Redecorating my aluminium saya

[kusunokimasahige]

Hello all...

 

I have a gunto type 98 scabbard with the "masayuki" blade inside.. now almost all the original military paint has disappeared from the aluminium saya, and since to me only the blade really matters,

 

(which will be properly shirasaya'ed or koshirae'd after i get round to having it polished by a proper togishi)

 

i was wondering wether or not i should redecorate the saya with black Urushi and gold-leaf speckles.......

 

I have cleaned all the fittings to a nice shiny gold (copper) look as well as the tsuba, and since the military mountings represent a tachi style (one ring) mounting i probably will use it with my samurai armour.

 

does anyone know if there ever have been military saya which were redecorated at one certain time?

 

and will Urushi hold on metal?

 

any info is welcome..

 

KM

 

here is a pic of the saya

 

[kusunokimasahige]

guess its allright then....

 

:lol:

 

ill go ahead with it!

 

KM

[Rich T]

These saya were usually green or brown were they not ? We have near my home, a great model store where you buy model planes etc, and they sell paints that represent the military colours of most countries during the second world war.

 

They have greens and browns that were common on tanks in Japan and I have been told they were about the same colour as the ones used on waepons, such as saya. Clean it back and restore is as it once was is my opinion.

 

On a last note, cleaning the tosogu until it's bright and shiny does not sound like a good idea. These things have history on them, leave them alone I say, though in this case, it is too late now.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you Rich for your comment,

 

Of course I understand these swords and their scabbards have a history on them, also the WWII ones,

 

however in this case, since the blade is definetely quite a lot older than the military saya, i want the blade to have its proper encasing one day.

 

Also, since WWII mountings are not that uncommon nor expensive, IMHO restoring the blade into its proper Samurai setting by having koshirae especially made is much more important for it's kami than restoring the

blades second world war Gunto mountings.

 

I personally think the kami of older swords used in the second world war, as well as the spirits of the ancient bushi who used them long before, were very much insulted by their WWII users having nothing to do whatsoever with the ancestral bushi of the past, nor with the honourable code of bushido which was trampled upon ever since the Meiji restoration.

 

now while that might strike you as a nutty opinion, i merely want to express my respect for this blade. I do not like Gunto mountings nor anything post Meiji that much, but i do adhere to the fact that history should be preserved in some ways.

 

Well since there are far better and more beautiful examples of Gunto swords in existence, changing this one does not strike me as that bad...

 

 

best wishes,

 

KM

[Brian]

My 2c?

Since you are asking for opinions, I go with Rich here.

The old mountings at least have some history, whereas the new "decorations" would just look cheap IMHO.

Gunto mounts may be plentiful, but displayed with tsunagi with the original blade in shirasaya shows its history and preserves it for a day when gunto mounts aren't so plentiful.

 

Brian

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you Brian,

well nothing has been done to the Gunto Saya yet so rest assured, its still an idea...

 

cleaning the fittings like any normal soldier would have done back then is in my opinion not that bad, and i must say i like the shirasaya idea, and displaying the gunto saya with it too.... there isa however not much left of the hilt, no wrap, no bindings and old sticky tape around the wood to keep it from dalling apart..

 

KM