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Shin gunto sword....Good blade? Good price? Bad saya?


waljamada

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So I was on ebay as I do. I came across this shin gunto blade for $700 including taxes and shipping. I decided to take the risk, pulled the "buy it now" trigger on it and will give it to my father as a fun retirement present. Can anyone translate the nakago from the bad ebay photos? Also the menuki are brown, was that ever on purpose...or should I clean them? If yes how? Also I cant tell if there is rayskin on the tsuba, did they ever use canvas? Does the tassel look real and how should I repair it? Everything appears authentic to me...would you guys agree? Bummer it's a random saya....one like this wouldnt have been a military issue would it? I also attached the description as I think it's designation as an NCO sword was incorrect...but I could always be wrong and NCO may have a broader meaning than I think.

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 Not the original saya for sure, but the sword looks OK. The menuki look to have patinated with age, but the rest looks righteous.

 

When you get it in hand give it a shake to test the fit of the parts. I think you got a decent deal, but I suspect some missing or replaced parts, in particular, have a close look at the Habaki. 

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Adam,

Made in 1944, it's a standard WWII "showato" (meaning non-traditionally made) blade. Hard to say what that is under the wrap with those pics. The rayskin may just be dirty. There was canvas used in late-war navy tsuka, but I don't recall seeing it in army rigs.

 

Someone will no doubt correct me, as I'm usually wrong about the smiths, but my stab is:

 

兼丈 (Kanetake), a smith in the Seki area.

 

Like you suspected, the saya was either a G.I. grab from a pile to cover his bare blade, or a post-war piece-together on a bare blade. Still looks to be legit Japanese, but doubt it originated that way.

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Ok so it's a late war showato, was hoping it was a gendaito since there isnt a stamp on the tang according to seller or one in the photos. I think something like this is perfect for my father even though it's nothing special as I cant fully trust him to do the care necessary for a quality nihonto. Was quite tempted to give him an anchor stamped kai gunto for that reason. So far I have Kanetake suggested for the mei, want to find out for sure so I can give my dad the correct information. As for the saya, was it perhaps a gunto leather wrapped scabbard at one point? I also see it's missing the top metal piece to the scabbard to make the locking mechanism work. At least the blades a clean one.

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As to the saya - it's possible this was covered with leather during the war, but I still don't think it was original because of the chuso (locking button). Leather clad saya were normally held by a leather strap that ran through the tsuba (handguard). Now, of course, with WWII gunto, there were always exceptions to the rule!

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Just thought i'd throw this in the mix, some food for thought perhaps.

 

 

 Not the original saya for sure,

Like you suspected, the saya was either a G.I. grab from a pile to cover his bare blade, or a post-war piece-together on a bare blade. Still looks to be legit Japanese, but doubt it originated that way.

Dave and Bruce, i don't think we could say that with 100% certainty.

However the possibility does exist.

 

As for the saya, was it perhaps a gunto leather wrapped scabbard at one point? I also see it's missing the top metal piece to the scabbard to make the locking mechanism work.

I think this is still a possibilty,

As to the saya - it's possible this was covered with leather during the war, but I still don't think it was original because of the chuso (locking button). Leather clad saya were normally held by a leather strap that ran through the tsuba (handguard). Now, of course, with WWII gunto, there were always exceptions to the rule!

I have a gunto with leather covered scabbard that utilises the locking button mechanism and not the strap. Admittedly it is a steel scabbard, but as you say- there are always peculiarities and 'exceptions to the rule'. It actually has the strap studs on the leather as well, perhaps it had a handle cover which used them?

 

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I have also seen leather covers with the hanger stitched in, so no hanger mounted on the scabbard directly, which could be the case in the original post.

 

Here's my first ever sword, got it back in 1974 directly from the returned serviceman in Queensland.

The saya is painted wood, but has the type 98 hanger fitted. It also has a suede saya cover.

So Black scabbard and Black leather cover!

It also came with a Brown 'Sam Browne' style, double buckle and shoulder strap, leather belt.

 

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So received the sword. I'm almost positive it had a leather cover and bummer its missing the metal piece at the top of the scabbard for the locking mechanism. Here are some updated photos. I dont see a stamp but perhaps located the remnants of one. I'll attach photos of the possible stamp. I also posted in translation for the mei and date but if anyone here can tell me it would be much appreciated. Any new opinions on the blade after the new photos? It's a 26" nagasa. Also I still dont know what material it is used on the tsuka, its gritty and is cut to fit the surface areas.

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