gerney

Yes John I did bring about five swords back with me - particularly where it was evident that the blades were older swords in military mountings. By far the best shin gunto I saw were in the hands of the Retired Indonesian Naval Officer I met on a number of ocassions - I couldn't get him to part with any of his swords. That was 17 years ago and he would be very elderly now... Thank you for your advice John and I will make contact with Andrew and send him some photographs - I may post on NMB some photos of another blade I collected and brought back to Australia.

Thank you for your very valid comments Ken and Luis... I also do not want to over capitalise I have been looking at other swords made by this swordsmith/school and considering my options. I would not proceed to commission a polish without a positive report from a qualified polisher after actually inspecting the blade. I purchased this sword in Indonesia in Bandung which was the scene of some intensive fighting in WWll. I found little Indonesian interest in Japanese swords due to the bad outcomes of the occupation in 1942 - 45. The Indonesian price would be equivalent to about USD750 in present day currency so I believe I have some room to get a good polishing completed - if the blade actually warrants this cost.

I remember buying this tachi from an Indonesian gentleman in Bandung, west Java after a couple of years (!) negotiation. Bandung was the headquarters of the Nederlands Indies troops and scene of heavy fighting between those troops and Japanese in 1942. A really beautiful area now with tea plantations and cool hills.... Thanks so much to NMB members who assisted with identifying the kanji on this sword. I would really like to see it properly polished and restored. As I live in Western Australia does anyone have any recommendations for qualified polishers it could be sent to ??? I understand that a Japan based sword polisher was recommended recently on this forum. Could someone please provide me with contact details ?

I have put together some further photos of this tachi - I am not a professional photographer so please excuse the lighting in the photos and I hope you can see more detail. I have included some photos of the koshirae and the blade together with some photos downloaded from the Internet while I was looking into the authenticity of this sword. I look forward to your comments

Thanks so much for the responses. Can anyone work out the kanji and filing (??) on the other side of the nakago ?? I still have my ''L''plates on ..... but have been scouring the internet and museum catalogues to find to track similar koshirae. I will post some photos of the blade and koshirae together with some very similar ''verified'' swords' koshirae. Thanks John, Uwe, and Matt for the information above

I worked in Indonesia for nearly five years in 1980/90s and travelled widely through the archipelago. In my travels I sought and found a number of Japanese swords .... and a lot of junk !! Most of the swords were gunto but a couple of exceptions where older swords were taken to Indonesia in WWll in military mountings I have attached a photo of the nakago of an interesting tachi... and would seek some advice as to whether this sword is an antique ... or just a very smart fake. It was found in a remote part of Indonesia and, if it is authentic, I would love to track its history. I saw many very good Japanese swords in Indonesia - most of them owned by a retired senior Indonesian Naval Officer who had been collecting them for many decades... The mei has been altered with what looks like a file but the rest of the kanji looks clear. I have done no work on this sword at all apart from regular maintenance. The blade has no rust and is in ''good'' condition. The koshirae is like an efu tachi with ornate brass fittings and tsuba, old Tokugawa mons on the saya, and it has a beautiful length of old hyogo kasuri on the obi-tori. I would appreciate some assistance as to whether I should restore this tachi and maybe get the blade polished. If the general opinion is that it could be authentic I will be happy to post measurement details and photos of the koshirae and blade. But I do not wish to waste any one's time if this is a load of rubbish... !! Sword A.pdf