Traditional blade or not

[East London 1+]

Hi all

I recently purchased a Japanese officers sword type 98 from my local antique auction for $250.

I originally wanted the blade for Iaido , but after disassembling the the sword at home i changed my opinion of the sword.

I believe the blade to be a traditionally made blade, i could be wrong that is why i would like your valued opions.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, although i have been around Japanese swords for many years through Iaido i am no expert, but i am working on that

The sword is in good quality Army mounts, colour black. The Saya is wooden, Brown laquered which looks to have been touched up in the past. The Tsuba was black but the coating has worn off exposing most of the Brass Tsuba.

The only marks i can find on the sword furniture or Nakago are the Japanese number 3 on the collar of the Tsuka and 3 notches cut in the rest of the fittings, there are no numbers or stamps on the Nakago. The Tsuka has Same under the Ito and the menuki are traditinal army issue.

I will now identify the blade as i see it, don't be to harsh on me if you see something i have wrongly identified.

 

Katana mumie blade.

Nagasa 645mm

Sugata Shinogi Zukuri.

Sori Torii

Sori smeasurements 23mm

Chu kissaki

Kissaki length 35mm

Mune Iori

Motohaba 32mm

Sakihaba 26mm

Nakago length 181mm

Nakago type Standard Haagari jiri

Yasurime Sujikai

Hamon very bright Suguha as far as i can tell due to the polish, Noio deki, Sunagashi,Tobiyaki

Hada tight Masame need to use magnifying glass to see due to polish

Boshi Suguha turning into Omaru

Mekugi ana 1 punched not drilled

 

It looks like someone in the past had tried to clean the Nakago patches of Black rust are still present

See what you think i have attached some pics and have more if needed

John C

 

 

 

 

 

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[Jamie]

Looks to be a nice find. Congrats

I belive that you are right and that it's traditionally made.

You might want to post pics of the nakago and a pic of whole bare blade and

members might be able to tell you more.

[East London 1+]

Thanks Jamie

That is what i thought, but i wanted a second opinion, it is a perfect blade for Iaido nicely balanced but i will not use it if it is an old blade.

 

i will post some more pics, i also posted this on the wrong subject page, like an idiot.

I have added some more pics

 

John C

 

[paulb]

John,

Just to offer balance to Jamie's post I dont believe this is a traditionally made blade, at least I cant see anything in the photo's that would suggest it is. This may well be the condition of the polish and or the images but I cant see any hada or any actvitiy in the hamon, infact I cant see a clear hamon.

Images of the nakago will certainly help but I am not sure one can reach a definitive , positive conclusion in the current polish.

Having said all that for what you paid for it you did extremely well whether traditionally made or not.

[East London 1+]

Thanks for the feed back Paul maybe i will use it for Iaido after all.

John C

[Jamie]

I could be wrong. Pictures are difficult.

I was basing some of my opinion on Masame hada.

[paulb]

Hi John,

Thanks for posting the nakago images. let me say that Military swords arent my thing so there are many others here who know a lot more about them than I do so I would be interested in their view.

From what I can see the shape and lines of the nakago do not look to be what I would expect in a Gunto. Nor does it look like an earlier work. If you follow the line of the shinogi it is distorted as it runs through the nakago. Equally the finish on the nakago mune looks wrong as does the ocerall shape.This suggests it is either heavily modified or it may have been made by someone outside of the normal supply chain.

I think you need to put this in to the hands of someone locally who can look a lot more closely and see what is there under the not very good polish before deciding firstly what it is and then what to use iit for.

Good luck

Paul

Hi Jamie,

I am not sure either of us are right on this one there are some anomolies that need to be looked at more closely as described above. Re: masame I was once told that if you stretch bar steel you can create what looks like masame. Also hada alone doesnt make it traditionally made. With no evidence of nie or a clear hamon it could be folded steel (not necessarily tamahagane) and oil quenched.

Not a clear cut example so needs more investigation I think.

[cabowen]

I see nothing to indicate this is traditionally made. The featureless hamon without a habuchi looks like that typically seen on mass produced wwii swords.

[East London 1+]

Thank you all for your comments and feedback, it is much appreciated.

What through me was that the blade looked different from the numbered mass produced blades I had seen in the past, the blade certainly glitters when looked at with a magnifying glass.

I originally purchased the blade for Iaido, so that is what I will use it for, thanks again for taking the time to look at this post and your comments and experience are valued.

 

John C

[cabowen]

It will be perfect for its intended purpose....