Help With Another Sword Id

[DaveM4P99]

OK! Yet another sword from someone over on AR15.com...

 

 

 

 

This was the info he gave me, not sure how accurate it is...

 

"Based on the MEI I believe this is an "Emura Chounsai" blade. It is said he ran a prison in Japan before and during WWII. They say he made blades himself but that his students/prisoners also made blades in his name. I am trying to confirm that it is an Emura blade, and if so, can it be determined if he actually made it. Either way my end goal is to see if it is worthy of a polish given the cost of such service.  

At this time there is no Hamon visible to my eye"

 

 

Doesn't look too bad to me...but I am no expert!

[DaveM4P99]

Found this auction with good pics to compare...Mei looks right to me...?

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/57583586_chounsai-emura-emura-saku-sword-1941

And this old thread from here...

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/7435-chounsai-emura-saku-help-please/

[Brian]

https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/emura.htm

[DaveM4P99]

https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/emura.htm

 

Thanks Brian. Interesting read. And the mei on the blade I posted seems to match "E" oshigata, no?

 

What is your opinion on getting this blade restored/polished by the owner? Worth it?

[DRDave]

Dave,  Can you post a close up or two of the blade and tip?  The following links will give you an idea of the variation among Emura blades that are in polish.

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2014/14656-2.jpg

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2016/16095-2.jpg

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2009/09149-2.jpg

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2013/13293-2.jpg

[SteveM]

Regarding the question of value, you will notice that two of the above blades from Aoi have the same signature as the one in the original post (the type labelled "E" in Brian's post). Among the "E" styled signatures, there are slight variations in how the characters are drawn. So these may be swords made by various hands under the supervision of Emura (whereas the ones with the longer signatures - the "Chounsai Emura" and various other long signatures, seem to be made solely by Emura). Anyway, even type E signatures may be authenticated, so rather than digging into the forensics and, for example, trying to determine if the final upstroke on the water radical of the 江 kanji is sufficiently long, it is probably more important to look at the sword itself and see if it is of the same quality as the two that Dave posted that have the same E style signature. 

 

Notice also that the examples with papers on Aoi are fetching around 350,000 to 400,000 yen. This is the retail price of an authenticated Emura in good polish. So if the sword in your post is decent, and it can be polished and authenticated (cost of approximately $2000 + 6 months or so in getting the sword back and forth to Japan), the end result will be something that competes with the swords on Aoi's site. Of course Aoi is making a profit on those sales, so if you were to sell your sword to Aoi, he would buy it for much less than the listed price.

 

Is that a worthy pursuit? It is a question only the owner can answer. I do admire anyone who is willing to restore and preserve an historical artifact regardless of the expense. 

[Stephen]

Years ago i had like signed Emura...after polish it sold over 3K.

[DaveM4P99]

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

I will try to get more pics of the blade and kissaki today.

[Surfson]

My advice is not to bother.  It costs the same to polish and restore an authentic samurai era sword (pre 1870 or so) as it does to restore this blade.