WW2 sword ?

[ferris1069]

Hi,

 

My uncle bought this sword back from Borneo at the end of WW2. I don't have a clue about swords and was hoping someone may shed some light on it. Apologies if the pictures are of poor quality.

 

thanks in advance.

[raaay]

 

to me looks like a copy made to look like a Japanese sword, most likely made in Borneo IMHO, not what you want to here I suspect , but if it is free no harm done !

[obiwanknabbe]

That is certainly a fake.. Take a moment to read the info in the link provided.. It shows you may of the tell tale signs.  http://jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

 

Kurt 

[16k]

Yes, I’m afraid it’s fake.

[Dave R]

 A fake, but possibly now collectable in its own right as a piece of WW2 memorabilia. A lot of these made actually during the war by Aussie troops and US CB's to sell to the "next in"  guys, who arrived too late for the battlefield pickups.

[Bruce Pennington]

Is that chome flaking on the blade? I don't think I ever seen a chromed fake before. But if its just normal corrosion on steel, then never mind.

 

The islanders of SE asia DID make their own swords during the war, so that's a possibility. It would be nice to know the the kanji on the habaki are legit or jibberish. Jibberish would lock it in as fake.

[SteveM]

They are an earnest attempt at kanji, but they trail off into jibberish. 

 

The first one is 本 (moto), and the second one may be an attempt at 松 (matsu), so presumably an attempt at a last name "Motomatsu", which would be a fairly rare last name.

 

Matsumoto would be a much more likely last name, but the kanji on this are reversed. 

 

The rest of the scratchings look like the person gave up trying to replicate any actual kanji.