Bull McCabe

Thank you guys for all the useful advice!

I have an opportunity to buy this offsite but am unsure what is a fair price for a Koa Isshin gunto. I have a Type 95 and 98 so was thinking this would be a nice addition to my WW2 theme.

Thanks guys for the information. 

BangBangSan - here is a crop of the spine. Ill try get better shots.

Good morning.

I am looking for some translation help on the following tang - can anybody assist me?

Appreciate the expertise!

Thanks,

David

This is exactly what I have been looking for as a step up from my WW2 gunto. I’m likely too late but will venture you a message anyway.

Like Brian, I was so tempted on this one. Amazing craftsmanship. Truly a stunning piece and good luck to the new owner. 

“The seagulls always follow the trawler” - Eric Cantona

I also expressed similar interest via dm but did not get a response on the shipping details. But it was not to the profile that has stated it is sold.

I have been a reader rather than poster, but I do enjoy the earthiness of an honest seller :-)

I actually have learned a great deal from the linked posts from many years ago on various different types of antiquity, many of which I was not aware, so am quite grateful for that!

I can imagine a huge amount were hidden by Japanese families, particularly if ancestral, or they spent a large amount on a gunto for their son. Equally, after reading of the souvenir collection in “With the Old Breed”, certainly a lot of items found their way home to the other side of the Pacific. For sure, the official figures have to be a guesstimate.

Cheers Bruce, I was not aware of those stats. Astounding in scale really!

Thanks for the inputs. I believe it was sold in good faith, it was sold as a Type 98 showa and not as a nihonto or ancestral blade in Type 98 mounts. Who can say what happened. It is a showato in 98 mounts regardless. Ill live with that. 
 

It is frustrating to the extreme, that historical collecting is abound with an inordinate amount of fakes, frankensteins and replicas. I do not just mean nihonto but everything in general. As renowned poet, philosopher and kung fu practitioner Eric Cantona wisely stated, the seagulls always follow the trawler.

Hi George, cheers for that extra information. All the surviving swords that were not dumped, I presume Japanese were not allowed keep them after the war? Could the stamp have been removed for that reason?

Thanks Bruce. I get that possibility, but it does indeed look like very local pitting, whereas the rest of the tang does not have it, and the rest of the sword is pristine. It is certainly curious.  As Brian indicated, it does have a slightly different patina in this specific area. I am just wondering how it came to be removed. If its a bring back, I would assume the stamp remains as a vet would have no motive to deface it. Nor a dealer to make it appear as an older blade, as the signature is a Showa smith. It is unusual to say the least.

Perhaps some final thoughts. If this sword was captured on the battlefield, it would have made it back with the veteran, stamp intact? 

The images you find online of piles of surrendered swords, would they have been typically destroyed?

I am curious, how this sword potentially might have came to be in a position different than the situations above? What generally would happen with swords post war in Japan?

I don’t like any object I collect to be modified from the state they are found, but if this is potentially the case, it does add an interesting paragraph to this sword.

Hi Brian. Never thought of that. That would be to comply with post war terms related to weapons? It does not look recent, if this is what happened. And would have taken a decent amount of skill?

Thanks again for sharing your expertise Bruce. As this field of collecting is new to me, I had never heard of defacing arsenal stamps. Fake signatures - that I can see the crooked logic behind. But to remove a stamp, and have a signature of a Showa smith, I cannot see the logic. But then you could also bring the signature into question. 

I think I will just get a couple of seppas and enjoy it as a showato - this was the reason for purchase in any case :-)

But I can feel an itch to have an ancestral blade beginning 😉

Hi Bruce,

That is an interesting spot you have mentioned. My curiosity piqued, I have tried to get some better images in the early morning sunlight to create some contrast.

There is certainly pitting there that extends around to the other side of the tang. 

Any further thoughts very much appreciated.
 

Here is the reverse side of the tang. I did not locate any other stamps. 

A quick question on the showa stamp. I read previously this means a non- traditional manufacture through military logistics, such as the machine made Type 95s? Is this assumption correct?

Is this blade not a traditionally smithed blade? If so, it would still be expected to have that stamp?

Thanks again for all the tips. Ill try get one online and update with the results. Need to get a decent kake display at some stage too.

About the showa stamp, this is new to me, possibly I overlooked it. I will recheck the tang in finer detail.

Best, David

Thanks for all the tips guys! Getting a couple of these seppas, EBay would be the right place for that?
 

Ill give it a try and see how it goes. First Type 98 so everything is new.

If buying a new tsuka, I presume it is a trial and error exercise based upon sharing measurements beforehand? I note koshirae are often for sale on this site.

It also appears a piece of tsuka is missing so the mekugi only grips effectively on one side. I am wondering how best to repair this. Any thoughts anyone?