Seeking Information on a Sword

[Ben A Harris]

I am seeking information on what I believe to be a shin-gunto, Japanese officers sword, type 98 with a metal scabbard. I consider it to be in good to very good condition. The blade is very well maintained with no corrosion or blemishes.

I am not yet familiar with the Japanese terms for the various parts so please bear with me.

I can find only one visible identifying mark. The mark is a metallic piece applied near the end of the hilt top edge surface. It is fastened over the top of silk threading and gold metallic flowers.  There is a small silverish square bearing what looks similar to the English symbol for infinity ∞.    

[ChrisW]

9 minutes ago, Ben A Harris said:

I am seeking information on what I believe to be a shin-gunto, Japanese officers sword, type 98 with a metal scabbard. I consider it to be in good to very good condition. The blade is very well maintained with no corrosion or blemishes.

I am not yet familiar with the Japanese terms for the various parts so please bear with me.

I can find only one visible identifying mark. The mark is a metallic piece applied near the end of the hilt top edge surface. It is fastened over the top of silk threading and gold metallic flowers.  There is a small silverish square bearing what looks similar to the English symbol for infinity ∞.    

 

 

You're only a state over from me, I'll DM you some information regarding getting your blade looked at in person.

~Chris

[Scogg]

Hi @Ben A Harris,

You have what looks like a large and imposing sword in those WW2 military fittings. 

Are you able to take the handle off, and show us the tang? These swords were designed to be disassembled, so fear not. But still, proceed with care and caution. 

Skip ahead on this video to the time 6:40, for instructions on disassembling a sword in fittings.
 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

The symbol is a family crest, call a kamon or mon.  There are guys here who can give you some info on that.  They originated way back in the Samurai days, and each clan had it's own symbol.  Well before WWII, Japan opened it up to letting anyone have one that wanted one, and by WWII many mon were being used by multiple different families.  Some of them can be narrowed down to a shorter list of names, but you won't find a specific family name that can be tied to it.

 

I have one with the old Fujiwara clan symbol, which is cool, but the guy that used it in WWII could have had any name, literally.

 

The fittings are Type 98 Japanese officer sword fittings.  You can read up on these on Ohmura's site: Military Swords of Imperial Japan (Gunto).  The blade may be something from pre-WWII, which is why the guys are asking you to remove the handle (tsuka).  Very easy to do.

[robinalexander]

 

7 hours ago, Ben A Harris said:

I am seeking information

 

 

Hi Ben, before you do anything, have a squiz at this.  http://japaneseswordindex.com/care.htm

 

Its important if you have never handled one before.

[Ben A Harris]

Scogg......

 

Thanks for the video. It enabled me to overcome my fear of 40+ years and remove the tsuka. The  mekigi proved difficult to remove. It fragmented into small pieces and dust as noted on the attached photo.

Notes on the Shin-Gunto

The Shin-Gunto is believed to be a Type 98 with machine made blade

The blade was observed to be free of any defects or corrosion and is believed to be in very good to excellent condition. The cutting edge is intact with no defects along the whole length.

The overall length of the blade is 93.6 cm. The length of the blade from the tip to the notch is 64.6 cm. The length of the tang is 24 cm. The width of the blade at the notch is 33.5mm. The blade thickness is 7 mm.

The blade includes a fuller or Bo-hi the full length

The temper line is quite visible but could not be photographed nor identified as to type. Ditto for the tip temper

The tang was examined under well lighted magnification. No marks, stamps nor logos were observed with certainty. No serial number stamp was observed A possible temper stamp was observed just above the Muni-machi.  The presence of such a stamp cannot be confirmed.

The tang exhibits three each 6 mm diameter holes. The peg hole is elongated along the tang long axis.

The Tsuba is metal with what appears to be a gold tone finish.The finish is everywhere degraded.

In addition to the Tsuba guard , there were 6 O-seppa spacers. The Tsuba and all of the O-seppa bear the stamped digits 2 and 7. The stamped 2 and 7 are the only marks by the sword maker that are observed.

The guard and all the fittings exhibit sharply formed cherry blossoms and leaves. All the metal decorative work is very sharply defined and seems to be well made.

Research has revealed that the silvery attachment with a logo resembling the   infinity symbol is a Kamon or Mon that is not related to the sword maker. Specific identity was not determined

“The silvery diamond-shaped metallic inlay (pressed or inlaid into the flat end-face of the kashira/pommel cap) with a symbol resembling the infinity mark (∞) is almost certainly the personal or clan family crest (kamon or mon) of the Japanese officer who owned or commissioned the shin-guntō”

Further research may yield more detailed family identity with this rare mon

[vajo]

Removed mei on an older sword?

Could be shinto

 

 

Hamon looks interesting gunome midare

Edited 21 hours ago by vajo

[vajo]

Better blade pics are needed.

[Bruce Pennington]

I agree.  The nakago appears to be something older than WWII.

[John C]

7 hours ago, Ben A Harris said:

It fragmented into small pieces

Don't worry too much about that. The tapered end of a bamboo chopstick works well.

 

John C.

[vajo]

@Bruce can you move that thread to the nihonto section for more audience on the blade?

[Scogg]

Hi @Ben A Harris, @vajo, @John C and @Bruce Pennington

I have relocated this thread to the NIHONTO section. 

Ben, I did this because it seems that your blade is not machine made. It appears older, and maybe interesting. Sometimes older blades were put into WW2 fittings to be carried during the war. 

Now that we're in this section, you will be asked to provide more detailed photos (if willing). You will want to remove all the fittings, including habaki, and focus on the blade. Use my photo below for some guidance. Please understand that it's very challenging to get blade details photographed, so it will not be an easy task. I recommend looking around the forum, and getting an idea of what some good photos look like. 

Looking forward to seeing more of your sword, if you choose to share with us.
All the best,
-Sam

 

[Rivkin]

Feels like some kind of Bizen blade but many pictures are needed to be more precise or certain of anything.