WW2 Army General's Shingunto w/General Tassel--Being Auctioned Off This Weekend

matthewbrice · Thursday at 10:53 PM

An exceptionally difficult to find Army General's shin-gunto sword w/General's Tassel being auctioned off this weekend.

Here is the link to St. Croix Blades' auction of this Army General's sword: https://www.ebay.com/itm/116636445564

Many more photos are in the listing.

The mounts are early Type 94 mounts. Notice the elongated kabutogane with pins used to affix it to the tsuka. This sword also has an oversized pierced tsuba, early reddish brown saya lacquer, and a silver Samurai mon located on the fuchi. All military fittings are of the highest quality.

This sword was never messed with by a collector or dealer. It is just as it was brought back from the War.

The 16th/17th Century signed old family blade measures 24 3/4" (62.9 cm) from blade tip to notch in the blade spine. The nakago is signed 'Inshu ju Kanesaki'.

If you use Hawley's book as a reference, there are several 15 pt smiths who signed 'Inshu ju Kanesaki', and there is one that worked around 1596 A.D. that was a 40 pt swordsmith. The hamon on this sword is best described as Hiroi haku gunome midare togare, or wide box bead shape irregular pointed. A beautiful hamon. The 40 pt smith used a gunome hamon similar to this sword. Also, the blade has no openings or other flaws. This sword was possibly (or likely) made by the 40 pt swordsmith Inshu ju Kanesaki.

Condition:

This sword is in beautiful condition. The General's tassel is in excellent condition with honest signs of carry. The blade is in old Japanese polish. There are no mentionable-size nicks. The blade has scattered spots of very light pitting. Since there aren't any mentionable-size nicks, the scattered pits are shallow, there are no openings or other flaws, and the hamon and boshi are perfectly healthy, this sword would polish beautifully. St. Croix Blades can refer the buyer to a polisher if desired.

--Matthew Brice

St. Croix Blades