tbonesullivan

Nice blade! Definitely take care of it to keep it in the best condition. I've seen so many swords that could have been kept great simply with a cleaning and oiling once a year. As the sword was in Japan at one point, do you know if it was ever presented for a SHINSA at the NBTHK or NTHK-NPO?

Big thanks to Moriyama San! I'm watching this one with interest. I would hope that having a new hilt attached would mean it was deemed really worth saving. I wonder how much it was shortened. So interesting.

Is that an older NAKAGO piece inserted into a newer blade, or does that mean it was cut down significantly, and the original tang piece was preserved and inserted?

I'll keep an eye out over here. We get offered a lot of stuff due to our web presence.

Interesting! Maybe they were relatives?

The paint markings probably match the numbers on the koshirae. Looks like 八 0 七 一, or 8071. I've seen many Gunto where the numbers that match the fittings are in part Japanese, and part western numbers.

The edge is definitely 22cm. In total the blade is only about 18mm wide at the habaki, so it looks bigger than it is. I snapped another picture. Also got a good close up of the boshi hamon.

Definitely. I don't see it being very good for cutting with the very large edge angle. It's almost diamond shaped.

This is the best one I've been able to look at. Almost managed to slice my arms open with it. Unfortunately we didn't get to take super detailed pictures. The research we got with it was that it was made by Naminohira Yasu, who made swords from 1394 to 1428. While the Koshirae definiteley showed some wear, the blade was nicely polished, though I don't know if it was polished more recently than WWII. This is one of the two swords that really got me interested in learning more than about just Gunto.

This one is just about 8mm at the HIBAKI, and does down to about 7mm half way down the blade. It's definitely quite solid.

Is there a typical length range for armor piercing tanto? I 22cm/ 8 3/4inches seems pretty short. Well, I found a few references to Sadamitsu, and most are Koto. This one seems possible: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/SAD78 Sesko N-Z page 92 shows a few candidates, including the one from nihonto club. With a two character mei I don't know if I'll get any closer than that.

Thanks! I've gotta read up more on the different Sugata. Having dealt almost entirely with the standard Shinogi Zukuri shaped Shin-Gunto, Gendaito, and some slightly older blades. Now I need to get some books so I can look up which Sadamitsu it is. The only online reference I found is a 15th century maker, though they are known for Suguha hamon patterns. The tanto has an omaru Boshi, which is very nice looking. The Hamon on the blade is pretty much straight, but there is some nice Hada, and the polish is nice. Definitely looks like something made to go right through armor, kind of like the Persian Pesh-kabz dagger.

I'm certain that the second kanji is "mitsu" 光, but the first one is eluding me. I even went through some lists of smiths to see if something looked good, but the closest I could find was 忠 "Tada" , but the lower left portion of the character does not look right. Maybe 武 "Take"? or 定 "Sada"? Also, the blade is quite narrow, and does not have any Shinogi-ji, just a ji going right into an Ihori type mune. Is there a name for this shape? edge length is 22cm.

Yep! He was stationed over there until 1946, so he had plenty of time to pick them up. Both were Shin-Gunto, but they were definitely in nice shape. I have seen other more formal bring back papers for other items, mainly for ones that they brought back through the military transport service. They would then pick them up at a state-side depot. Of course, some people also brought back things like live machine guns, and back then they didn't really require a full deactivation...

Each country had its own process for "war trophies" or bring backs. I've handled a few Japanese Military swords with "surrender tags", but I don't know if that's actually what they are. There then could be, at least in the U.S. some type of certificate for bringing items back. There were a few different ways they seem to have come back, and there were not always papers. Those were always required when it was something too big to fit in their bag. Swords were borderline, but I've handled two that had bring back papers. I have attached pictures of the papers.

That looks 100% better! I don't understand people who think that painting over a well worn piece of military history is a good idea. See it all the time in the Antique Firearms world. At least in that case we don't have to worry about leaving the original paint intact, and can just use citristrip on it, or throw it in an ultrasonic cleaner.

I work doing customer service and website data entry and ad copy for International Military Antiques. So for the most part, I get a list of information about items, and have to post it to our website. Usually it's lots of antique guns, bayonets, U.S. and European edged weapons, and so forth. But, sometimes we get in some nice Japanese weapons, and I've always been a fan of those, and really want to learn more. The level of expertise required is however quite daunting, especially when compared to 19th century German Bayonets. The fact that experts in Nihonto can attribute a mumei blade based on characteristics alone is mind-boggling. We did have some fun with trying to get pictures of Hamon, and found that actually using a scanner works well sometimes.

I found it under the Seki Kaji Tosho on that list. I looked for the Kanji instead of the name. 兼継 (Kanetsugu) Real Name: 前川 源一 ( Maekawa Gen'ichi)

Oh wow. So that's what they are supposed to look like. Having seen so many Type 98/94 swords out there, it's nice to see the epitome of that style koshirae.

Nice!!!! That really is a lovely blade. Definitely take care of it! Might benefit from a polish, but I don't know whether you would see an increase in value equal to the cost of the polish. But, it is really nice, so if you think it's a keeper, maybe it's worth it. It's in relatively good condition, so I would assume that they would not need to bring it back as much or address any geometry issues.

Not having a date or a signature is a bummer, but if it is traditionally made, that would definitely make it worth more. It also depends a lot on the marketplace it is sold in: the Japanese Sword marketplace, or the Military Collectibles marketplace. I can speak more to the latter: If it's an identified USGI bring back that majorly adds to the value of the sword, regardless of whether it's a Showato or a Gendaito. If there are "bring back" papers, that helps even more. The type 98 mountings look to be in very good shape. I would look at the seppa and the Tsubba, Tsuka, Fuchi, etc to see if they have any numbers on them in Western Arabic or Japanese. Sometimes the numbers will be both, but if they all match that would indicate it hasn't been "messed with".

Is that sharkskin or ray skin that has been lacquered and/or sanded down? I've dealt with sharkskin on American and European swords, and it definitely doesn't look like that. I've also seen that kind of pattern on Kai-Gunto scabbards.

Let me see if I can get more info. My friends know I'm "into Japanese swords" and have had to deal with them sometimes at work, and also took a year of Japanese in college, which doesn't help me at all, but I still get sent pictures from people who've "got a sword". I'll try to post a large picture of the tang tomorrow. They said there is no writing on the other side of the tang. It also apparently has a big dragon engraving, which I haven't seen a close up of, but it's supposed to be a sword brought back from WWII. No idea if the dragon engraving is real or something someone added down the line. Fittings are the standard Army pattern, brown painted steel scabbard, etc.

As someone who deals a lot with collectibles, I'd have to agree. Unless it has some incredible Koshirae or provenance, it's better to leave it as is, and let it go. This was a sword that saw use, which unfortunately has not left it in the best condition for any type of collecting purposes. If it didn't have those nicks, I'd say think about it, but with those, the amount of the blade that would need to be removed is not small. I see it all the time with musical instruments. At least those have an inherent "use", so even sinking a lot of money into a basket-case has a potential Return on Investment. For that sword? I don't think so.

Well, staring at Kanji lists for the past hour has done nothing but give me eye strain. Every time I think I have a candidate, I find a way to disqualify it. I can't tell whether the second characters lower left is one continuous stroke, or two different ones. I wish sword smiths (or their assistants) had better handwriting. Is there any type of database of kanji showing how they usually appear when actually signed on a tang?