PNSSHOGUN

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.

I'd look for something recently mounted and cheaper. I seem to remember another JP website posted here that had more swords setup for Iaido (and at more reasonable price) than Aoi. While I don't really go in for using older Nihonto for Iai, there are plenty of good options from Taisho/Showa.

There's alot of contention around Green papers and has been recently discussed in a couple of topics such as: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23292-muramasa-tanto-on-ebay/?do=findComment&comment=236631 and http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19445-nbthk-tokubetsu-kicho-papers/?hl=%2Bgreen+%2Bpapers&do=findComment&comment=199725 Basically there was a period where some branches were producing wrong or fake papers. Collectors being quite a superstitious bunch have since been very wary of any old papers, warranted or not. Current thinking is if it's worth getting re-papered it probably has been, with obvious exceptions. $2000 is one of the sweet spots for fakes specifically for the reason you are thinking. I'm sure more knowledgeable members can elaborate or link you to other previous topics or articles.

I think this wakizashi would be hoso-suguha? I wonder how many hoso-suguha came about from many polishes over the years? You would think hoso and ito suguha would be a risky hamon for a sword in use, any chip would be potentially catastrophic for a combat sword.

Please provide us with full pictures of the blade as well.

My immediate thought was a shortened Yari, nice little gift.

Plenty of swords at similar price points that you can actually see activity and learn from them. This would be like getting a secondhand car with a homemade windshield.