite desirable as Kai Gunto in general are harder to come by than Shin Gunto, let alone complete ones with history behind them. While the mounts and blade aren't in the best of shape, everything is there. If you have money you're willing to put into the blade there is a fully qualified Togishi in Melbourne : https://touken-togishi.com/restoration-services/ I would recommend getting an appraisal done beforehand. You would have a real family Heirloom once the sword is polished and displayed in shirasaya with the mounts like so:

I imagine you have some real crackers on either end of condition, Neil! Better detail pictures:

Thought I'd share this on a rainy day: two Mantetsu swords with two different conditions, one in very good condition with almost no wear, the other has a real "Campaign" look to it, complete with nicks in the edge. The first is signed Koa Isshin Mantetsu with Company grade tassel & the second Mantetsu Kore o Tanzō with good condition mountings. For me the campaign sword is the most interesting, especially as it still has the original tassel and signs of long use in the field. Please share your own "Two Tales" examples if possible.

Certainly try and return it, the flag may be original but the sword is absolutely not.

Are english translations of the whole list usually released?

Recall reading on here that Yasukuni-To in Naval mounts were often associated with Imperial Gifts or other such awards/prizes. The comment about sharkskin Saya meaning it was for a high ranking officer is somewhat suspect as Kai Gunto fairly regularly have sharkskin wrapped Saya.

It was reference to myself, it's 100% Tenshozan.

Oh dear, I should look at the pictures before posting, wrong Mei for Tenshozan indeed!

Wrong Mei for Tenshozan I think and also lacks the proper stamp. Having the Tsuka rewrapped by a professional service like Fred Lohmann will make it more desirable.

Momoyama era Takada Muneyuki here: https://www.nihonto.com/2-10-18/ Bungo Takada blades were supposedly liked by Samurai for the no nonsense forging and good cutting ability, I've seen quite a few in Shin Gunto mounts (not as nice as Fred's though, almost bought it myself).

There's truth somewhere in the middle with this, but further away from the sales pitch. Yes, these blades will get harder to find because Shin Gunto are very popular right now, and these two smiths are quite famous and desired, however there are regularly 2-3 of these smiths swords on ebay for quite affordable prices. The quantity of swords these fellows made must be far higher than Yasukuni-To. Perhaps Emura & Nagamitsu are better combat blades, Yasukuni-To are still a high water mark of all WWII Gendaito for so many and that won't change anytime soon.

My best guess is a civilian, court or territorial variation.