Japanese Machete?

[melanie]

We inherited this along with the Kai Gunto I have posted from my husband's uncle. He brought them both back from WWII. Just wondering what in the world this is. My husband loves it, because the handle appears to be made of some kind of a tusk, and the art-work on it is interesting. The blade is rather beat up, which makes us wonder if it was some kind of a work machete, and we aren't sure if the tassle has any meaning (?)

Thanks!

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Melanie, it looks indonesian to me, but I can be wrong. Maybe the soldier served in Indonesia, surroundings areas or Philippines.

 

Doesn't look Japanese to me.

 

You can find a quite reliable opinion on provenance, age and (if you trust them...) value here.

 

My 2 eurocents...

[drbvac]

I think it is a barong or indonesian sword. Barongs came from the philipines and sometimes had a horn handle like this. Not usually a machete style blade but I would bet NOT Japanese

[Lee Bray]

It looks like an Indonesian golok. Water buffalo horn handle.

[kulajon]

It's a Golock. There's a company in Australia that sells them. http://www.valiantco.com/ I think you'll probably see an accurate representation of your model on the "Java" page of the site. I have two that I use in my landscaping business. As noted below there's a horn handle and they're usually made of spring steel so be careful of rust. The blade will also chip if you hit something hard so be cautious. I just wipe mine off with an oily rags when I finish using them. They also have ironwood sheaths. Hope that helps.