NateB Posted November 11, 2011 Report Posted November 11, 2011 Wow , what a great board ! Total newbie here. I recently acquired 2 swords and have a few pictures of the 1st one. The wood on the handle is broken some, and the wooden pin is missing. I am not sure if this is real or fake, but appears to be a type 98 Officers sword in WWII fitment. I hope to post more pictures very soon of both swords. I would like to request help translating the kanji on the tang , and perhaps dating this sword. Any thought and help on this is much appreciated, Nate Bryant Port Townsend, Washington Quote
Grey Doffin Posted November 11, 2011 Report Posted November 11, 2011 Hi Nate, Looks real. The side with more Kanji is a date, "Showa Ju Shichi Nen Ju Ichi Gatsu Saku" (Showa 17 year 11 month made, or Made in November of 1942). The other side is the signature and is written in what we call grass script, which is tough for me. Something hiro I believe. ASAP, grab a chopstick and sharp knife and whittle a new pin to go through the hole in the handle. Without the pin (mekugi) there is nothing to lock the blade in the handle and it can crash down inside the scabbard and shatter its point. Grey Quote
cabowen Posted November 11, 2011 Report Posted November 11, 2011 Everytime I see this mei I translate it as Tadahiro 忠広 and then am corrected by one of our Japanese members who read it as Kuni. So this time I will start with Kunihiro 国広 and see what happens..... Quote
NateB Posted November 11, 2011 Author Report Posted November 11, 2011 Thank you so much for your input. The handle on the 1st sword I posted is missing some of the wood where the bamboo pin would go, so I am not sure what to do with it. Would it be of value enough to pay someone to repair it, and pay for it to be professionally polished as well ? Here are some pics of my other sword. It is in considerably better condition than the 1st one. It has an iron tsuba and its hamon line is readily visible. Can the board help me ID this sword as well as date it ? the tang has markings on one side only. Quote
cabowen Posted November 12, 2011 Report Posted November 12, 2011 The second blade is signed Seki Fujiwara Yoshinao saku. It was made for iai use, and not for the Army. It has a stamp above the signature which indicates it is not traditionally made. It dates from the war period, probably 1940 or thereabouts..... Neither of these would be valuable enough to justify the financial investment necessary to have them polished. They are not in too bad of condition. A good cleaning with acetone, then oiling with a high quality gun oil would be good.... Quote
Baka Gaijin Posted November 12, 2011 Report Posted November 12, 2011 Morning Chris The second blade is signed Seki Fujiwara Yoshinao saku. It was made for iai use, and not for the Army. It has a stamp above the signature which indicates it is not traditionally made. It dates from the war period, probably 1940 or thereabouts..... Sort of answering my own question, but here goes. Iai use because: Traditional saya with kurikata Classic tsuka Slightly larger (and heavier Iron) Tsuba to push the weight back towards the Tsuka Hi on the blade to lighten it and make the satisfying sound? Cheers Malcolm Quote
cabowen Posted November 12, 2011 Report Posted November 12, 2011 Yes, it was made for iai due to the fact that it is in iai koshirae and not military koshirae. The groove in the blade, while common in iai made blades, is less common in military made blades as well. Quote
NateB Posted November 12, 2011 Author Report Posted November 12, 2011 Grey, David , Chris and Malcom...... Thank You ! IAI ? Is that a sword training martial art ? Thanks in advance Nate Quote
cabowen Posted November 12, 2011 Report Posted November 12, 2011 IAI ? Is that a sword training martial art ?Thanks in advance Nate yes..... Quote
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