m4l700

Some time later, and the blade is still in my possession, but it is still a bit of a mystery to me with the time period. The blade feels strange and yet interesting with a short nakago and shallow sori. However I do think that the top part of the nakago has been cleaned when the habaki was made/fitted, the patina seems strange in that area. The top mekugi-ana is the original one and the bottom one is drilled(?) for gunto koshirae. If the sword was made during shinshinto times, why is the nakago so short? It feels like a wakizashi sized nakago but with a blade length of a katana. It seems out of proportion, I am trying to wrap my head around this. Gave the blade carefull and good clean and decided to make some additional pictures for future reference or for more information about the blade itself. Anything is welcome.

Nice collection! I would suggest displaying them with the tsuka to the left

What a gorgeous sword Edward! And that hamon, wow! Very interesting. If the sword was in Europe I would buy it in a heartbeat haha. Cant be bothered with international shipping and +21% import taxes at the moment

May I ask for help with the translation of this mei? It is a Gunto with a possible gendaito blade. Thank you!

Very interesting piece of documentation Neil! I have this paper frontpage from this remarkable day in history. Might be interesting to show

I've got an additional picture of this blade, seems to me like oil and ageing stains? Any other opinions on this blade are much appreciated

Thank you for pointing that out John! I did ask for some extra pictures of that area, to have a closer look.

I am mainly a gunto/gendai collector, however for some time I've been looking for a kai-gunto(naval) with an older nihonto blade and I came across this one. Before I make the call, is there anything that is strange about the blade itself with these pictures? I know this is difficult from pictures but could the mei possibly be gimei or? It looks to be crudely made. Thanks to Jean for translation of the mei, it might be one of the Yoshikuni's? https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?order=title&sort=desc&page=15&type=All&mei_op=contains&mei= Thanks!

Thank you very much Jean!

Currently I'm looking at this sword and as I understand certain(few) common characters I absolutely cant read this mei. Could anybody be of assistance? This is an older blade in Kai Gunto fittings. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for letting me know! I cant read kanji so unfortunately I have no clue what is up or down😅 Thanks! The polish is done on order be me by a western (dutch)polisher. Yes I know what most people think of that, but with his 40 year experience, polished blades by him that got papers and the Japanese that are actually interested in his polishing I took the chance. The blade was a wreck before and now I'm quite happy how it turned out.

Time for me to show my gendai Ishido Teruhide mei with kao. Not sure if it would be considered 'high-end' but I absolutely enjoy it! Photographs are realy hard to take of blades, I hope the sword and the pictures speak for itself The sword has a fully hardened kissaki(ichimai) if I am correct, hard to tell from pictures.

Hi John, Interesting indeed! I have only one Gunto(98) with a mon and it is a showa seki blade! Atleast on the higher end of the Showa scale I think. You might have seen it before but i'll post it anyway Oh, sorry for the photo spam 🙃

Maybe a strange question, but something I was wondering about for quite some time now and I couldn't really find any good information about this subject in the books, internet and here at nmb. Perhaps someone here know the 'true' meaning? Why did some (RJT)smiths use their personal seal on certain blades? And no kao on other blades they crafted? I know this usage goes back centuries, however, what is the reason to put a personal seal on a gendaito blade that they created? In my mind it would be something to use when I would be proud on the specific crafted blade, a finished product to cherish. Basically a 'personal seal of approval'. Did I just answer my own question? I could be totally wrong here, but I wonder if there just is a logical reason behind it?

Hi Bruce, Interesting stuff! I was thinking, is there another way to clean the saya liners of the type94/98? Perhaps even without getting them out of the saya, with something like a rifle cleaning rod and a piece of microfiber cloth attached? Not sure if that would do more harm than good. Did a quick search but couldn't really find much about it.

Thank you Trystan! So probably the place/company where the fittings where custom made for this blade? The rayskin(sharkskin?) saya must have cost a bit extra I assume, along with the fittings. It is indeed a shame about the flaws in the blade, but it is what it is. I think it might be an interesting package.

Yes, I know it is almost forbidden to checkout items on ebay. But sometimes it is really interesting to see what you can find there, even just for the sake of checking it out. I found this gunto with these interesting and maybe high-end moutings and blade(gimei?)? Atleast, I dont see a sharkskin saya everyday on a type98, and the sarute looks interesting? Besides what is that writing on the kabuto gane and the end? https://www.ebay.com/itm/116-WWII-Japanese-GUNTO-Army-Shark-skin-sharpening-Saya-and-KIYOMITSU-Katana/283773581677?hash=item421239396d:g:TqAAAOSwTRZeO5QH It looks to me like a really rare and high-end one. Have I been fooled?

I have this seki stamped showato or semi-traditional(since it's stamped) by Kiyomiya with the 'sakai' mon. Might be of interest for the thread?

Hi Kyle, Is the Naval flag still available? And what size is it? Do you reckon it's period, because they can be quite tricky(a lot of fakes) if I believe so.

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the festivities

Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated. I've just removed the habaki and there is no kanji underneath. In fact, there is nothing I did hear more people pointing towards shinto and the 1700's so we probably can conclude thats the period for this sword. I might get some more proper photographs in sunlight soon. There is another dilemma in my head for this sword. I realy like the hamon, or what is left of it and cant even imagine what it would look like when polished. So that is maybe another step for me and this sword, getting it polished. I know there is no financial gain, but I just want to give the sword a polish that it maybe deserves. I'm not looking for a proper professional Japanese polish, I dont think it's worth sending back to Japan, they probably wont even do it. But is there anyone in Europe, or even the Benelux who might want to give this sword a polish? Is there anyone who can be recommended? I want to have this done next year, so I have patience

Well, it looks like i'm going to add two kaiGunto's to the collection First of all the second sword I posted, with the 2 ashi and the steel seppa's. I get that one this month. Even tough it might be overpriced, I find it quite interesting as a piece of militaria with the rustless blade. And the kaiGunto Neil offered me from his collection(below). Thanks again! I get that sword next month, need to make some room and get some funds from my german collection Thanks again Neil, and ofcourse everyone else as well! Wouldn't have found the interesting information and ofcourse this offered sword, without you guys!

Well spotted Austus, I didn't notice the 'missing' middle seppas. But the tsuba doesn't look to be lose, maybe the middle seppas simply weren't needed? Anyway, I am PM'ing with Neil and I'm still in the market for the second sword in this topic.

PM send.

Thanks everyone. And you beat me to it Trystan, the moment I posted a translation request you gave it here I'm still opting for the second sword. Only got a fraction of the price to 1600 euro, it's something. These prices, even for the 'rustfree steel' machinemade blades are going up like crazy.. Yesterday I saw one in worse condition than these for 4500 euro.... my jaw dropped since it was most likely machine made.