DaveM4P99

Found this auction with good pics to compare...Mei looks right to me...? https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/57583586_chounsai-emura-emura-saku-sword-1941 And this old thread from here... http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/7435-chounsai-emura-saku-help-please/

OK! Yet another sword from someone over on AR15.com... This was the info he gave me, not sure how accurate it is... "Based on the MEI I believe this is an "Emura Chounsai" blade. It is said he ran a prison in Japan before and during WWII. They say he made blades himself but that his students/prisoners also made blades in his name. I am trying to confirm that it is an Emura blade, and if so, can it be determined if he actually made it. Either way my end goal is to see if it is worthy of a polish given the cost of such service. At this time there is no Hamon visible to my eye" Doesn't look too bad to me...but I am no expert!

My thoughts as well...but the beautiful shape of the blade, and overall appearance of the metal/grain structure, threw me off a little... But yeah the nakago is very suspect...

Posted over on ar15.com... Looks like a Gunto blade and has the serial number on the habaki...He says someone cleaned it/polished it themselves a while ago, which is unfortunate. The Nakago looks off in terms of shape, and there are no file marks...but that could be because of the "cleaning." The shape looks OK to my untrained eye, and you can actually see some of the grain structure in the last picture...which is surprising. Thanks for any translation help! Dave

Wow thank you for the analysis! Great thoughts.

Thanks for the analysis! Yes - understood it is all about quality - and this blade has some big flaws. But I am also trying to determine the history of the blade, more than the value.

Ok I will try to get a pic of the Kissaki. So this is definitely not a gunto blade? Most likely pretty old?

Better photo of the nakago!

Would better pics of the nakago/mei help? I will request them now. May take a little while though. Pretty neat that it could be such an old blade though.

OK nice thanks for the info! Definitely an interesting find either way I assume.

Wow thanks guys! So more like...Bingo Ju Masaie? Bingo Mihara group? And era is looking like what? 1300s??? 1400s? 1500s?

Haha...So I assume this is a very famous signature? And therefore most likely gimei? Yeah...looking up Masamune now...very famous. The most famous. Haha. What do you guys think? The blade looks pretty nice, even if the mei is fake.

Ah trust me...I told them not to do any cleaning! Not sure if that was already done to the nakago or not. Thanks for the translation!

I am no expert, so I defer to you guys as always! Posted over on AR15.com... I am trying to get better pics of the mei. Thank you! Dave

Thanks Brian and Carlo. Much appreciated.

That was my guess as well. Do you think it is a Chinese fake? Or just a fake signature? I am thinking Chinese fake, but again I am no expert.

Hi all. Been a while since I posted. A member of a site (ar15.com) posted these yesterday...the shape looks very off, as does the signature...but I have no clue. I am no expert! What do you think? Not sure how accurate this transcription is... Thanks! Dave

An nice...thank you...spent some time reading it over...I have a better idea now. So are there any reputable dealers for military swords? I don't want to end up with a Chinese fake.

Looking to buy a WWII Japanese officers sword...around $500...maybe a little more...where is a trust worthy website or dealer you guys can recommend? What do I look for in terms of quality? What types? Type 98...all I know really. Thanks! Dave

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes Chris, you may remember this blade from my past posts...just figured I would get some more opinions on the quality of the blade / polish. Nakago is pretty badly pitted but has no active rust anymore...still enough to ID it as 3rd generation Tegarayama Ujishige. 1780s Harema Province smith. Nobody famous. The mei reads (or so I am told) Banshu Tegarayama Fujiwara Ujishige. The very top character is visible, as well as what you see in this photo...but the very bottom character is all but pitted away. Length of cutting edge is 23.5 inches. So a long wakizashi.

Just wondering if anyone could give their opinions on this blade...shape / symmetry / kissaka / hamon / hada etc. I took a few photos of the hada as well...I know a blade can't really be judged just by photos...but I am hoping they came out good enough to form at least some opinions on the quality. There are about 7 or 8 very very tiny little pit marks...almost invisible unless you take a well-lit, close up macro photo. Thanks for any thoughts! -Dave -Dave

So do we think it is a real nihon to that was burned and thus unidentifiable? The poor mei and odd blade shape look like Chinese fakes that have been posted on here before. Thanks all. Dave

I think so...but what do I know. Mei looks like jibberish and shape is terrible. Fittings are crazy looking...All guesses here...