Cuirassier

Hello all I bought a very interesting, well, I will call it a shin gunto, as the saya is military, and the bindings are typically military. But the fuchi is not standard, for sure, and appears to be oak leaves; oak leaves on European swords tends to mean a general staff officer rank (or flag officer if navy). Is this the same here, is this shin gunto I bought a general staff officer's sword? Second question. The shin gunto has no tsuba; clearly having been removed. I doubt very much, courtesy of the fuchi and menuki, that it would have been a standard gunto tsuba. Clearly, I have to get a tsuba for this sword (the blade is worth it); can anyone give me some advice on the type of tsuba likely to have been original to the gunto? Finally, one of the menuki is missing I can not make out what the remaining one is of, if anyone can advise, so I can try to get another for the reverse side. Cheers Mark

Hello Guys I am sure the mei is for Higo smith Enju Naohiro First, I wanted confirmation if anyone is able. Second, the only reference I found to this smith says that he also signed as Dotanuki Munehiro. There being some advantage if true, as there are good rankings for Dotanuki Munehiro. Can anyone advise on this? Final question, I have worked out the era is Tempo from the date inscription, and that the third character is "Go" (5), but have come unstuck thereafter. If anyone could please help me with the date as well? I am also posting a question about this very interesting sword in the military section, as the fuchi and menuki are very bespoke. The fuchi appears to be of oak leaves, and I wondered if that meant a general staff officer's sword, as this would imply with British swords for example. In addition, the tsuba is missing, and I am looking for help identifying the likley type used, so I can gert one. Many, many thanks. And cheers Mark

Hello George OK, yes, thank you. I bought it from a top auction house who stated the item was gendaito; and they generally know what is what. They failed to mention the Showa stamp. I paid too much for it, but not too much if you understand. I would bounce it back at them but the hassle is not worth the effort. Clearly not one for a polish as I hoped it would be. Oh well................... Thanks again for helping me understand the inscription; it is the first time I have ever seen this. Regards Mark

Hello Guys Thank you all very very much. I am heartened many here also had problems with the mei; it took me a long time to reconcile it as Fujiwara Jumyo, a complete unkown as far as blade makers are concerned? I know / found earlier blade makers of this name, but can find nothing at all about a war time Fujiwara Jumyo which, for me, is odd given the massive inscription (that such an inscription would come from a one off blade maker). And the blade itself is one of the better non-Gendaito. It is not the sword I had hoped it might be, the Showa stamp coming as a nasty surprise. Oh well, still an interesting gunto. Thanks again. Cheers Mark

PS I got Kuni (some form of Yoshi?) gwatsu above the showa stamp, and have no idea why it is there, or the tiny blade engraving above.

Hello Guys I bought this gunto.................... Unfortunately it has a showa stamp :x , but it has a lot more that I do not understand and have not seen before, including a tiny blade section inscription under the habaki. I recognize some characters / meanings but not many. So, I think this is a presentation sword? Any pointers / help gratefully received. Regards Mark PS If you notice the file names say "Fujiyasu", that is because it took me some time to reconcile that the mei is actually Fujiwara

Thanks guys By the way, I forgot to mention that the blade is 30 1/2 inches long (excluding habaki), so Tachi size, though signed on the nakago correctly for a katana. Was this normal, such a huge (long) blade at that time 1661-1684?

Chris, Jacques Thank you very much. Forgive me, I only have a few basic books and the Internet to go by. I have seen that Shimohara and Shitahara are the same thing; http://www.sho-shin.com/tokai8.htm So is this my Shinto guy; http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TER38 As he is the only 4th generation listed ?

I think I can safely assume that they are the same smith?

Hi Chris Do you have a link for this? Regards Mark

Hi Chris Thanks There are records of a bushū shimohara ju yamamoto genji terushige Who is one of the same with bushū shimohara ju yamamoto genjirō terushige http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TER35 In which case, I will be very happy.

Hi Guys I bought a spectacular senior Imperial Japanese officer's / official's katana (not a true shin gunto, but with some shin gunto features, such as the leather combat saya - but it has dragonfly fuchi, menuki and kashira - not sure iof the dragonfly is of any significance as to position, and a beautiful tsuba). The blade is in need of a polish, and this is one I intend to get done. But I am coming unstuck with the mei, or one character thereof, the forth from last. I have "bushū shimohara ju yamamoto (???)tsugi terushige" I hope I am right? And then, who is this blade maker? Is this another variation of the blade maker bushū shimohara ju yamamoto genjirō terushige? I can not find any other likely candidate. Cheers

I am such a thickie Thanks Ed

Let me show the full mei. The second character is Kura (I believe)

Hello Guys I just can not work this one character out. Please put me out of my misery!

Thanks Guys :D George So this is a post 1942 / 43 blade? It is interesting as it is in civilian mounts, so I guess it was removed from its original gunto mounts at some stage? That is, the second mekugi ana right at the end would signify it is a war time blade? Regards / RSVP Mark

Hi Guys I have seen this before, where there is a second mekugi-ana at the very end of the nakago. Is there a generalisation / explanation for this? Regards / RSVP Mark

Amazing, thank you very much. So it is the name of the owner and his address!

Hi Guys I picked up an interesting wakizashi in shin gunto mounts the other day. The saya actually has three columns of text. I would not know where to start with this one; I suspect it is some heroic text? I have included some images of the blade and tang as well. It is not signed, not the greatest blade ever, has some ware there! But would I be right, that this is shin-shinto, by the size and shape of the tang and kissaki? I have never seen inscriptions to the saya before. The sword reputedly came from the liberation of Changi prison, which I sort of believe but don't, as there is no officer's knot. Thanks in advance if you can help. Mark

Thanks again guys. But I am confused. Is this a naval sword? It is not a 1937M Kai Gunto for sure.................

PS Tony Norman does a great job and nowhere near $3K

No cracks! Blade is solid / sound, some rust pitting at the tip.

Some pics! Remember, the mounts alone are worth what I paid for it; you could say, the blade was free! I have cleaned most of the gunk, some kind of tar off it. The blade seems very, very fair to me. I may well consider paying for a polish. Any thoughts gladly received. I left my notes behind, but the cutting edge excluding habaki (which is really tight on there and I could not remove) is 25 1/2 inches from memory. Quite a heavy blade. The shin gunto in total is really heavy; the saya is particularly solid. Regards Mark

Thanks guys So, can I presume "Ujinaga" is not the blade smith / maker? The mei on mine has far fewer characters than other meis for Takayama-to swords; any speculation as to why? No apparent maker's name? No polisher's name. Late war sword? Earlier sword? Regards Mark

Hi Brian Thank you very much, and you are right, Takayama-to but not like any of the other meis on the forum or indeed elsewhere with Takayama-to. I did however find an example with Takayama-to on ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-WW2-Japanese-Katana-Takayam-Masanao-Sword-RARE-Knife-Old-Collection-Samurai-/111149727232) and although the mei is standard Takayama-to, the sword does have more than a passing resemeblance to the one I acquired. Regards Mark