My Gendai-to

[judorichard]

I have a sword that was purchased directly from a Marine vet. He captured it in the Philippines at the end of World War II. I believe it is a Yasukuni Shrine sword by Yasuyoshi. It was made in March 1942 (if I am reading the mei correctly). I am attaching some photo's. Unfortunately the pictures are not that good. I am considering sending it to Japan to have it polished. If anyone has any thoughts or comments please let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard MS

[judorichard]

Here is a picture of a silver mon on the kabuto-gane. If anyone knows which family/clan it is please let me know. (It looks like a Jasmine but I'm not sure).

 

Richard MS

[george trotter]

Hi Richard,

It would be helpful if you could show an overall pic of the blade (both sides) as a starter.

If the rest of the blade is as relatively clean as the small portion you show here then I would say it does not need a polish...I am of the school who doesn't mind a blade having a few usage scratches and stains as long as it is not damaged or in danger of rust...yours looks like normal wear/light scratches from use...depending on rust etc leave it as is and just keep it lightly oiled IMHO.

Yasuyoshi is correct...he was one of the Yasukuni smiths...nice find.

Regards,

[cabowen]

Excellent find!

 

I disagree with George on the polish issue. To really see all the beauty these swords possess, they need to be in a quality, modern polish. The war era polishes were almost never done with the care and attention to detail that they deserve. Sharp and shiny was their goal....One famous polisher remarked that it took his shop 2 days to polish a Yasukuni blade during the war. They do a much better job now that they aren't time constrained...

[Brian]

Wasn't there talk recently about the fact that they have made it much harder to import anything younger than 100 years old into Japan lately? Seems a lot of ppl are battling to get their Gendaito into Japan for polish.

Just FYI.

 

Brian

[cabowen]

Wasn't there talk recently about the fact that they have made it much harder to import anything younger than 100 years old into Japan lately? Seems a lot of ppl are battling to get their Gendaito into Japan for polish.

Just FYI.

 

Brian

 

I had heard that, but I don't think anything has changed. They make you jump through lots of extra hoops if it is a modern sword and valued over a certain amount. If you include an invoice that states the sword is being sent for restoration only with no commercial value, and value the sword at say, $1000US, there shouldn't be any problems. At least that is how it worked recently. If something has changed, maybe someone will fill in the details....

[Ed]

I relayed that info here recently. They can still be submitted however, the Japanese government now requires swords which are not antiques must be declared by an import broker and duties paid. Undated swords are unaffected by this new requirement.

[judorichard]

Thanks for your replies George, Chris, Ryan and Ed. I will try to take better photos of the blade tonight and post them.

 

Regarding sending the sword to Japan for polishing, thanks for the information. I will hold off for now and consider the options.

 

I am interested in the silver mon. Can anyone recommend a book or resource for researching Japanese family/clan mon?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard MS.

[judorichard]

Hi all,

 

After some effort I have failed miserably at taking good pictures of both sides of the blade :lol: . Can anyone recommend a resource or book on how to take good photo's of a sword blade. Thanks,

 

Richard MS.

[Brian]

Richard,

In pic 4....maybe it is just the photo...but is there a slight step where the filemarks end? Asking, because it does look like the whole surface of the nakago might have been filed down to remove the old markings, and the new kanji look very fresh to me...even showing "pillows" around the kanji...especially the date.

If these is no step, and a natural progression from the filemarks to the blade area, then this is just the pics giving a false impression.

 

Brian

[judorichard]

Hi Brian,

 

No, there is not a step. It is my poor photography. I will try to take better pictures this weekend. If you could recommend a good resource (website etc.) for help on photographing swords I would greatly appreciate it. My pictures really don't do this sword justice. I would like to post better pictures.

 

Best regards,

 

Richard.

[Jean]

search the board

[judorichard]

Brian, I have taken some better pictures that show the nakago in more detail. The mei can clearly be seen as can the yasuri-me. The yasuri-me are yoko yasuri. There is not a step where they end so I believe the mei is original. Let me know what you think.

 

To date I have been unable to take good pictures of the sword blade which is a shame because it has a very attractive yakiba which I would classify as notare-midare although at first glance it appears to be sugu-ha. The simple advice of "search the board" (translation: stop being lazy! ) was correct and I found a useful thread but I found it a bit too technical for me :? . I'll have to do some more reading and perhaps take a photography course. It will therefore be a while before I can post good pictures worthy of the sword.

 

Richard MS.