ribendao

I almost bid on some 20th century Chinese swords from them a few months ago. Thankfully one of the members here advised me against it before I opened my wallet.

Haven't had a chance to take any yet. But they will be coming soon!

Very nice! I got a beautiful wakizashi signed Hizen Tadayoshi and a stout mumei shinto katana with O'kissaki. I wanted one of those yari too but I think I would have had trouble fitting it into my suitcase haha. You got some very cool items for a great price. Should look excellent on display.

Just saw these two. Seems to fit the "Short Gunto" category.

It has most of the characteristics of a police sword. It was probably a traditionally made blade who's nagako was reformed and threaded to fit these mountings. It has a reverse folding guard which is unusual but not unheard of on these police swords. It also has a ray skin handle while most police swords have black leather wrapped handles. Someone else might be able to tell you more about the engravings but they appear to be more simple than what I usually see. I think the engravings on the habaki say 九号寸二 which would probably be assembly/part numbers. These are just some guesses coming from a novice so take this all with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone else will jump in.

My own little contribution to this topic that you guys probably are already aware of. The Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita was tasked with bombing Oregon during the war. The picture below is the sword he carried on his mission and is currently residing in a library in Oregon. When thinking of the "pilot's sword" myth, I always think back to this kai gunto that Fujita brought with him and how it helps bust this myth wide open.

This is a thread on the blade I made a while back if anyone is curious.

The hamon seems to disappear about 2/3 the way up the blade and continues all the way until the kissaki, but only on one side. The fukure is also in this section of the blade. I think the main problem is from over polishing and poor hardening. I come to this conclusion because the hamachi is almost non existent. Also the Shinogi-Ji on the interrupted side seems more worn down than the other side. Plus all the ware and the fukure would point to poor forging I guess. Either way I feel responsible for the sword now and just want the blade looking nice again.

Thanks for the replies. This Wakizashi is tired, has many ware, a fukure, rust, and this nioi gire/shizumu. Just trying to decide if I want to get it it polished or not. I think it might have one more left in it. Probably doesn't make much financial sense though.

Where the hamon just disappears with just a faint outline remaining. Can it be remedied through a competent polisher?

It ended up going for $4100 before auction fees. So I guess someone thought it was worth the investment.

I don’t have any pictures of the whole sugata but the hamon and kissaki seem to be on point.

Thanks for the translation Steve. This seems like a pretty detailed and unique mei. Are these kind of mei common among other gimei swords?

Not sure. These pictures are provided by the seller. Its on a model 1883 naval sword.

Would this be the same Masahide that is said to be the "founder of shinshinto?"

Thanks Grey

Any guesses on this one?

Booked my plane ticket yesterday. Looking forward to attending.

Thanks Bruce, just what I was looking for.

The article mentioned a 1948 list of missing swords that is located in this site's archives. Can anyone tell me how to locate this list or provide a link for me?

Very nice blade! Always great when these can be rescued. Do you have any pictures from its pre-restoration days?

Here is one I just came across. Its coming up for auction later this month.

Yep, looks like a type 19 dress sword with mon (family crest) on the handle back strap. Appears to be authentic. Looks like the mon is that of the Matsuura clan. Someone might correct me on that.

Thanks guys it really is a nice piece. The blade has some rust and looks like it was put away wet at some point. There is some rust at the boshi so it is kind of hart to tell. I will have to examine it more closely. This picture from the listing seems to portray the boshi the best. Im trying to determine if its a koto blade or maybe a shinshinto reproduction. One piece of the two part habaki is stuck and I am still working on a way to gently remove it.