Cuirassier

Hi John. They are bulk standard gunto mounts, nothing great

The first two characters are Yasutsugu (康継) yes?

OK Geraint, hopefully these are good enough. It is in a gunto; I photo'd the silver habaki as it is well above the norm

Thanks Guys. I will take some photos tomorrow. The blade was / is in gunto mounts with a very special silver habaki. Cheers

I know about Minatogawa Shrine and Chrysanthemum / Cherry Blossom markings on blades, but I have never come across this one before, and can find no example of it elsewhere. Anyone recognize it? Also, the signature is very hard for me to read; I have tried several books to find a match. Masazane? Masayoshi? Thanks in anticipation

Thanks Bruce, Thomas, Doug, Steve, guys I have at least worked something out, it is a itomaki-no-tachi; if you look close at the saya, the embellishments have been removed but you can see where they were.

Hi Guys. Happy New Year; I hope 2021 sees the end of the covid curse for everyone. Seller (to me) says his grandfather brought it back to the UK at the end of WW2. I hear this a LOT (everyone says their Chinese shop swords are antique family hand downs). But the tsuba got me, as it is one of the type of those recognized by Richard Fuller for civilian swords for military use). I wish I could pot more photos, but have reached the limit. Of real interest (to me) is the sword knot that came with it. Clearly original to the period, it is not a Japanese army sword knot as these have flat cord. This uses round substantial cord, but it is well made. The same is same, and the furniture well made. But I agree, when I saw the mei I was puzzled and then, soon after, went "Oh s**t". But the blade is clearly well made, though probably oil tempered. It has a Choji-midare ha (cloves) type hamon in places (sorry, I am not good with the camera), which is not one of the easily etched / forgery hamons. Plus the blade is BIG. So the mei was added later, maybe it is an expression like "God made this"? I tried for ages to work it out and am glad, in a way, you all had problems with it too (thanks very much for trying). I am certain the seller is legit in what he says. He said his gramp never ever talked about WW2, which I know many vets did not. Death to covid, soon

And it is big (28 3/4 inch Nagasa)

Looks real enough to me, but......

Compliments of the season to everyone. I hope you all are staying safe and well, that life will get back to normal, safely, soon. I bought a katana as a punt. Will not ruin my year if it is nothing. Have really struggled with the mei, so have low expectations (but high hopes as always). Anyone? Kunimoto (saku)?

Wow, I am not even on the same page. Bless you; thanks john

Hi Guys I am pretty much a gunto guy (and have no problem with war time era blades), but got a wakizashi that is not gunto. Has me beaten. Not just the translation, but the fact it has a signature both sides, or some motto perhaps one side. Any help appreciated. Thx

Thank you all. No wonder I could not get this one. Again, thank you.

Hello all I have not been here for a while and come cup in hand again. I generally can work out meis as my interest is guntos (sorry) and this blade came in one. I first use the Arts of the Japanese Sword to try and identify individual kanji and then Modern Japanese Swordsmiths if I need to. This mei is clearly well done, but has me completely stumped. The blade is very well made, gendaito for sure; just look at the hamon (sorry, I am bad at photography) Can anyone name the smith please? Thanks in hope Mark

I saw all three, but only one signed exactly this way (no first kanji).

This photo shows the unusual numbering of the seppa.

Hi Guys Thanks for taking the time out. I know the blade is pretty much worthless from a nihonto point of view, but I am into military swords, as my French Napoleonic Cuirassier image shows. I find it interesting identifying the smith as much as the thought process / reasoning by the Japanese officer (I presume it was him who did it) to "repair" the blade (basically make it fit for a fight and with his ancestors honour). I bought it auction knowing about the odd inserts and it fascinated me. The trouble someone went to. I thought they might be to balance the sword. So, I have these if they help.

Hello Uwe. Maybe this smith? https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/YOS362

A big thank you Ray

Hirakuni? Hirashi? Nobukuni Haishi?

Thanks Ray. It seems a very minimalist signature. I think you are bang on with Nobukuni, thank you. But I do not see Hei, I see Kane, maybe Kanemori? Kanekuni?

Thanks John. I guess the army officer most likely had this done?

Hello all I generally get by deciphering mei these days, but this one has really got me. Also, unsure if I should have split this into two posts, but the blade has some very strange inserts. So it comes from a shin gunto with very high quality furniture (e.g. the seppa seem to have been made especially). The last character is corroded away; I can not take a better photo. My best guess is Hiko Shi (no) kami Kane (last character) But the first character looks more like the first character used for province Shinano, but the second character seems to rule that out. OK, now the blade inserts. These are clearly light weight? metal inserts which were then covered over by steel proper. One has fully exposed (it looks like plastic but that is the light, it is a metal), and there are a couple of outlines of two smaller ones that are "coming out" (the thin steel covering is yielding). I can not believe these were done more recently, why, how? The blade itself appears to be very high quality. Please, on both counts, can someone put me out of my torment? Thanks in anticipation.