Kayato

Here ya go, hopefully better quality than the other images On another note .. does anyone have any personal recommendations for a reliable Gunto vendor? I'd really like to get an actual Kai Gunto once the refund goes through.

I appreciate the help guys. Unfortunately, it's very clearly a fake -- no part of the sword was signed or stamped, including the tang. The tang itself looked brand spankin' new with absolutely 0 rust or damage of any form, and the inside and edge of the handle where it used the same material as the "ray skin" looked like it was falling apart in the same way wood splinters I'll try to get a photo once my phone will cooperate with me. I will attempt to return this since the collector runs a store and then go look for an actual Gunto. Thanks again!

Can't seem to get the pin out of the handle, is there a certain way I'm supposed to remove it? I don't want to damage anything in the process. Thanks again, but unfortunate if fake .

I just bought what I was told was a Kai Gunto from a WW2 collector, but I have never owned any real Japanese weapons from this era before and so I have no idea what to look for. It came with an allegedly real naval flag, and I was told that the collector was sold the sword and flag by the family of the officer who originally possessed it. The family that owned this also sold the collector a uniform, but I was unable to buy it at that moment -- if all checks out, I will certainly return and purchase it soon so I don't separate this officer's belongings! My main concerns are that the blade appears to have either never been sharpened, or only lightly sharpened in the past. I also can't really tell if the ray skin is fake or not. Right now I only have a few (bad quality) photos, but hopefully this will help!