cjbow320 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Hello, I just found this sword this past weekend and snatched it up. It appears very nice and I was hoping someone could give me some advice on who made this. The tsuba has a series of little almost triangle figures with what appears to be legs. Regards, Chris Quote
george trotter Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Hi cjbow (name?) Your sword is signed "Noshu Ju Nagamitsu saku" (Nagamitsu, resident of Noshu, made (this)). He was a WWII gunto maker at Seki...started work showa 16 - 2 - 28. Family name Kawazaki. The mei is nakarishi mei (cut by a professional "in house" mei cutter who did most signatures as the smiths were busy turning out military swords)...you have a gunto...possibly has sho or seki stamp as well? Regards, George. Quote
cjbow320 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Posted February 22, 2011 Hi George, Thank you very much for your help. I am still trying to learn and this was confusing for me. Regards, John Quote
cabowen Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Looks like it was made and mounted as an iai-to...... Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 This is somewhat off topic. All iai mounted blades that I have seen have been Showato. Has anyone seen any true gendaito mounted in this same fashion? Thank you. Quote
cabowen Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 This is somewhat off topic. All iai mounted blades that I have seen have been Showato. Has anyone seen any true gendaito mounted in this same fashion? Thank you. Yes, but it seems rare. Most likely most were made with showa-to as it was far cheaper. Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 I remember Moses B. had one for sale awhile ago, shinto period I believe, maybe shinshinto. John Quote
george trotter Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Ah yes, I should have given it a little more thought Chris and John. It does seem to be mounted as an iaito - therefore probably made as such? or perhaps an officer could have am additional set of mounts if he wanted to use his sword for iai....who knows... In my experience these mounts do occasionally turn up adapted to military use. They are usually (as you say) a showato and have a "sho" stamp but I don't recall having seen one with a "seki" stamp. I have not seen a true gendaito of this period mounted this way. In this case, the sword must have been made after Sho 16-2-28 as that's when he entered swords making. I suppose it means there was still a small market for iaito then?, Regards, George. Quote
cjbow320 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Posted February 22, 2011 Hello and thank you very much Chris, John, Joe, and George. This blade is mounted in a fantastic leather tooled combat cover and whoever had it took some pride wearing it. The tsuka has a leather cover that has been stitched over and I do not know what is underneath. I can see the tsuka-ito so I do know it is wrapped. Would any of you remover part of the stitching? Forgive me, but what does iai-to mean, I could not find a reference for this. Thanks you, Chris Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Iai is drawing the sword to cut. Iaijutsu or Iaido is the art or way of drawing the sword to cut. An Iaito is a sword designed for the training aspect, usually of a dull edge to minimise dangerous practice or in more modern times a sword made of a Mg/Al alloy. John Quote
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