Mister Gunto

I like the dark theme a lot better, easier on the eyes.

I think Grey and the others have prety well summed it up. All collections have to start somewhere. You bought a thing, and it's a real , original, and old Japanese Nihonto thing. And that's very cool. Better than being totally ignorant and starting off with a Chinese replica (which is what I did, years ago).

Very cool knife, nonetheless. Kind of a snapshot in time as to what was being sold to the newly arrived GI's by the locals, in a bad spot there just after the end of the war. It's always interesting to me to see how weapons often end up being "recycled" into civilian uses. You'll often see western miltary bayonets that with cut-down baldes, and much of the hilt removed, in order to make a Hunting / Camp knife for someone.

...I mean, it's ebay. Why not ask for a million bucks? https://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Japanese-sword-ULTRA-RARE-Sakabat-reverse-edge-blade-MUSEUM-PIECE/113828029442?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225074%26meid%3Da3f052fb9c0a43e19ad4f0a0d8ebac6e%26pid%3D100012%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D264799682179%26itm%3D113828029442%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985

Best wishes for a quick recovery!

Beautiful blade, and I dig the koshirae as well.

I should try to check mine. Any tips on how can the wooden liner be removed without damaging either it or the scabbard?

Works well for me so far. Feel better soon!

I didn't have any idea that the Japanese police held auctions. Cool find!

A nice blade, revealed.

To me, at least, it still seems to be a pretty solid blade. Lots of detail, but enough charcater to show age and use, and it just looks good (eye appeal). I wouldn't polish again.

I like that first one. Very solid look to it

Nice find! I'd call it Edo period. But of course, that covers a long time. Hopefully some others may be able to narrow it down more for you.

Can't speak for anyone else, but all my experiences with him have gone very well.

Thanks for posting this!

Nice piece! I've had good luck with that seller.

Can't make much out about the blade from the photos. Kind of looks like someone tapped out the original mei, and added a gimei? Possibly removing a Showa-era smith's signature and replacing it with something to make it seem older?

Yikes! Monkeys shouldn't play with sharp objects...

Some of the Murata-tos I've seen don't even have a hamon on them. You have quite a nice example.

Gorgeous blade! And frankly, I love that sword bag too. Cool design

Postal worker here. The international air and sea mail transport system is very disrupted right now, as is the commerical passenger flights. There are just not enough regularly scheduled flights going on right now to keep the system running smoothly. Add in unplanned staffing shortages due to the CV on both sides of the pond, and you have quite a backlog right now. Eventually the system will get back up and running, and it will all come through. But in the short term, unfortunately, expect to see more delays. We're actually getting mail in from China faster right now than Japan.

Thanks Ray. I'll try to look him up

I originally didn't think this looked old enough to be Kamakura. But after looking at the pics in the link Ray sent for Ryumun Nobuyoshi, the hamon and grain seems to VERY close in style and shape. And as it's suriage, the original, "older" looking nakago would have been cut off, leaving the "newer" looking current one. And the overall shape doesn't seem too different from the nice cut down tachi Ray has listed in the For Sale section right now. And the shirasaya could be from 1889. Like I said, it photographs well, and looks a lot newer and lighter in color than it does in the hand. So, hmmm...any further thoughts?

Hi Ken, It seems to run smoothly onto the kissai. I took some more photos today. Also tried to show more of the handle and the grain:

Thank you Steve! I bought it based on the photos of the blade, without knowing anything of the sayagaki. The seller eventually gave me that as a rough translation after the sale. I was confident it was a nihonto, and an older one. And the final auction price was more than reasonable for a Nihonto Katana. So regardless of if it's Koto, Shinto, or Shinshinto, I'm happy with it. Just really want to pin down more of what era it's actually from, if not Kanbun. Also, should add that the shirasaya is actually much darker and shows a bit more wear when seen in real life. The photos seem to bleach it out. So it could be old.