Leroy Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Hi all. What are your opinions on this Kai-Gunto? It's not traditionaly made, but is starting at 2500US. Is it worth the price? The fittings are in pretty good condition. I know they are highly sought after, but... http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Samurai-Sw ... dZViewItem What you all think? -Leroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Hi Leroy, All I can tell you is about the seller. I have bought from Mike previously and found him to be excellent. My sword arrived from California to Florida 16 hours after I sent the money to him!! You can't say better than that! What makes you say it is not traditionally made? Does anyone know any site or publication with a good list of Kai Gunto smiths? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leroy Posted November 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 As far as I understand, stamps usually indicate a non-traditional blade. I know there are acceptions. I am far from an expert. I recently purchased a kai-gunto from AOI-ART. It has no stamps and some decent activity in the hamon. I will try to post pics this weekend. I too have heard nothing but good things from the seller. I was just curious of other's opinions of the blade. -Leroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leroy Posted November 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 to start. Rich Stein's website is a good place to start looking for smiths as well as a TON of other valuable info. It's a cornerstone for alot of people on this board. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm -Leroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Doffin Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 The blade appears to be stainless steel, which precludes traditional construction. Mike is 100% to be trusted; I think the price is for the mounts, which appear to be much nicer than usual. Grey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Grey, I am interested to know why you say this is Stainless Steel. What are you looking at? (or not looking at!) A lack of Hada? Hamon artificial? Something to do with the nakano? I just want to learn more and see some of what you see... :? Thanks!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Doffin Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 I'm looking at the nakago which is as bright as the day it was made. I've never seen a non stainless gunto nakago that didn't have at least a bit of corrosion. Grey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdgrange Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 I also have a stainless blade with the naval arsenal anchor stamp. They also have well cut inscriptions. Kanenaga develolped a special stainless steel for navy blades. This is an excellent example of kai-gunto mounts and the blade in excellent condition. It is not traditionally made and is not a gendaito, however. It is a stainless blade in my opinion as well. It is worth the price. The navy did receive traditionally made blades from the Minatogawa jinja and the Yasukuni smiths as well. None have any stamp and the presence of one indicates that it is not traditionally made. There is one exception, arguably, and that is the star stamp on late war blades. Any attempt to send this to Japan, for instance, would result in it being confiscated. It is still a nice piece of militaria from WW2. which is where this belongs. Mike Yamaguchi is a very respectable dealer as well. regards bdgrange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Hi BD Grange, I found this one not so long ago. Kai Gunto too and the mei INABA. Any thoughts? My wife did find a documented "smith" on a Japanese website by this name who made swords for the Navy. This also has the anchor stamp. Cheers Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdgrange Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Nigel Yours having three mekugiana is unusual for a gunto. It looks like stainless and an anchor stamp would be for the Toyokawa naval arsenal, circle and anchor I believe. Given only the nakago and sig. I am not sure what may or not be going on with this. The smith is unknown to me as well. The yakiba on these swords may or may not be real with actual nioi present. This has not been established by anyone. I am still learning about these as well and there is not much in the way of source material. best bdgrange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Hi BD, Yes it does have the circled anchor stamp. When my wife gets back from Japan I will get her to look up the site where there was details of the smith and I will send to you. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 I found one name of Inaba. On the following list, No. 159 shows Inaba Kaneyoshi (伊奈波兼吉) as Kaigun jumei toko (海軍受命刀工). http://www.murataya-g.co.jp/sword.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Thanks Moriyama san, I will post the details we found on Inaba, including a sword festival they have at the Inaba shrine every year, but I'll have to wait until Yukako gets back from Yokohama later this week, as my grasp of written Nihon-go is pathetic. It was a Japanes website where she found it. This sword is lying in a junk shop in Florida right now. It looks machine made and it has been stuck into much older (shinto I think) koshirae. the Koshirae is actually qiute reasonable and is probably worth more than the blade! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Hi Moriyama san, Found, quite by accident the details of what my wife saw on the internet. She found a shrine called INABA JINJYA in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. They still have a sword festival every October for sale and exhibition of nihonto. She also found a local sword smith named INABA in that prefecture; INABA KANEYOSHI, who was a SHOWA period smith. He was a contract sword smith for Japanese Navy. His teacher was called MATSUBARA SHOZO. Cannot find any examples of his mei for comparison to the sword lying in the junk shop. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 She also found a local sword smith named INABA in that prefecture; INABA KANEYOSHI, who was a SHOWA period smith. He was a contract sword smith for Japanese Navy. His teacher was called MATSUBARA SHOZO. Hi sencho san, His teacher MATSUBARA SHOZO (松原正造) seems to be a WWII sword smith in Seki. His smith name was also Kaneyoshi (兼吉) according to the WWII Japanese Swordsmiths list on the following Dr. Rich S's site. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/tosho.htm http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusunokimasahige Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 I have just seen a katana from the same seller (shin-gunto) 265 US$ of which he claims that the scratches might be from tameshi giri.... some might well be... however one of his photos show a tell tale streak which IMHO can only come from the severing of a head....... any ideas? KM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sencho Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 From Historian?? Which sword is that KM? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusunokimasahige Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 IMHO this stain and pitting can only be from blood.... it is also on the correct place for a severing. http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Samurai-Sw ... dZViewItem is the auction... KM he should spray the blade with luminol and put blacklight on it....... more people should do this btw... sometimes very interesting stuff comes up that way........ Any Ideas from the connaisseurs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusunokimasahige Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 none of you on this? KM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simon Rowson Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Blimey, wish I'd known about using luminol and a blacklight to disclose any past beheadings when I first started collecting Nihonto! As I've already told Brian in a PM, my dear old mother was the single biggest obstacle I had to overcome when I began collecting! To quote from my e-mail to Brian: "I was only about 15 or 16 and so still living at home and my mother, who is now 82, was of the WII generation and had lost both her brother and favourite cousin during that conflict. Just to make matters worse, the cousin had been killed by the Japanese and, when his remains were discovered after the war in a communal grave, he had been beheaded! So, as you can imagine, every time I got a new sword my mother was convinced it was the one that had dispatched her cousin". If I'd been told about the luminol back then I could have convinced her that I only collected "friendly" swords that had never harmed anyone! Regards, Simon PS/ As I also told Brian, my mother absolutely adores my (Japanese) wife and was 100% behind our decision to move here so please don't get the impression that she's a bitter, twisted old lady.....she just suffered some hard losses in the last war, like most of her generation whatever their nationality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusunokimasahige Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 indeed a gruesome story and a lot she went through... of course the luminol will not work on repolished swords, however if you find a gunto/gendaito which is probably in its original war state, ie un or not having been polished in the last 70 odd years, it should still work. A word of consolation on the beheading of her cousin is of course hard to add, since her loss was grave as was the loss of so many lives during WWII. however in view of Japanese military/bushi culture, and something that has not been understood by many westerners, beheading was in some Japanese eyes considered a much more honourable way of execution than the bullet, hanging(how actual at the moment), or crucifixion which was still used by the Japanese army back then... KM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Valid as though it may be, I think we need to declare this subject concluded now. In light of worldwide attention on swords as weapons (ref the UK currently) we need to dwell more on the art aspects of these, and not make the lawmakers even more paranoid than they already are Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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