Are these military or just practice replicas?

[Nervous]

My father passed and left these two swords, he said it belonged to his chinese grandfather that left his country during the revolution. They where both martial artists so these could have been just practice swords made of steel and not real military ones.

 

My intention was to clean out the rust and maybe use them for practice, but some people said that if these have any historical value I shouldn't. Wich I agree, so I wanted to confirm before making any decisions.

 

The saya is not original, my father ordered custom ones. The tsuka we are not so sure, they might have been ordered as well as the wrapping is amateur and the material is wrong. But the other pieces as the tsuba, huchi and kasira I can't tell.

 

The nakago is very rusty and doesn't seem to have any stamps but the rust could have covered it. My guess is that these aren't real layered blades, but they aren't contemporary e-bay replicas as well.

 

Any insight and opinions would be greatly apreciated!

 

Closer pics on the link Here

[ChrisW]

Hard to tell from the photos, but at a glance, these appear to be Japanese made swords. Paired together as a 'daisho'. The longer one appears to be possibly WWII-made, just by the length and the shape of the nakago but it could also be older than that.

I would say that you should take some more photos. Do NOT clean or attempt to 'improve' the blades without first reading the care information on this page:

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/faq/

[Brian]

Don't like the "pointy" end to the nakago on the one...this is usually a sign of a fake. But we would need more pics of the tang and blade to tell for sure. Left one appears genuine and old, but we do need far better pics.

[vajo]

Looks fake to me.

[Scogg]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I also believe both swords are not Japanese. 

 

But still, they hold memories of your father and his friend with a shared interest in martial arts. So that’s something to cherish. 

Sincerely,

-Sam 

 

 

[Nervous]

On 1/5/2026 at 8:11 PM, ChrisW said:

Hard to tell from the photos, but at a glance, these appear to be Japanese made swords. Paired together as a 'daisho'. The longer one appears to be possibly WWII-made, just by the length and the shape of the nakago but it could also be older than that.

 

On 1/6/2026 at 3:33 AM, Brian said:

Don't like the "pointy" end to the nakago on the one...this is usually a sign of a fake. But we would need more pics of the tang and blade to tell for sure. Left one appears genuine and old, but we do need far better pics.

 

Thank you for the answers and the link!

 

I tried taking better pics in a more lit enviroment, replaced them in the same google drive link here, if needed I can take some more just tell me what you would like to see. Unfortunetly I couldn't manage to remove the tsuka from the smaller one as it is very much stuck. If you have any tips I could try again.

[Nervous]

19 hours ago, Scogg said:

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I also believe both swords are not Japanese. 

 

But still, they hold memories of your father and his friend with a shared interest in martial arts. So that’s something to cherish. 

Sincerely,

-Sam 
 

 

Hello Sam! Thank you for your answer! 

 

To be completely honest, those wouldn't be "bad news" at all. As you said, these do have much more of a sentimental value to me and my family than monetary or status. What matter to us IS their memory and their symbolism, not if they came from Japan, China or Italy. So don't worry about any potential frustrations the truth could cause, this won't be a problem!

 

I am just very curious about the subject and getting knowledge on what these actually are. So, if you wouldn't mind, I would really apreciate to hear more about the reasons to your beliefs that these aren't Japanese and what would you guess those swords are!

[Nervous]

On 1/6/2026 at 5:47 AM, vajo said:

Looks fake to me.

 

Would you mind telling me more about it? I'm eager to learn and would apreciate wathever knowledge you could share.

[Scogg]

Hi Eliaz,

Your new photos confirm my suspicions. I believe these are not genuine Japanese swords. I've attached a couple of your photos to my post for others to see and for reference.

It's good to hear that it's their memory that counts. Sentimentality like that is where many of us began in this hobby. Some of us even began with fake swords, but the journey to learn inspired us to get real examples. 

Here's some features that point toward them not being genuine:
- The fittings are very low quality, lack seppa, and the samegawa (ray skin under the handle wrap) appears to be wood, plastic, or otherwise a material i've never seen on a genuine example.
- The way the blade bulges larger than the habaki on the small sword.
- The lack of refinement of the tang (nakago) on the long sword, from the shape of the end (nakagojiri) to the yasurime (file marks) to the overall form; all of which do not represent the fine craftsmenship seen on genuine Japanese Sword tangs (nakago).

Overall, they both show a lack of refinement, precision, and quality seen on even lower quality genuine Japanese swords. All these factors lead me to believe them to be made outside of Japan - probably as a matching set to be sold as display items or practice swords (I cannot determine if they are hardened blades or not).

Others might have more to add; but these were the big red flags that I personally see.
All in my opinion...
-Sam

This link is helpful for spotting fakes in the wild:
https://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

 

[ChrisW]

After seeing the new photos and the other's opinions, I have to agree. While these examples approximate the appearance of Japanese swords, they are not Japanese made. There's too many finer details that don't quite add up as Sam pointed out.

I also agree again with Sam though: appreciate them for what they are and the bond they represent with someone you care about! Treasure them and treat them gently. Such memories are precious.