robinalexander

Austus, In my view you have provided a good well reasoned summary. Tks Rob

I think Neil hit the nail on the head with ".....The motivation for kicking off this thread, was not to be argumentative, but to once and for all settle, at least in my mind, the definition of nihonto, which seems means different things to different people. " Particularly...which seems means different things to different people. " We all have varying levels of knowledge, expertise, appreciation and above all, there are many differing opinions. As David mentioned, it would certainly help if some clarification from recognised sword societies in Japan could be provided with as much detail as possible. Just thought, if that did actually happen, I wonder if the 'revelation' would have any affect the current prices + or - of any particular sword type??? But the upside for me and I imagine a whole lot of newbiis is that everyone provides so much interesting/new information and the discussion is a learning experience in itself. Thanks Neil. Rob

Amazing, thanks Tom C and Uwe for your very quick response. I will research the smith and see what I can find. Hopefully someone may know something about the meaning of those stamps on the Tsuba. Rob

Hello all, Was wondering if anyone would be good enough to offer some translation assistance with this tang from a Shingunto. It appears to be out of polish but has a cloudy hamon and could be traditionally made even with the seki arsenal stamp (?). Also, I have attached a picture in the link below, of the Tsuba which also bears four stamps and I havent seen these before on shingunto tsuba (???) Any help or comment in due course would be appreciated. https://photos.app.goo.gl/BCFwUDnxXd88mKZR8 Regards Rob

Hi Neil, It appears at least one large UK dealer shares the same general view as Fuller. A current Kai-Gunto for sale advert states " You can tell this is a genuine WW2 Japanese Naval Landing Forces Officers Kai-Gunto because it only has a single ashi (suspension loop) plus has a leather combat cover." Of course its unknown whether in this case, Fuller's view has simply been adopted or the dealers opinion is based on his own knowledge/experience. FYI. Rob McL