Dad's Wwii Gunto Blade Translation

[Karate Sensei]

Hi all,

 

I am trying to get more information on a Gunto blade my Dad brought back from WWII.

I had a Japanese speaking friend look at it and he gave me some back ground on what he thought.

 

I put the image of the tang on my Google Drive:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7zWZRs1ih0dVTdwZkFDZ3lsOVk

 

I think the first two characters (reading top to bottom) indicate the area of Mino (though with the old name for it).  

It is in central Japan, not far from Gifu City.  

The third character is read “Seki”; it is the city of Seki, famous for cutlery and once the center of sword making culture.  

The next four characters are probably pronounced “Maekawa Kanetsugu” (or perhaps Maegawa) and that would be the name of the sword maker.  

Maekawa is the family name.  

The last two characters mean, essentially, “made this.”  

 

So I believe, all told, it says, “Maekawa (or Maegawa) Kanetsugu of the city of Seki in the province of Mino made this.”

 

I am sure it is a Showa (1926 or later) period, not older, probably early 1940?

There are no armory marks.

I am thinking this swordsmith was commissioned by the military to make blades.

 

It does seem to be a quality blade, still sharp no rust.

 

Any thoughts, ideas or value?

I would never sell it it is a family collectible now.

Thanks for any help,

Craig

[Shugyosha]

Hi Craig, welcome to NMB and to the world of Nihonto.

 

You are correct with your translation. For your interest, this guy appears in Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:

 

KANETSUGU (兼次), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetsugu” (兼次), family name Maegawa (前川), he worked as guntō smith, ryōkō no retsu (Akihide)

 

I can't see a picture of the date on the link but from this it ought to be Showa and it will normally give a number of the year 年, month, 月 and probably just a day 日. 

 

Can't help with a value as it's not really my period: I think you'll need to post some pictures of the whole blade and fittings if you want a sensible estimate as the condition of these will be a factor considered and also if all of the pieces of the fittings match in terms of serial numbers. A couple of close ups of the blade showing any activity would probably help to determine whether or not it is a traditionally made blade as, again, that will positively affect the value (though the absence of an armoury stamp would normally suggest that it was traditionally made).

 

I believe that the "ryoko no retsu" part of the quote is a ranking equivalent commensurate with him being of average skill, but I'm not 100% sure on that and hopefully someone else can chip in.

 

Best, 

John

[Karate Sensei]

Hi John,

 

Thanks very much for your fast response.

 

I thought that I had a 7 character signature and expected to see a date when translated, apparently not!

 

I am very impressed with the fit of the components/hardware for the age of this blade. 

 

The fit between the Saya and the Habaki is still good, the Tsuka and Tsuba are tight.

The blade is sharp, no rust, I do not see an obvious Hamon or pattern in the blade.

The blade does have a minor distortion (very slight compound bend) in it.

 

I had read that military blades were required to be able to handle a 60 degree bend without failure.

That makes me think these military blades could be straightened.

 

It has great family history for me, my Dad got it Island hoping in the Pacific in the Marianas clearing Japanese forces.

He had two swords, he traded one for a 7.7 mm Japanese sniper rifle, I sold the rifle 30 years ago, it was a piece of junk. 

 

Thanks again.

Craig

[Shugyosha]

Hi Craig,

 

Sorry, you'd done so well with the signature that it didn't even occur to me to mention, but the date would normally be on the other side of the tang to the signature. 

 

That the various components fit well is good, but the key is for all of the serial numbers to match: I think there was sufficient standardisation that koshirae parts could be switched around from one blade to another without too much of a problem but it adds value if they were all part of one set originally and the matching numbers are the indicator of this.

 

If there is no rust, then for a traditionally made blade I would have expected to see some hamon or hada so maybe it's a gunto. I don't think that the bend is necessarily too much of an issue if it will go in and out of the saya OK - don't try to straighten it yourself.

 

Another guy on the site has a gunto for sale at $1,200 so that kind of gives a rough idea of value for comparison.

 

Best,

John

[Brian]

Well done on your research and your translation Craig, and for putting in the effort

Sounds like a typical and decent wartime Showato, which would make it not fully traditionally made, but still by the smith indicated. Very typical of the Seki smiths. Value should be between $800 and $1000, at a guess without studying the pics. Enjoy, and thanks for sharing.

 

Brian

[Karate Sensei]

Hi John and Brian,

 

There is no other markings on the tang or other areas of the blade.

 

There is no serial numbers or marks on the Habaki, Saya, Fuchi, Seppa, Tsuba, Menuki, or any other parts that I can find.

The sword has been intact in our family's possession since 1945 so I know it is period correct.

 

I thought it would be worth about $500, I agree it could be as much at $800 since it is very clean and has not been abused by idiots trying to be Ninjas at a backyard BBQ.

My Dad and myself have great respect for military and historical items, I can only remember my Dad talking about it as a kid, I saw it maybe 3 times.

He gave it to me before he passed.

 

I would not try and straighten it myself besides it is not a "left to right" bend it is more of a distortion from Mune to Ha (hard to describe).

It still moves freely in and out of the Saya, it is just a subtle distortion possibly form battle use.

 

Thanks for all the info!

Craig