Old sword in WW2 fittings?

[CarsonSharps]

 Hello,

 

Newb here with first sword.  I know next to nothing about Japanese Swords but I always thought they were super cool.  Anyhoo I aquired this sword recently and was hoping you guys could tell me if its legit or fake.  Got it cheap so if its modern repro or such well it still looks cool in the war room...lol.  I found an online dictionary of Japanese sword terms and took some measurements/etc...so as not to be totally lazy on my request

 

Length 27.5"

Sori.     0.5"

Width at Hamachi. 2.98 cm

Width at Kissaki.    2.0 cm

Kasane  7.5mm

 

The tang signature looks alot like a couple pix I found online.  Bungo Ju Fujiwara Saneyuki ?  Edo Period/Kanei Era?

 

Blades has several nicks.

 

Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

Carson

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ROKUJURO]

Carson,

welcome to the NMB!

I think SANEYUKI is correct. Nice find in seemingly good condition!

Here you can compare: https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-bungo-ju-fujiwara-saneyuki/ Please consider that not all signatures are originally by the maker, but your sword is a traditionally made Japanese blade, probably from early EDO period. 

Reading of the signature is always vertical with tip up.

[CarsonSharps]

Well Jean thats sounds great!  If Saneyuki is correct thats a good sign.  Do the rest of the characters look legit?

 

Thanks for the link and the tip on how to orient blade to read signature!

 

Best!

 

Carson

[ROKUJURO]

Carson,

you cannot make an authenticity research by photos alone - at least, I can't. You need certified samples for comparison and see them in hand. But the main point is that you have to compare the blade and its features with the standard work of the smith. Comparing the signature is the last step in an assessment; in the best case, it will confirm the work. And all that is the work of real experts which I am certainly not.

So at this stage you should feel and act as if you had a 500 year old original. Read here on the NMB how to treat a valuable blade and how to preserve it. If possible, have the blade presented to a SHINSA panel. 

And of course read a lot, and enjoy your blade! 

[Rivkin]

It looks very much legit.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Looks like a nice one, if you got it cheap then even better. It appears there is a silver crest on the handle, can we get a picture of that?

[CarsonSharps]

Great eye John!  I never noticed it.  What do you think it means?

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Carson, that is a family crest. Before the Meiji restoration every family had a specific family crest (Mon) that only they could use. After the restoration and abolishment of the Samurai the regulations on these family Mon more or less ended, allowing anyone to use whatever Mon they liked (except the Imperial family & Government Mon). It is not unusual to find these Mon on good quality swords like yours, sometimes they have the family name of the officer in silver rather than a crest.

 

There is a thread for identifying Mon here:

 

[CarsonSharps]

Wow John thats very cool!  Thank you for that info and the link!

 

This is a fantastic site and you guys are really nice and super informative.  

 

I'm definitely hanging around!

 

Anybody know where I can get some small screws for the fittings?  It looks like a few are missing on the saya.  Or should I just leave it?

[Surfson]

You did very well Carson.  Most of the first purchases that we see are train wrecks.  Either Chinese fakes or too far gone old swords.   Yours looks very promising.  

[CarsonSharps]

Beginners Luck I guess!  

 

Thanks Robert!