WW2 Naval dirk: fibrous material identification?

[Conserved123]

Hello all, 

I'm currently studying this object in my conservation postgrad. Apparently it belonged to a friend of one of the department's contacts at our university. 
I know it's a ceremonial naval dirk, likely made after 1914, but we're wondering what is this fibrous material that can be observed from the exposed end of the hilt? I can't find any examples of any hilt makers using any paper or fabric underneath the ray skin, usually it's glued directly onto the wood, right? So what could this material be? Is this the underside of the ray skin itself that's deteriorated, or something else? Managed to take a decent picture of how it looks under a pocket microscope's magnification (60-120x).

Any thoughts? Guesses? Thank you so much in advance for your help! 

[John C]

Luke:

In general, cotton, silk, and burlap were used commonly on swords. Have you ruled out asbestos? Just being cautious. Mulberry and washi paper were also used, if that helps.

 

John C.

[Conserved123]

Thanks John. Why do all these videos of people wrapping the ray skin around the sword handle show them doing it directly? Is this a method that is no longer in use (putting paper underneath)? In my research I only see people using washi paper under the thread wrapping, AFTER the ray skin has been glued on. If you have any source or reading material that I can look at, about using fabric under the ray skin, please let me know, I'm very curious and want to know more, especially if this reflects changes in craftsmanship over time. 

Edited April 22 by Conserved123

[John C]

I have not seen this kind of wrap before (not saying it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen it). I don't think the wrapping methods have changed. The nihonto world tends to resist modern materials and methods in order to preserve tradition. As to the paper, you are correct in that washi is glued to the top and bottom of the tsuka prior to wrapping. This allows the area to be built up to achieve the proper shape when the same (ray skin) is glued to the  sides.  During wrapping, small traingular folded pieces of paper are tucked under each side of the turned ito to tuck the edges under neath and smooth out the look. All of this (and the placement of the menuki) creates the proper shape so the tsuka fits comfortably in the hand. There should be plenty of videos on youtube, and even a link to a good one on NMB somewhere. 

 

John C.

[Bruce Pennington]

Luke,

 

I would try to find a small blade tip that I could press between the mystery material and the ray skin to see if they are actually two different substances or if the “fabric“ is the underside of the skin and is expanding due to exposure to water. The wood looks like it is delaminating and maybe the whole thing has been exposed to water.

[Conserved123]

That's a great idea @Bruce Pennington. Thank you. 

[Conserved123]

PS @Bruce Pennington if you happen to come across any sources from articles/books/etc that talks about using fabric/paper underneath the ray skin, I would really appreciate it too.

[Conway]

Is that cloth material only at the end of the handle or is it applied the length of the handle? Maybe it was added as extra material to make the end cap fit more snug. The dirks are based on European designs. I wouldn’t lump dirk manufacturing techniques in with Nihonto. 

[Bruce Pennington]

I believe there is a reference book out specifically on Dirks, but I don’t have it and can’t recall its name. It might have something in there that would help you.

[Rawa]

Japanese Pattern Dirks: The Banks Collection

 

 

[Conserved123]

Thank you @Rawa!

[John C]

On 4/22/2026 at 9:15 PM, Conserved123 said:

f you happen to come across any sources from articles/books/etc that talks about using fabric/paper underneath the ray skin, I would really appreciate it too.

Luke:

I just happened across an article written in JSSUS Newsletter vol. 30, number 1 (1998) that is talking about early (1934-1935) gunto mounts being "constructed of wood, and wrapped in a linen canvas before lacquer" (pg. 2).

So maybe the same with yours??

John C. 

[Rawa]

Early prototypes of shingunto. (T94 clearly)
Here we have navy dirk so kyu -gunto.

I would guess fabric was added at the end to help mute pommel or speed up production. 
Later dirks happened to be less detailed.

So could they drop glue and go with sticky fabric underneath samegawa to cut time?

@Conserved123 which one it is?

http://ohmura-study.net/908.html

 

Oh and If You have books about conservation of antiques (wood and steel) please drop here. 
 

It will get handy.
 

[John C]

Marcin: The OP asked for a source citation for wrapping the tsuka with material because he's doing post-grad research. I gave him one. Do have any sources to provide?

 

John C.

[Conserved123]

@Rawa its hard to tell because the kashira is missing, but I think it's the Taisho/Showa term. 
The most useful book I have so far is 

"Japanese swords : cultural icons of a nation ; the history, metallurgy and iconography of the samurai sword" by Colin M. Roach.

And thanks @John C that was really useful! 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Luke,

Don't have anything you can reference, sorry, but all the threads and videos I've seen about how to build a tsuka, show two wooden halves with a rectangular groove that gets filled with same' (rayskin).  Then the tsuka gets wrapped with ito.  I've never seen anything that shows a layer of fabric under the rayskin.  Your dirk has something. So, we know it happened.  I personally feel that the maker had wooden halves that, together, didin't fit the pre-fabbed kabutogane and placed the fabric to 'fatten up' the shape to fit.  

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Conserved123]

Thank you @Bruce Pennington. The trouble with academic life, I guess. Citation citation citation. Ha! 

[John C]

11 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

So, we know it happened

Bruce:

In the article I referenced, the authors were examining very early tsuka (they believe from 1934ish) and thought this was an early form of construction.

John C.

[Conserved123]

Thank you @John C.

We have just obtained X-Ray images of our Tantō!
The areas I have circled--my fellow grad researchers and I disagreed on this. They think these are damages/breakage in the steel. But to me these look like a mechanism to secure the nakago in position. Like a latch?

Surely metals don't break in this manner...? 

What does anyone else think? @Bruce Pennington @Kiipu ? Such a  beautiful, intriguing object.

[John C]

Luke:

I haven't seen anything like a latch or mechanism that secures the nakago on dirks. But I will defer to the dirk experts for that. These tend to get rusty so IMHO, this may be a section of rust that has broken away? Not sure. Possibly just a piece of metal to keep it from being loose?

 

John C.

[Conway]

The X-ray was a bit much, but it looks cool.  You can remove the handle on these without breaking anything. From the image, you can see the ana that the sakura nut goes through to secure the handle. Even the basic plated blades with acid-etched hamon have ana are able to be removed from the handle. 

[Brian]

Yeah, I think (and I'm no expert on these) that if it was some form of latch, it would be almost unheard of.
I'd look for other explanations.

[Bruce Pennington]

Like Conway said, the cherry blossom on the sides of the handle are barrel screws and can be unscrewed and removed allowing you to slide the handle off the tang.  Curious to see what we're seeing.

[Kiipu]

On 5/5/2026 at 10:50 PM, Conserved123 said:

But to me these look like a mechanism to secure the nakago in position.

 

I have never heard of such a feature on either a sword or dirk.  The Japanese did have a sheet metal reinforcement for the hilt though.  There is a collector by the name of "Kai-Gunto" who owns a good many dirks.  An example of his collection can be seen over at WRF.

Help to authenticate Japanese Dirks Dagger

 

The book mentioned above by Marcin is just a picture book and unlikely to help you with your scholarly research.

 

And finally, it would be of interest to hear from "drb 1643" in regards to your questions.

[drb 1643]

It does look like some sort of repair with a metal shim. I would just remove the tsuka and let it drop out. With the fiber material under the samegawa I’m thinking repair. I’ve handled a lot of dirks and have never seen anything like this before.

Tom

[Conserved123]

protocol dictates we are not allowed to touch it in any way that's more invasive than using xray, UV, infrared, sadly. We don't have permission from the original owner to unscrew anything or dismantle it in any way, and rumor had it that it had been in their family for decades, and was already in a damaged condition when it came to them (white Australian family). 

[Rawa]

15 hours ago, drb 1643 said:

It does look like some sort of repair with a metal shim. I would just remove the tsuka and let it drop out. With the fiber material under the samegawa I’m thinking repair. I’ve handled a lot of dirks and have never seen anything like this before.

Tom

Could this be refitting smaller tang? Some kind of field repair? Or just it was sold that way? 
Many times saya is matched to nagasa. Here maybe something was done to fit nakago? 

[drb 1643]

I’m thinking it was retrofit. I’m pretty sure it didn’t leave the workshop like this.

[Kai-Gunto]

Nothing unnormal there. Just the nakago with some welding flaws or some of the nickelplating.  Its paper under the samegawa.

[drb 1643]

Yes, now that you mention it, it does look like maybe some of the nickel plating has corroded off.