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

[matthewbrice]

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

[matthewbrice]

Some more photos showing the reverse side of the sword, and some more hamon photos.  

[matthewbrice]

[Rawa]

Cool chuso

[Swords]

Nice package with a general tassel EBay says not listed did it sell ?

[PNSSHOGUN]

Attractive fittings but without any solid provenance it can be difficult for collectors to bid.

[The Blacksmith]

On 6/20/2025 at 1:19 AM, Swords said:

Nice package with a general tassel EBay says not listed did it sell ?

No it didn't sell.

 

Nice sword though.

[matthewbrice]

How many WW2 swords have provenance anymore after 80 years since the war--0.5%?  0.25%?  They would have to have a surrender tag attached to them still--or would have to have a photo from during the war or during the occupation.  Or a letter perhaps.  I was at the Orlando Japanese Sword Show this past weekend.  I saw one surrender tag attached to a sword.  And I bought the only other sword with provenance in the show that I saw.  

 

 

 

--Matthew Brice

 

St. Croix Blades

[Rawa]

Its all about tassel. You can add it to basically any gunto.

[matthewbrice]

I suppose that's true, but everything tracks--Samurai mon on the fuchi, early mounts from approx. 1936 since it's a Type 94, a family blade.  Things like that.  

[matthewbrice]

It would be difficult to believe that a showato sword, a tired old family blade with flaws or one with missing temper, or a gendai by a low-ranking smith would have been carried by a General.  

[Rawa]

Men, looking at amount of these tassels IJA had more generals than privates.  

[Nicholas]

@matthewbrice I believe people have seen so many “put together” swords for sale (not saying yours is) that if there is no provenance it makes for a difficult sale. I personally liked the package whether it is or isn’t a true Generals sword. It checked all the right boxes for me.