Mister Gunto

Don't feel too bad Steve. We've all had "the ones that got away". In the meantime, read through more of the threads here on the forum to help you recognise the next good one to dive in and buy...or recognise the bad and avoid wasting your money!

Beautiful blade Chris! Congrats!

Gorgeous piece!

Ouch!

They turn up on Ebay fairly regularly. Just check the photos carefully, and ask questions before bidding. If you have any doubts at all....don't bid. You could also try posting on here on the board's 'Wanted to Buy" forum. Someone here may have one they're willing to part with. That's where I got mine.

Decent enough original wartime-made Gunto, and the bring back papers add some value. But $250k? My oh my. Shoot for the stars, I guess. As an old guy once at a gun show once told me, "Some people are REALLY proud of their stuff. "

Wow, Jim! An amazing set-up!

Currently, for an original unmessed with Type 95 in nice condition, you're probably looking at $1000 - $1300 range. Be aware there are fakes out there, some of them pretty good, unfortunately.

Hi Andrew, No, hamons are present on Showato and WW2-era Japanese arsenal blades as well. Often they are made from Western-type steel and oil-quenched (rather than the water-quenching for actual Nihonto/Gendaito) . And in many cases the hamon is false, and was wire-brushed on at the factory for appearances. From the photos, I cannot quite tell about the hamon on this blade. And as Grey mentioned above, we'll need to see photos of the nakago to know more. The koshirae is not in the best shape. And the scabbard is missing the kabutogane (the metal cover at the bottom tip). Not too hard to find a replacment though. Better photos are definately needed before you commit to buy.

Interesting. Not sure if that's a lightly stamped Showa, or a subcontractor's mark. Never seen a Showa stamp on the back edge of the nagako. It's usually on the side.

Wow! Very cool blade

Very cool!

"A real genuine samurai sword for just $44.95? What a deal! And what could possibly go wrong?" Ahh, the Knife Show. I remember those guys. They've drawn blood from themselves quite a few times while on-air.

Wow, really unique find Bruce! I wonder if the blade was chromed in an attempt to make it rust-proof for duty overseas? The added "bling" factor of carrying a chromed weapon would also have been pretty popular at the time.

Ditto. And that koshirae looks like cheap cast alloy.

Shortening of blades was very common. And I love the koshirae on this one!

I get what you're saying, Dave. I think it's mainly because after the war, the Japanese swordsmiths and collectors had to move their craft out of the "Martial" and into the "Art" box. Japan was focused on getting past the war, and they focused on Nihonto as exclusively objects of art and culture. The huge number of non-nihonto swords made during the war were purposfully dismissed as all being low-quality and without any artistic merit, regardless of if that was actually the case or not. And when the Western collectors got into the game, they not surprisingly picked up this attitude up from their Japanese counterparts. I do like to think that boards like this are helping to change collectors' attitudes. There definately seem to be a lot more people collecting Japanese swords these days, both Nihonto and Showato. Look at how many swords sell on Ebay and the like. And the prices keep going up. Having a forum like this to come to, to learn and talk with other collectors is really the best way I can think of to improve the overall perception of Japanese Non-Nihonto blades.

Hi Stephane, Very nice Kyu-Gunto you have there! Yes, it definately is a Nihonto. Just guessing, but with the shallow sori and the look of the Nakago, I would say it was made in the Shinto era, probably around the Kanbun era (Mid-late 1600's). However, I'm hardly an expert. You may want to post pics of the blade in the Nihonto forum and see what other have to say. I could be way off. Your mounts look original. Kyu-Gunto scabbards were usually brightly finished. However, many seem to have been painted black, probably for field use. Others were covered with a protective leather cover. Often these have been lost over time. If you search through the forum here, you'll find many photos of other Kyus to compare yours with.

Adam, I was watching this one too on eBay. I thought it was legit too.

Nice pics! I like that Bo-hi.

I've been into collecting militaria since I was very young. My Dad and I loved watching the old war documentaries and movies on TV (way back before cable, streaming, and on-demand). I always thought it was cool to see the Japanese officers carrying swords. Later, when I first saw "Shogun" on TV, it got me hooked on Japan and Samurai. I read every book I could find on the subject at the local library. I desparately wanted to get a "real samurai sword", but in the pre-internet era, really had no idea how to find one. My Dad and I did find a dealer at the old LA Gun Show who had a very badly rusted out, chipped-to-hell gunto blade for sale. He swore it was a 1000-year old blade, (no papers of course, not that I would've known what they were back then) and wanted something like $5000 (this is in the mid-1980's), which was obviously far, far beyond my teenager budget at the time. At that point, I basically thought they were forever out of my price range. Later I joined the Army, then after I got out, my focus turned to old milsurp firearms, circa 1865-1965. Swords were pretty much off my collecting radar for a couple decades. Slowly, I started to get interested in swords again. First by picking up some of the replica European medieval-era swords. That got me into historical western martial arts. I began learning a lot more about swords and how they were made and used. That brought me around again to katanas. Eventually, I bought a few of the better quality Chinese katanas forged out of modern steels. Figured that was as close as I could get to a real Nihonto. Then one day I came across a seller on one of the gun forums who wanted to sell a Shin-Gunto. He was an older guy getting rid of his small collection, and just wanted a couple hundred for it. For that price, I figured even if it was a fake, why not take the chance? I bought it, and it turned out to be a WW2 Showato forged in Seki. Not a Nihonto, and definately not the best condition blade by any means. But I finally had an actual Japanese katana! As I did research on it, and found some online Nihonto sites like the Japanese Sword Index and here at NMB, I realized Nihonto are actually a lot more available outside of Japan than I'd ever thought. I picked up a couple books, and started looking around and doing as much research as I could, bought some more blades, both Nihonto and Arsenal made....and, hey, here I am. With a new addiction. And quite happy with it.

Fake and even faker, no question about it.

Nice! I like that tusba. And a good solid original leather handle cover too.

Definately looks to be suriage. Very nice blade, and looks like nice gunto koshirae too. Nice find!

Very sorry Robert. I've lost my share of amazing pets over the years. It always hurts to lose them.