PNSSHOGUN

For $750 USD you're well within polishing margins, especially if it has sentimental value. Get some high quality photos of the entire blade and send an email to Andrew. Shame you didn't pick up any other Shin Gunto, I imagine there would've been some nice examples for decent prices back then.

Seems like a decent sword. I would strike off the mei personally.

Dan there are a few members of the community that can help you buy a sword and armour in Japan, Paul Martin comes to mind, I believe he has a website as well. For ¥950,000 you can get some top notch quality swords (don't know much about armour). You made a smart move asking by here first.

Mumei shinto wakizashi in polish are anywhere from $700-$2000 but more often than not on the lower end. We all have one I wager, and it's the start for most people collecting Nihonto. Take them to the show and go from there.

Saku and Kore mei are simply a change in manufacturing date.

Most evidence points to manufacture in Manchuria and creating a new factory in Japan with the same higher end manufacturing capabilities would not make sense during the war when resources were already in high demand.

Why are you using Uchiko still???

Tourist mounts, big name.......certainly be wary.

Silver Mon are quite varied, many are indeed legitimate old Samurai family crests and rightfully used by the Officer. However it was also common for soldiers to simply invent Kamon or Kanji Mon for whatever purpose, and these we do see on Gunto. Usually it is the Kanji type that are more....adventurous in terms of Mon "legitimacy". Mon are also widely shared between many families, or subtle variations on a Mon indicate a completely different family connection. From my experience presence of a Mon usually coincides with highe quality Koshirae and/or Blades.

I agree with Raymond on keeping the papers for provenance or history, especially if it has been resubmitted for current papers.

Very high quality Same indeed. High quality example, good buy.

Andrew Ickeringill is currently the only qualified polisher in Australia. There are other options overseas but will cost more with current exchange rate. https://touken-togishi.com/

You did very well Ramsey. We can probably tell you about the flag and Arisaka rifle too. If the rifle has an intact Chrysanthemum on the top of the receiver it will be worth more to collectors.

I think it has been made by a handy G.I. after the war.

The blade looks authentic, but the tachi mounts don't look very high quality, my guess is late 1800's. Still an interesting find in Indonesia. I'd like to hear more about the collection of the Naval Officer, sounds fascinating.

The fittings are from Type 3 and Kai Gunto, very interesting.

Can we see full pictures of the blade and koshirae please?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Tighten-a-Loose-Sword-Sheath/ It's not permanent either and very easy.

Try the veneer shim method first, it's not permanent and retains the sword much better than the latch.

Two options: -*Carefully* filing down the latch until it matches the new seppa height. -Shimming the saya, I have used wooden veneer method to great effect on many swords. The latch will still not work but the sword will be tightly fitted in the saya. I have used both, but filing down the latch is risky, they are often a little fragile.

My photos are not very good, but fairly sure those aren't ware but stabilized spider rust. The marks (to me) don't look like post war abuse such as cutting trees or the like. Of course I don't know for sure, I'm just going with the evidence I have, the mounts have heavy use as well.

I'm wondering if any of you have swords in your collection that retain evidence of war time use (or older such as kirikome etc)? The only true example I have seen is in the Australian War Memorial and had been used on an Australian soldier during combat, cut from the shoulder to the hip. The blade was severely chipped and bent in the process. I believe he survived and killed the Japanese officer and took the sword back with him. I'd be very interested to see other examples, especially with provenance, if you have them. Personally I think a Gunto with Kanbun blade I recently bought has evidence of wartime use, mainly a bend near the monouchi, light scuffs/scratches consistent with cutting, spidery rust marks and very fine edge damage in one spot that I can't really capture.

It looks like a stout blade but how much is he asking? Kissaki would need fair amount of work, who knows if the temper has been shot from buffing/sanding, how many ware/hagire are obscured.....

Could be heat marks from when it was taken to with a buffing wheel.

Use the full editor post option and attach files then add to post. Can't help you without pictures.