Need Help With Identification Of Sword

[pats22shirley]

Good evening friends,

 

My wife's grandfather was in the service during WWII and towards the end of the war spent some time in Japan where he met his wife to be.  The details are foggy.  Anyhow willed this sword to my wife and I was looking to get some help in finding out some of its details.  By looking at the arsenal stamp I have concluded that it is a Showa era sword. Presumably mass produced.  I have more photos I will try to post.  Any help is much appreciated.

 

Evan

 

 

 

[pats22shirley]

[pats22shirley]

[pats22shirley]

 

I can post more if needed.  Thanks again in advance for any help.

 

Evan

[SteveM]

Name inscribed on the tang is 佐藤幸平  Satō Yukihira

[pats22shirley]

Thanks!  Is it worth any kind of special preservation/restoration? 

[SteveM]

Absolutely - By all means read up on this site and others how to preserve and store this item. I am not familiar with this smith, but there are a number of sites that offer fairly detailed lists of WWII smiths, and that discuss the production of arsenal swords. A look through the "links" section on this site should point you to other avenues of study.

 

Yours is in civilian mounts - the wrapping of the tsuka looks in good shape (maybe it is recent?). If the blade is rusty I would resist the urge to polish, scrape, sharpen the blade by yourself. 

[pats22shirley]

Thank you so much!  I will do a bit more research then.  I don't know of any reason the wrapping would have been tampered with, but who knows.  I won't be altering the sword on my own at all.  If i find the value of the sword is worth polishing I may have that done at some point.

 

Evan

[pats22shirley]

One more question.  If there was a smith who put his name on the blade does that mean that this blade was handmade?  It was my understanding that these blades were mass produced and mostly factory made during the war.

 

Evan

[SteveM]

Hello Evan,

 

No, it doesn't necessarily mean that. Wartime swordsmiths oversaw factory production, and they put their names to some swords, or had assistants/apprentices sign on their behalf. As you noticed, in addition to the signature, your sword also has a Showa stamp on it. It is the character shō - 昭 - inside of a five--petaled cherry blossom. You can make out the left side of 昭 in the stamp on your sword. Anyway, with this stamp I wouldn't expect your sword to be handmade.

[Brian]

Steve,

I would bear in mind that many of the swords bearing arsenal stamps are still "handmade" in the sense that they were beaten and maybe folded, but with modern steel, with less care and oil quenched instead of water quenched. That would still make it an arsenal "factory" blade, but still made by the smith and not stamped out by a machine.
Some weren't folded, but still hammered out.
No easy way to tell, but I don't like to give the idea that all stamped swords are factory made with no smith really involved. Sometimes they were just made fast, with less traditional methods...but still by the smith who signed them. Handmade? I guess you can call it that sometimes..but not traditionally made.

[SteveM]

Yes - good points. And in any event it is an interesting piece of history that should be preserved and cared for.

[pats22shirley]

Yes indeed. I will be taking good care of this. Thanks for all the good help!

[IJASWORDS]

Hi All, can I ask a stupid question. If the sword was a WW2 SHOWA made blade, why was it put in civilian mounts, with a scabbard that has what looks like provision for a KOGATANA? If it was going to war, and made in war time, would it not be in military mounts? I can understand an old sword in civilian mounts put in a leather combat cover and taken to war. What am I missing? Neil.  

[Jean]

Could have been put in this koshirae to mislead a newbie into thinking to have a handmade blade instead of a machine made one...

[Dave R]

 There are Showato in Buke mounts that were made that way. Part of a patriotic revival of traditional swordsmanship. I would guess whether the blade was traditional or not would depend on money spent. Below is  Showa (1930's) Tsuka I have in my collection.

[Lance]

Tthe 2 most common reasons usually given for these types of swords in "civillian" mounts were resurgent interest in martial arts in Japan and rising interest for their past history (nationalism) leading to greater demand for swords by the public.

Regards,

Lance

[SAS]

Regarding caring for the sword, there are good articles here on NMB; of particular note is that fingerprints are very acidic and will etch metal very quickly....avoid touching the blade with bare hands, and oil and wipe off any prints right away. The compulsion for people to touch blades seems to be overwhelming!

[pats22shirley]

Thank you guys for the input. I have bought a display case for the sword and will be keeping it in that. My mother inlaw was convinced that it was taken off of a soldier during the war. I'm happy it's aithentic and has some sentimental value.

[Dave R]

It is quite possible that it was taken off a soldier during the war. Sometimes the only militarisation these got was a leather cover on the scabbard and a suspension ring.