lonely panet

pt 2

Hi gents I have been unable to fully identify this dirk, it has simular points compared to the two swords listed in Fuller & Gregory second book the first is on page 132 and the second is page 204. it has a nickel plated blade and scabbard, laqured same grip with brass wire binding. Im thinking naval or civil, but there only quess's. please can you offer any ideas. regards Hamish

no photos, just a average market price is what im looking for regards Hamish

Hello all Im looking for a price guide gentlemen, i was offered a rare sword by a friend and neither of us really know what the market value is. Its a naval sword for flag rank officers (admiral rank) it appears to be a early version, leather scabbard, a shorter blade then the normal naval dress saber. condition is good, but i havnt seen or heard of one for sale or what they are fetching in todays market can anyone advise me of a price please, I was thinking about $1500 to $2000 AUD regards Hamish

Hi buddy, there were to smiths working at the "nihonto tanren kai" that went by the smith name of YASUNORI, the first one , Kajiyama Yasunori and Katoni Yasunori. the first, Kajiyama yasunori who became a member during 1933 actually was the teacher to Katoni yasunori who who was awarded the same name during 1935, once this occured kajiyama yasunori changed the shape of his nakago to prevent the two from being confused from that point onward. its abit hard to judge, because of the amonut of chalk on the nakago, and there being no pics of the whole blade but the mei looks very close the kajiyama yasunori's mei and shape of nakago is correct too. try to read the date to see what is says regards Hamish

Hello all, since moving from collecting koto pieces to military swords my collection is looking nice. 1, typ2 98 shin gunto- showato signed nagamura kiyonobu 2, shingunto with rare cast iron tsuba, blade broken, signed fukumoto kunimune 3, crew gunto, late war with weather cover for tsuka 4, type 32 cavarly saber, dated to FEB 1915 5, type 32 cavarly saber, not dated, prob 32, 36 or 36 being the last years of manufacture, black finish and with a unsharpened blade 6,type 32 nco's saber, dated 1913 with the finger loop intact 7,company grade army dress sword with company grade tassel 8, ofield grade army dress sword, with late war tassel ( never seen one with a straight blade before) 9, rare naval/patrolmans dress saber,(this sword has been used as referance in jim dawsons last book) im really happy with it so far, if im wrong with the discriptions please write as we never stop learning regards Hamish

Hi all, im still unsure about this gunto fitting regards Hamish

Hi George thanks for the quick reply, i did compare the tsuka to one of my shingunto saya's but it was actually sizeably larger, but the shape did look abit odd to me. thankyou for your advice George, not just one this subject but on all the other military subjects that i have needed advice on. the tsuka did come off a rough gunto, but the blade turned out to signed by a gassen school smith using sadakazu's name ???? the blade was polished in Japan and the sword was looked at and was said tobe signed under dai saku?? i will just keep him as a ww2 oddity regards Hamish

Hello gentlemen, i hope were all well and collecting madly, iv just been given a tsuka for a shingunto that has a kabuto gane that looks to completely handmade, and pinned to the handle using small nails. has anybody seen one like it before? regards Hamish PS if stu C from tassie is reading this please email me i have lost your number

Iv added som photos so peaple can see how this type of tassel looks on a dress saber and a crew gunto if it helps at all regards Hamish

Hi Malcolm I have had a look at what i think you were aiming at, and it appears to be the same colour. bbbuttt when i looked at the other 2 tassals i have noticed that the company grade tassal has a yellow coloured thread and the naval tassal has one end tied off with blue coloured thread. does this mean any thing? regards Hamish

Hello gentlelmen i have a tassel that i need some advice on, it appears to be a late war or a naval type, but is shorter and abit thicker then the normal dimentions. i was thinking it may be for a crew gunto because it matches the dementions of my short gunto i have i look forward to your comments regards Hamish

Hi Kurt, there a interesting item if your interested in items from imperial Japan. theres alot of interest in the USA for neat versions of mantetsu gunto and they can go for a respeactable price too, taking into account that in the fuller and gregory books, they are rated as superior machine made blades. they were made in china in the matetsu factory, so they are not as highly rate as the showato but, earler blades were highly regarded though. Iv handled many of these blades and there interesting to look at, but sadly all the items iv handled didnt thrill me for the price tag, but at 100 dollers you cant go wrong, great buy. look at the fittings, there are some fittings also made in the factory, they appear to be lower quality compared to the normal shin gunto fittings, but they are a nice to look at and are har to find examples. regards Hamish

My lord, I am amazed at your collection!! finding really mint gunto of any type is getting harder and harder, im very impressed with the mint general tassel too, the gold zigzags look awsome. Hamish

Hi gentlemen, Iv been given a odd iron shingunto tsuba, iv would think that this type of tsuba would have been for the lower end of the gunto pieces, but not really sure because iv never really seen or read about them. so has any fellow collects come across these examples in the past and does any one know how they would have been made, IE machine stamped and hand finished??? regards Hamish

Hello everyone, im just showing off my latest piece i picked up today, it might not appear much but to thoses who dont collect this era of imperial swords, BUT these are abit hard to find in mint condition now, but it doesnt quite match either of the examples in jim dawsons book, is it a example not shown or has the scabbard been mis-matched in the past??? a very big thanks to the good friend who passed it on to me. regards Hamish

heres a piece of mine iv listed on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 363wt_1058 starts at $500, hope it goes well. i paided $2250 years ago and im not getting much interest atm, so i have decided to experment with ebay and see if the peaple who shop there will see it and bid to the market price or will i get bent over and loss big money. regards Hamish

the best bargin this month belongs th the following.... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Very-Rare-Ja ... 403wt_1187 regards Hamish

I think the point i was trying to make was missed , but thanks for the link that was posted. In respectfull thought of the Slough family, I was unaware of his passing and end this post. regards Hamish

Hi fellow humans, Iv had this question on my mind for months now, the book by J.S Slough and how many times its been used as a tool for dealers on Ebay to there perosnal gain, many times getting the smith they claim who made there sword mixed up with a higher rated one to help increase the final sale price of there item. If this is the case should the author be entitled to some for of royalty? Im trying open a can of worms out of frustration, as less experanced collectors my be unfairly over paying on the word of a dealer or seller whom some have no problems with being dishonest. regards Hamish (the can opener of worms)

Hello all, Iv only seen one, a high end showato signed FUJI WARA SUKE YUKI SAKU not dated, in earler style shingunto mounts with a wooden saya. it was only shorted by a inch or two. interesting piece regards Hamish

here is some more listings, judge for your self http://www.ebay.com/sch/xiaoan5567/m.ht ... 7675.l2562 regards Hamish

Thank you very much Ford, I was getting no were trying to find any info in the web. I picked this piece up at a antique fair and I know I paid too much( AU$350) but I really wanted it. its kind of funny tho, im collecting swords from that period now. how very odd thankyou again Ford and Morita for your help, its helped me a lot. regards Hamish

thank you kindly Morita, I did think the last charictor was SAKU but didn't want to look silly once again, thankyou I can now look to see when it was hopefully made regards Hamish

Thanks Stu, ill keep my eye open for both next time I head to town. regards Hamish