Nihonto in Manchukuo Naval Shore Patrolman Fittings

[Wolfmanreid]

I was recently given this Nihonto which thanks to the gentleman over in the “Military Blades” section I’ve learned was mounted in sadly abused Manchukuo Naval Shore Patrolman fittings. Can anyone tell me more about the blade? My friend has asked me to sell it for him and as intriguing and interesting as I find Nihonto (I’m  a long time lurker here) I’ve got enough expensive and niche hobbies as it is.

Any insight is much appreciated.

Thanks!
Reid

 

 

 

[16k]

Don’t know what the pros will tell you, but I don’t think their is much to say in its present state. The Hamon and the blade are genuine, the nakago was altered to fit the new fittings, I don’t see a yokote. The vertical pics don’t really help either. There seems to be a rather deep sori. Can’t say more I’m afraid.

[Wolfmanreid]

Rotated the pics.  Any other sorts of photos I could provide that would be useful?  Yes I'm taking a close look at it and there is not a visible Yokote...  Is this the result of overpolishing at some point in its life?

[16k]

Probably, yes. Some blades had no yokote, but the shinogi usually went up to the kissaki, so since this isn’t the case, I would assume either over polishing or bad abuse during the war.

there isn’t much tapering to the blade and I don’t think it is that old.  The shape suggests it might have had an Ō- kissaki at some point so maybe (?) Shinshinto. I’ll let the real experts give their insight.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Sadly the entire blade looks to have been sanded or molested by an amateur at some point, combined with the rust this is pretty much a writeoff in financial terms. The only real value this sword had was as an original example of an uncommon variant with old blade. If you're not interested & someone else is prepared to pay real money for it I say take any offer! Of course the blade could perhaps be rescued with a professional polish but you would be throwing money into an abyss. 

[Peter Bleed]

Reid,

You are doing a fine job of learning from what you have in hand.Good for you. I think you are only going to learn so much from this particular sword, tho. I am very doubtful about this Machokuo Naval Polic story. These are IMHO Meiji era civil authority fittings - police, guards, etc. I'll bet the Manchukuo Navy was - ahh - pretty small.

The advice you have been given about the value of this sword seems reasonable. It could be anyhting under that scratches, but I would bet that the the sword could be brought back. The nakago will be bobbed off and reshaped and will probably be all right.

I had one of these years ago. It was in good polish and was a nice long katana. When I finally brought it to the Chicago show  it languished until a Japanese dealer bought AND AS SOON AS IT DID AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME another Japanese dealer asked him what he wanted for the fittings. They haggled for a minutes and right there in front of me, the blade was stripped and given to the second guy for HALF of what the first guy had just paid me!

All this to say that the fittings of you sword carry collectors' value. You might want to treat the blade as a "tsunagi."

Peter

[Wolfmanreid]

I’m very grateful for everyone’s replies. I believe I’ve found a buyer here on the forum and as tempted as I am to keep the sword simply as an unusual piece I am more happy to get it into the hands of someone with a more specialized interest in collecting 19th and 20th century Japanese militaria than I have.

 

The most recent owner of this blade was the grandfather of my college pal who I later joined the army with. His grandfather was an irascible old fellow who had come to the United States as a refugee from Poland in 1939. He subsequently wound up in the US army. Naturally as a fluent Polish, German, and Russian speaker the Army sent him to fight the Japanese in the Philippines, an experience he did not enjoy in the slightest from what I gather from his reminiscences about those days. I wish I’d asked him where and under what circumstances he procured this sword. Among other things after his death his grandson and I learned he had been born Jewish despite never speaking about his family origins and claiming polish Catholicism for the last 60 years of his life. Interesting character...