Late-war Type 97 Kai Gunto with single Ashi saya

[Kolekt-To]

Looking to procure a late-war Kai Gunto with single Ashi saya for my collection for under $2000.00 - a non-traditional, rust-resistant, arsenal-made blade is preferable (e.g., Toyokawa, Tenshozan). I'd prefer if it had canvas or leather/cloth on the tsuka instead of same, and to be in reasonably good condition (hopefully the tsuka would be in decent shape, and hopefully the blade would not be significantly scratched, chipped, or pitted). I specifically desire an example of a Type 97 from late in the war when Japan was suffering from materials shortages, and when they were minimizing the use of animal skins and had begun omitting the second hanger from the saya. And, I do not want a post-war souvenir single hanger saya type that seem to be offered regularly from the online auction sites - I'd like a legitimate Type 97 from wartime.

[Kolekt-To]

I just missed acquiring one (it was not posted for sale on NMB), but I believe they were asking too much for a late-war Toyokawa Arsenal Type 97 - someone did pay $2000.00 for it. I don't want to pay $2000.00 for a stainless steel blade Gunto - Toyokawa Arsenal Type 97's are common as far as Kai Guntos go, so I should be able to acquire one for hundreds of dollars less than that. I did, however, just buy a Gendaito Kai Gunto that I believe I'll be pleased with (yes, cost me more than I'm willing to pay for a Toyokawa model, but worth it!). I will continue my search for a late-war Toyokawa. Hopefully it won't be too long before I find another one to consider.

[PNSSHOGUN]

2000 is extortionate for a late war Kai Gunto like that!

[Bruce Pennington]

2 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

extortionate

Ha!  Depends upon how badly a guy wants it!  I paid $1,400 for a copper-handled 95 back when you could get regular 95s for $650.  I knew it was highway-robbery, but I WANTED IT, by golly!  Still have it and don't regret it.

[Kolekt-To]

I may have accomplished my goal with this recent purchase. Hopefully, I now have the late war arsenal Kai Gunto I desired. I knew it wasn't going to be a high-class gunto, and that's fine. I expected a lower-end sword that would be representative of end of war types. In fact, this sword was a bit of a fixer upper, but I believe I got a good price on it - around $700.00. The blade is in decent shape - a few scratches where it appears someone used it for cutting/chopping. It has the dyed black cloth on the tsuka instead of same, and the Ito is more of a dark olive green vs the standard dark brown. It had a loose fit and needed more seppas - only had the black iron oval "O-seppa". I added a new set of matching seppas from my spares that included a new O-seppa, pair of "Rising Sun" (Shakudo?) seppas, and one gold foil type ("Boar's Eye"?) seppa*wouldn't take a second one (all the seppas had matching numbers - #251). I replaced a couple more fittings that needed replacing, for which I had spares, that included a Fuchi and a Kabutogane. The saya, which is affixed with a single Haikan, was in bad shape with many areas damaged and showing the brown fabric that is beneath the surface of the lacquer. I colored those areas with a black furniture marker so the saya is not such of an eye sore. I suspect that the saya may not even be original to the sword, though the blade fits perfectly into the saya. Despite it's navy fittings, I think the saya looks more like a Rinji Seishiki saya than a Type 97. Also, the Kuchigane (saya collar) is missing and, unfortunately, I do not currently have a spare to add - will be searching for more Kai Gunto parts, including the elusive Type 97 Kuchigane which I can't find anywhere. I also added a cord sarute and tassel. Spoke with my local Koshirae repair guy today and he didn't think it was worth the money to fully restore the saya. So, I'll hopefully find a Kuchigane to add and then be done with improving the sword. My new Kai Gunto now has the blade fitting tightly (no wobble), has the correct Navy spec seppas, and the saya is no longer as much of an eye sore. Also, I did the magnet test on the blade and the magnet stuck, so I'm assuming that the blade is not a rust-resistant type (was told that if the magnet sticks, it's not rust-resistant because magnets won't stick to rust-resistant blades due to their chromium content). Here's a couple of photos taken after my work was completed: