Japanese NAGAMITSU WWII Sword -1944/Type 3 Army -Samurai w/Bringback Paper

[matthewbrice]

1 Japanese Nagamitsu WWII Sword available.  This Army gendai sword would make an important addition to any collection.

 

This traditionally-made gendaito katana has an expertly water-tempered wavy hamon.  This Japanese WW II Army Officer’s katana is in 1944 shin-gunto mounts (aka Type 3 mounts).

 

This sword was brought back by Lt. Robert L. Sayre of the 27th Infantry Division.  A copy of the original bringback/souvenir paper accompanies this sword.

 

The nakago is signed ‘Nagamitsu’.

 

The blade measures 24 3/16″ (61.4 cm) (measured properly from the blade tip to the notch in the blade spine).  This sword has two latch releases.

 

The saya is a textured lacquer over wood.  A handsome braided sarute is attached to the handle/tsuka.

 

CONDITION:

This sword is in excellent condition with wonderful mounts.  What a fine example!  The handle wrap and saya are quite nearly perfect.  The sword locks in the saya, and the lock release buttons function perfectly.  There are no nicks in the blade edge.  The blade has the occasional staining that is expected in a sword that was brought back from Japan 80 years ago.  The kissaki was sharpened.

 

The temper line and boshi are perfectly healthy.  This sword is guaranteed against fatal flaws.

 

$2600 obo

 

 

--Matthew Brice

 

https://stcroixblades.com/home/

[Rawa]

In this „bringback paper” - is there any description pointing this exact sword? 
Copy so it can be attached to any gunto multiple times…

If there isn't better to throw this away.

Mei looks like another fine example „G or H”

https://japaneseswordindex.com/naga.htm -shoshin!

http://www.nihonto.us/NAGAMITSU TACHI JL.htm

Edited 21 hours ago by Rawa

[Lewis B]

Did someone have a go at sharpening it themselves? Seems to have a secondary bevel applied along the entire cutting edge and not just the kissaki.

[Rawa]

9 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

Did someone have a go at sharpening it themselves? Seems to have a secondary bevel applied along the entire cutting edge and not just the kissaki.

Lewis, no boshi? Shortened by entire kissaki? No yokote - 61 cm nagasa, doable.

Edited 21 hours ago by Rawa

[matthewbrice]

Rawa--that isn't the case here.  Bought from an antiques dealer--had only bought a few Japanese swords in his life.  There are other papers with the sword as well.  A hand-written eval of the sword by a collector or dealer from 30-40 years ago among the papers.  

[matthewbrice]

On the kissaki only.  It is what it is.  Would cost a few hundred bucks to have the kissaki restored by a polisher.  

[matthewbrice]

Look above from the Condition description:  'The kissaki was sharpened.'

[Rawa]

33 minutes ago, matthewbrice said:

Rawa--that isn't the case here.  Bought from an antiques dealer--had only bought a few Japanese swords in his life.  There are other papers with the sword as well.  A hand-written eval of the sword by a collector or dealer from 30-40 years ago among the papers.  

I don’t dispute mei, just this „bringback paper”

If there is visible hamon at kissaki that don’t run from tip please add photo

Edited 19 hours ago by Rawa

[matthewbrice]

Rawa--the bringback paper photocopy is legit.  The antiquities dealer would have had to get pretty creative to come up with that.  And it wasn't a selling point from the dealer--he said some paperwork came with it that he said shows who made the sword.  I already knew who made it, so I didn't even look at the papers until I got home.  

 

The boshi is there.  Not a problem.  This photo shows it.  

 

 

 

--Matt

 

[Matsunoki]

4 minutes ago, matthewbrice said:

The boshi is there.  Not a problem.  This photo shows it.  

Can you try another image…….i cannot see boshi, just where someone has ground the kissaki edge.

 

47 minutes ago, matthewbrice said:

On the kissaki only. 

Please explain what this feature running along the ha is.

[matthewbrice]

Colin--train your eye to follow the edge of the hamon from further up the blade.  It tracks right to the boshi.

 

I'll take a look at the ha on the sword shortly.  Working on something else at the moment.

 

Thanks Colin.

 

 

 

--Matt

 

[Matsunoki]

14 minutes ago, matthewbrice said:

Colin--train your eye to follow the edge of the hamon from further up the blade.

Nothing wrong with my eye.

I still cannot see a boshi. What I can see is marked with a red line in this image.

[matthewbrice]

[Matsunoki]

Ok,thanks. Obviously easier to see in hand than on that image.

How about the Ha?

[matthewbrice]

Ha appears fine.  If anything, it looks like there was some past light oxidation removed from the blade.  Could be that whomever removed the oxidation caused scratches on one side of the ha, or used more pressure on that side with steel wool (or whatever was used).  

 

Regardless, this Army sword has been through a war and 80+ years of storage.  Very typical condition.  Not out of the ordinary.  A couple hundred bucks fixes the sharpening on the kissaki (if the buyer even cares that much about the sharpening).  I know I wasn't going to pass up a Nagamitsu in Type 3 mounts over that.  

 

Thanks Colin.

 

 

--Matt

 

[Rawa]

@Bruce Pennington could You share Your Nagamitsu data?

simple total number

versus

amount with nagasa below 63,5? (25in.)

[Brian]

This is a for sale post, create a new thread if we want to discuss data.

 

[klee]

Interested but also a bit confused . If we consider the shinogi / ko shinogi to be original and base the picture a proper yokote line, wouldnt this mean there was a big loss of kissaki here including the boshi ?

[matthewbrice]

No, the boshi is all there and healthy.  It's just difficult to see in the photos.  The yokote line isn't all that defined on one side of the blade, but is visible on the other side.  

 

See in this photo that Rawa enlarged.  

 

 

--Matthew Brice

 

 

[Matsunoki]

Just to be clear, it is possible to relocate a yokote. It is a directional change in the use of the stones that can create that razor sharp line.  

[klee]

Well yes and no. The proper location of yokote line is bound by the swords geometry. It needs to be located precisely at the mitzukado where ha turns upward and the sword s geometry changes and turns inward towards the tip. 

 

Some swords may have a very defined geometric yokote and some less depending on the time period

Edited 13 hours ago by klee