Yukihiro

There is some kind of ghostly outline that might suggest a star.

Maybe there is a hint of a star, but I wouldn't bet on it. This is what it should look like:

Is this what you mean? This is the only possibility I can see, but I don't think this is a Star stamp.

@Bruce Pennington There are some striking resemblances between the koshirae of the Masatsugu blade you posted and mine, and I see that the rectangular latch hole on your pierced tsuba was slightly rounded off, too. Maybe the sarute on yours was the original plain one, which would account for mine being replaced with whatever was possible to obtain.

I will have a much closer look, then, but wasn't the Star stamp supposed to be later than February 1942?

I would be interested to get a peek at your Feb 1942 Masatsugu, to see how it compares to mine, from the point of view of its koshirae, as well.

Thank you very much indeed, Malcolm! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for So I take it that polishing the blade anew is definitely worth a try?

I should have started with Bruce's study on Japanese Sword Stamps:

There are two kanji on the mune machi, but I am unable to read them: To go back to the sarute, although it doesn't look Japanese to me, I must say that, judging from its patina, it could have been on there for the last eighty years or so. The blade itself is in need of a polish: I think someone must have tried to sharpen it as if it were a bucher's knife and I see no hada at all, not to mention the hamon, which seems to have been obscured by the sharpening work. That said, I find this blade quite appealing: it feels really heavy in hand and quite sturdy as well. So now I am contemplating having it repolished, although I know it will cost me an arm and a leg and more than double the overall cost of this gunto. The tsuka cover is now back on.

The koshirae is number matching: 99. I was unable to spot a star stamp on the nakago. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the number 99 also appears on both sides of the nakago.

My Masatsugu gunto arrived today - I got it from a fellow NMB member to whom I am most grateful. The leather clad saya came with a matching tsuka cover. I very much doubted that the sarute was original to the koshirae, but now that I see it with my own eyes, I am beginning to have second thoughts.

Well, I sure didn't post that! The bloke who posted the photos three hours ago does not even look a thing like me !

There are two possible explanations: either the leather saya is damaged and the tsuka cover is here to hide the ugly scar, or the original owner wanted to display the tsuka and keep the cover on the sword at the same time. I should be able to ascertain the integrity of the saya by the end of next week.

It did take me quite a while to see it (...), but I have now understood that the leather saya comes with a matching leather tsuka cover

@Bruce Pennington Those pierced tsuba with "reworked" latch holes are apparently not uncommon.

You have a keen eye, Bruce! You've got a point there: it looks like a put together koshirae. Hopefully the blade is worth something.

I have one such pierced tsuba at home: it is both a little wider and thicker than the standard gunto tsuba.

Yes, you are absolutely right, but the seller assured me he had been unable to spot the tell-tale star stamp anywhere on the blade. This is the best shot I can provide for the time being. I suppose the sword wouldn't look much worse without that weird sarute.

To me, the only element that does seem off is that weird- (Chinese- ?) looking sarute. The blade is 1942 dated - does that qualify as early? Because those pierced tsuba are supposed to be early ones, aren't they?

The koshirae as a whole looks okayish to me. All four seppa are number matching, but that does not mean per se that they are original to this sword.

I would like your opinion on the sarute of a Masatsugu sword I am buying: to me, it does not look Japanese at all, but more like something you would expect to find on a (cheap) Chinese sword.

It was the very first time this spring ( ! ) I had the opportunity of taking photos of my Amahide gunto in broad daylight and under the sun. I know the blade is in poor polish and that it is a mere gunto, but still, it is, to my non expert eyes, quite enjoyable.

To me it rather looks like a surname of German origin : Subauer. Probably the name of the U.S. serviceman who brought it back home as a souvenir.

Not a chevron, but the "bracelet" on the sarute seems to be highlighting the cuff of a sleeve.

This is truly a magnificent hamon! A question I would like to ask is what are the characteristics of a wartime polish? I find it hard to distinguish between what is WW2 polish and what could be termed a post-war amateur polish.