Bryce

G'day Guys, Here are some more photos. The koshirae is in almost pristine condition. The saya is the lacquered wood kind which I think is quite rare. What makes this sword really stand out is the beautiful, two piece, gold and silver foiled habaki. Unusually the fittings which are the mid-war type, are not numbered or marked in any way. The boshi is ichimai style with a long kaeri. The only down side is the blade is suriage and machi okuri. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I was lucky enough to acquire this sword recently. It is a nice sword in its own right, but it also came with some interesting provenance. Allegedly it was once owned by a Japanese army officer by the name of Zenzaburo Ishizuka. This Nobuyoshi blade was handed down to him from his father. When he went off to war, he left this one at home and took a showato with him instead. When he surrendered to American forces in the Philippines at the end of the war, he handed over the showato, while this sword remained safe with his family. The Nobuyoshi sword was never surrendered and remained with his family until it was sold. This explains the pristine condition of the koshirae. Unfortunately I don't have any real proof that this story is true. I thought I would share this story because it gives some insight into how the gunto that we love, ended up where they did. I imagine I would have done the same thing, saved the treasured family sword for special occasions and taken a less expensive showato into the field. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Michael, I was hoping it shed some light on which Nobuyoshi we are talking about. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Can someone please tell me what the kanji preceeding the smith's name on the NBTHK paper and also the book excerpt that Ian posted say? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I think that this mei looks very similar, although lacking the "Rai". So did the shodai nobuyoshi sometimes sign with Rai or are they both gimei? Cheers, Bryce

Wow, the stuff of dreams! Cheers, Bryce

Wow Gethin, That is a great collection! Seeing so many kabutogane side by side like that is also a great chance to notice the subtle differences in decoration between them. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Yas, With the blade in hand you can see the file marks on the nakago. The particular mei you have circled is subtly different from the others you have illustrated including mine. My sword has NBTHK tokubetsu hozon papers. I didn't realize that this smith had swords that had papered Juyo. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Thank you for your replies. OK, not an utsushi, just an unusual nakago for this smith. When it comes to differentiating the shodai from the nidai all of the kanji are done differently, but to me the easiest to pick are the first, last and second last kanji. Cheers, Bryce

G'day guys, Would you call this an utsushi of an older blade? It is by the Nidai Tango (no) Kami Kanemichi and is ubu, but the bohi runs all the way along the nakago. The dimensions are: Nagasa: 69.5cm Sori: 2.0cm Motohaba: 2.9cm Sakihaba: 2.0cm Kissaki: 3.0cm Kasane 0.7cm The hada is a very tight koitame. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, I think it would be better if this thread was over here. Are the numbers stamped on the habaki just assembly numbers like the ones you see on tsubas and seppa? We have seen several with the assembly numbers stamped on the edge of the habaki like this one of mine. Perhaps this is just a rougher way of doing the same thing? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, What about these examples? The first I would call sunagashi, but the second which occurs in more discrete lines I would call kinsuji, even though there are several running parallel to each other? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, You sometimes see a similar feature on British cavalry swords. It is generally considered to be an alternative attachment point for the sword knot, which was wrapped around the wrist to prevent the sword from being lost in combat. Normally the sword knot was attached at the top of the knucklebow, but some swords have this alternate attachment point. Here are a couple of examples circa 1800 and 1854. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Tom, What is the nakago translation of your sword? Thanks to other NMB members this is mine: 大東亜戦二週年紀念昭和十七年十二月 Daitōasen Nishūnen kinen, Shōwa 17 nen 12 gatsu 8 Commemoration of the 2nd year of the Pacific War, 1942 December 8 為野倉實氏鍛之 Nokura Minoru-shi no tame ni kore wo kitau Made for Minoru Nokura Cheers, Bryce

G;day Guys, I have this one made on the first anniversary of the attack. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Thank you for this. This is the first time I have seen photographs of a Watanabe Kanenaga sword online. They seem to be incredibly rare for such a well regarded smith. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Neil, Now that is a high class gunto! Who made the blade? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Thanks for your help. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Barry, 73.6 cm Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have had this sword for a while, but have never had any luck tracking down this obscure swordsmith. The blade is a mumei, shinshinto katana attributed to Kanenaga according to the old NBTHK paper it came with. Here are the stats of the blade: Nagasa 73.6mm Sori 14mm Motohaba 32mm Sakihaba 22mm Kasane 7mm Kissaki 38mm The nakago has no visible yasurimei. The hamon is very bright and pops out even under low light conditions. When you take the blade out into sunlight, the itame/mokume hada really "sings". Can anyone help me with any info about this smith? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have never noticed before, but I have one that is in between the normal ball and the dome head. It is on a mumei, shinto blade in later war mounts. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Unfortunately where I live it is seasonally very dry and dusty and then very hot and humid, so I never leave my swords out. I keep my sword collection in a set of drawers I had specially made for the job. Cheers, Bryce

G'day John Old blades - 3 out of 4 have mon Gendaito - 0 of 1 have mon Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, An update on my missing sword. It reappeared on tracking and was returned to the sender after 3 months with no explanation. I am having it resent, this time using DHL. Fingers crossed! Cheers, Bryce

Here is an example of that. Although in this case the shinshinto blade wasn't numbered. Cheers, Bryce