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Sword question, what is it?


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Hello everyone,

 

I am fairly new to the board and spend most of my time in the Military Sword section but have come across a sword that I don't know anything about. The seller claims its a WWII Japanese officers gunto samurai bonsi sword. Unsigned in good condition, leather scabbard, ray skin handle, silk woven grip, brass tsuba. Faint tempra line. 39” in total length. I am still trying to learn about these swords but there is so much to cover so I was told by a fellow MilitarySwordpost-5191-0-97490000-1579302504_thumb.png board member to ask the experts over in this section. 

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I saw one of these recently. It had been purchased at an estate sale for $5.  My guess is it's a Chinese post-war souvenir item.  The leather cover was very nice; but the "blade" was unpolished; and the ito appeared to be real silk; but there were no menuki, like this one.  This one has a nice fuchi/tsuba match; but it isn't trying too hard to be real.  Curious.

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And that was why I came here first  :thumbsup:. It seemed strange like something was off but again I haven't learned enough to know for sure yet. Thanks guys for the conformation and the reasoning why. Reading post like these helps me learn a lot, thanks Ray for the link.

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 I have seen similar online, but better quality mounts, and my guess is Manchurian army or possibly Ta-Tao collaborationist officer. Not Japanese, but still collectable militaria.

 

 One photo is from a seller based in Japan, and the other is a Getty image and original WW2 era photo of Ta-Tao troops.

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If you look closely at the TSUKA (handle), you will see that the binding technique is wrong (and rather new). This will not hold in actual use in combat, so my guess is that this is a more recent attempt to make money by selling fakes to less knowledgeable collectors and militaria fans.   

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