Inherited Sword Captured in Burma During WW2: Looking to Learn More

[CarstairsCowboy]

Good Afternoon Y'all! 

 

I'm posting this here because, quite frankly, I don't really know where best to put this. My grandfather came back with this sword from the Burma campaign and it eventually passed down to me, and until now no one in my family really cared to look into it, treating it as a neat war trophy and nothing more. Consequently, I have effectively no knowledge about this and anyone who did know anything has already passed on. I have done a little bit of digging and been told it is everything from a fake to an early 18th century Gimei. What I do know about it is that it lived in a closet in Terrace, BC, then in Carstairs, Alberta, Seattle, Washington, then eventually back to Calgary before it came into my hands.

 

Truth be told, I am leaning more heavily toward it being fake than anything else, but it would still be nice to know a bit more about it, since it has been in my family since at least 1945, nor do I have any intention of selling it. 

 

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, I'm all ears! If anyone knows who I could speak to about getting it polished and where I could find or have someone put on new fittings, that would be super helpful too! 

 

Photos below are the best ones I have of it, but please let me know if you need more or a different angle or something.

 

Cheers and thanks! 

-Connor

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hello Connor, this appears to be a genuine Japanese sword. The sword dates to the 1700's and the maker is Ason Yasuyo, whether the signature is authentic is another matter. The fittings are traditional Samurai style that have been modified for the war. 

 

If you know about the history of how your grandfather took the sword in Burma, I would type it all out and keep it with the sword as a nice bit of family history. 

[CarstairsCowboy]

I don't really know all too much, to be honest. My father told me he didn't really talk about the war much and he passed when my father was still quite young. As it is, the majority of what we know is that he didn't have it when he went into the jungle, and had it when he came out. If it is genuine, should I move the post to the Nihonto thread? I'm still somewhat skeptical that it is genuine, since it seems a bit far-fetched in my mind, given how many swords were produced period around the war. 

 

Cheers

-Connor

[Rawa]

In my opinion saya is wooden one made for leather cover (typical robust haikan)

 

[Ian B3HR2UH]

It is genuine in that it is a real Japanese sword . The question as John says is the blade really made by Yasuyo . The Japanese produced a lot of blades and put the names of famous makers on them to make them more saleable . This is like coming across a painting signed by say Picasso . It is a real painting but was Picasso the actual artist or did someone sign it with his name to make it more saleable

[Scogg]

Hi Connor @CarstairsCowboy, 

 

I will relocate your thread to the Nihonto section for more input on the signature.

 

More photos never hurts, preferably on a dark non reflective background. Close ups of the tip, full blade profile centered from above, both sides of the tang. It’s best if pictures are oriented so tip is north and tang south. 

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your sword and family story with us. My journey into Nihonto started similarly; with a small nugget of a story and an inherited sword. 

Best of luck,

-Sam  
 

 

[CarstairsCowboy]

Hey @Scogg! I have added a few more images for context. I'll have to add more under this post.

 

If y'all think that this is a genuine Nihonto, then I'm now doubly curious to see if I can find out more, because this is one of those once in a lifetime kind of things. My family never really kept or cared about things like this and my mother almost pawned it decades ago, so I'm hoping I can find out the history of it!

[Julien]

In case this helps

Edited January 16 by Julien16

[CarstairsCowboy]

More photos part 2.

[CarstairsCowboy]

@Julien16 It definitely looks like this is likely a gimei then, since the signature and style are pretty different from the reference material. The hamon line also stands out as being very different by comparison and looks like it was done in an entirely different style.

[ChrisW]

Though gimei, it may still be a sword meriting restoration. I would inquire with a traditionally trained togishi (Japanese sword polisher) and get their opinion on it.

[Julien]

One with Hozon kanteishō, https://www.aoijapan.net/wakizashi-aoimon-syume-kami-ichinohira-yasuyo/ 
One with Tokubetsu Hozon https://eirakudo.shop/token/tachikatana/detail/453578

Edited January 16 by Julien16

[Brian]

Remember that gimei just means the signature is false, not that the sword is. This is almost certainly a genuine Japanese sword, and likely antique. Even without the signature, it's a nice piece and worthy of looking after. Yes..you have a genuine antique Japanese sword that looks to be traditionally made.

[Bruce Pennington]

Connor,

Don't be bothered by the fact that the signature is gimei.  It was a well known practice as long as they were making swords.  Samurai, as well as Shoguns, have been known to treasure a sword while knowing it was gimei.

 

As for your fittings.  This sword could have been brought to the war by it's owner, refitted with the wooden saya (scabbard) for the field.  It would have been covered by a leather cover.  They are often lost over the years.  Many were donated, or bought up by the military in drives to meet demands of the war effort, then refitted in varying degrees and sold to new officers. Yours looks to have kept the civilian tsuka (handle).  Cannot tell if the tsuba (hand guard) was kept or a military one put in its place.

 

You can see an example of how it might have looked:

 

They were also refitted fully with military hardware:

 

There are ways to restore your sword and make it look nice, or you can keep it as is.  Either way, please read up on how to take care of it: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com

[Julien]

@CarstairsCowboy
Please see no malice in my previous comments. I only shared references to help you evaluate your blade. As others have already mentioned, I think there are two important points to keep in mind:

- A gimei sword can still be a piece of very fine craftsmanship.
- More importantly, this is your family treasure, and it was likely the treasured possession of a Japanese family decades ago as well.

Depending on the time, energy, and money you are willing to invest, you could certainly have the sword polished and have a new habaki and shirasaya made. Personally, I would not worry too much about the fittings, but again, this is entirely a personal decision.

In the end, it is completely up to you.

Edited January 19 by Julien

[CarstairsCowboy]

@Julien

All good! No malice assumed from me! I actually ended up going into a bit of a deep dive since I was last on here to see if I could find out more! Between that and getting super busy at work, I kinda ended up putting my nose straight to the grindstone and everything else fell off my radar!

 

-Connor

[Jacques]

Ippei Yasuyo is a big name of Satsuma. Unfortunately this sword is gimei.