Custom shin gunto with white saya

[Gerry]

I've owned this custom shingunto for the better part of 20 years, and thought I'd share photos of it with this forum since I don't see gunto with white says very often.

 

The sword has a graceful 25" inch nagasa blade that is ubu and unsigned, with a very well controlled nioi deki gunome hamon, and is very well balanced in weight distribution. The pierced tsuba is also very large and heavy.

 

It seems that the white paint is original to the saya, since some areas of wear exposing the steel underneath don't show any other colored undercoats. The metal fittings are also heavy and copper colored, with an oval ashi ring.

 

It's a pity that the nakago isn't signed, since I've always wondered who the smith was for this rather lovely blade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gerry]

The mon on the hilt is unfortunately missing.

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes, that is gorgeous!  I was expecting to see the color on Ohmura's page, but was surprised it was not included

 

It looks original, though.  We know it was done in NCO 95s from @Stegel collection and posts, and I'm thinking we've seen it at least once before for officer gunto, but haven't done a search yet.

[Gerry]

Hi Bruce,

 

Thanks! I appreciate you sharing the photo of the NCO swords, and these do have a similar cream colored paint on the saya as the one on my sword.

 

One thing I also wanted to note are the slender proportions of the blade; the width at the yokote is only 0.75" (1.90cm), and the width at the hamachi is 1.125" (2.86cm). It almost has the proportions of a koto sword.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Remarkable example, it's an early Type 94 from a particular sword shop I've seen other good quality examples from in the past. The only thing that gives me pause on the originality of the colour is the gold/copper paint on all fittings.

[Gerry]

Thanks, and with regards to the copper fittings, if you look at the last photo above showing the ashi, you can see that the left clasp has s small chip, exposing the internal color of the metal, which is also copper colored.

[Joseph P.]

Thank you for sharing this. I came across one myself and have been doing research on the winter camo. Unfortunately information is scarce. As Bruce said, the color is not even listed on Ohmura's website. I have also found examples of helmets and bayonets painted white. From what I understand, they could have seen use in Manchuria or the Aleutian islands. The tsukaito is missing on my example, but there is white paint on the rayskin where it would have been exposed under the wrap, suggesting it was painted white. Sadly the old blade is in bad condition.

[Gerry]

Interestingly enough, the same on the tsuka on mine is also painted white on the exposed areas. It would be quite remarkable if this color of gunto was indeed for troops sent to the Aleutian islands. There's movie footage of these troops that I've soon on TV, so let me try to find it again and verify if they had white gunto.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Given the early nature of the fittings it would more likely to have been taken to China. 

[lonely panet]

would or could this have been a theme after surrenders/occupation as a identification marker??

 possibly something used simular how the Japanese where allowed to keep and carry there weapons after the formal surrender but the british used the Japanese in india to help subdue the ethic violance ?

[Joseph P.]

11 hours ago, Gerry said:

Interestingly enough, the same on the tsuka on mine is also painted white on the exposed areas. It would be quite remarkable if this color of gunto was indeed for troops sent to the Aleutian islands. There's movie footage of these troops that I've soon on TV, so let me try to find it again and verify if they had white gunto.

 

The Shin Gunto Kanemoto linked below has a handle that was painted white. I'll post some of the links to whatever information I could gather. 

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21548-winter-is-coming/

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/51654-shin-gunto-kanemoto

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26694-greetings-from-az-help-with-a-possible-type-98

 

This discussion on Japanese snow camo helmets is pretty interesting.

https://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/315244-Japanese-snow-camo-helmet/

 

I also found this Type 98 on the SBG website. 

https://sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/product814.html

"Here is a comparison with a genuine type 98 Gunto whose scabbard has faded over the last 7 or 8 decades to a white powdery color:"

I'm not holding this sword in my hand of course, but I honestly can't say I've ever seen a scabbard fade to white like that. Surely we would have seen a number of them.

 

I also found a sword for sale on Etsy, a supposed Meiji era saber. It also has remnants of white paint on the grip, though it is a sword from an earlier era.

"Meiji Era 1860s-1910s Japanese Type 8 Cavalry Troopers Sword with Scabbard"