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The actual characters on the blade are 小林河内守國助 - Kobayashi Kawachi no kami Kunisuke.

I know that seller in my link is selling imitations. Men I was mentioning quality of mounting. I even posted it in fake tab. This cucamonga seller is real trouble. Leather cover like posted by me pops up really often.

I understand the PSA about fake swords, but this seller makes it clear in the description this is not an authentic sword. Top Grade 98 Officer's Saber Japanese Gunto Clay Tempered Folded Steel Sword Fittings: Brass,itMaterial: Damuscus folded 1095 steel + clay tempered Craft: Fully hand folded and forged by 15 times(32768 layers),clay tempered,traditional quench treatment,and hand-polishing,etc. Overall Length:103cm / 40.6 inches Nagasa Length:72cm / 28.3 inches Handle Length:26cm / 10.2 inches Width: 1.26''/3.2cm Thickness: 0.28''/0.7cm Bo-hi: No blood groove Fittings: Brass,it won't fade Hardness(HRC): 60 Saya: Iron saya+Brown Real Leather Rayskin: Real shark rayskin Notice: 1-A free&random sword bag comes with the sword 2-The display stand is NOT included 3-Due to All of our products are full handmade,So the specification varies a little from sword to sword. The 1095 steel reference alone should tell someone this is a modern item…. Plus you can buy more than one at a time. Check out this link. All of this seller’s swords are junk meant to deceive. Although shipping from California, if you click on the seller’s details, it says they are located in China... WWII Japanese Samurai Sword SHIN GUNTO TYPE 98 World War 2 KATANA WW2

Contextually, this a small utility knife. It was normally carried in a pocket carved into the scabbard of a short sword called a wakizashi. You can easily google some images of wakizashi mounted with kozuka. There are silly stories about them being used as throwing knives, but they were too expensive, too light and wrong balance for that. Fittings collectors seem to prefer them with the blades removed, so you will often see them sold that way. The one you have appears to be from the mid to late Edo period.

Hi Rob, I know about shrinkage and sloppy covers made off finer and soft leather but this one is not sloppy at all. The leather looks very thick and sturdy. In my opinion that is suspicious. Maybe we should start a separate thread about leather combat covers. Always good to see some original examples and there are a lot of variations. Regards, Ed

Hi, could you tell me something about this kura please besides the mon. For the old the state is almost ideal. Knowing the price of modern work of urushi items the price has to be much higher.

Also, here in this thread there is a sword with the same inscription https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/522-translation-help/

Alex, This is a Takayama-to made by Miwa Mitsugu Ujinaga. See the attached with examples of this particular mei:

Hi Ed, it is very normal for leather combat covers to shrink lengthwise. Some way more than others for some reason. Similarly, circumference shrinkage does occur and, it can also increase and become sloppy with finer leather. I have seen a lot of these variations and have quite a few myself. Rob

No sign, no date, no makers marks… Maybe an attempt to revive a damaged piece?! Old urushi coatings tending to crack and flake over time, depending on storage conditions…

Thanks for all of the replies so far. There have been many quite interesting posts so far. My overall takeaway, and what I’ll relay to my wife, is that it is very unlikely my sword has ever seen real action. My friends, on the other hand, might get a “it’s pretty old, so you never know”. @George KN Here is my sword: https://sword-auction.com/en/product/27099/as24845-katana-mumeichiyozurunbthk-hozon-token/ I still haven’t received word that the export permit has been received so it is probably still at least 2 weeks away. The “Question about an Aoi listing” thread I started has some more details on my shopping journey.

The blades (kogatana) are usually held in place with pine pitch, an early hot melt glue. The signatures on kogatana are usually fanciful attributions to important swordsmiths, not by the person who actually made it, so normally not taken seriously. The kozuka has been over cleaned. The pink coppery parts should be a black color called shakudo. It was probably polished with silver polish, this is not uncommon. If you wash off the silver polish residue, the black color oxide may eventually reform. Sometimes kozuka are signed, usually on the back. Another place to check is the butt. However, it is not unusual for it to be unsigned.

Do not understand the reason to do it? But it is really brand new. Added photos.

Here's a sample from my collection, also signed Kinai. Damon

Yes, good to 'see' you @Stegel!

He's a busy guy lately, but he'll chime in if he's got the time. I'd also be curious to hear @Bruce Pennington 's thoughts, as i've seen him comment on these potential "island swords" before. I agree with everyones skepticism above; but to me the question remains: Is this an item meant to deceive? Or something put together in Japanese occupied territory during wartime? -Sam

Well... classic pretty rice plant design with some gold highlights. Either Choshu (West Coast main island) or Bushu (East Coast main island) and fairly solid for a first try. My first tsuba was a Choshu not as nice as this one. Several schools will have done this design. Because of some of the mimi geometry and general design, personally I lean more towards Bushu. Definitely better than my first tsuba or two.

“How did I do?” As Dale mentioned, it does depend partly on how much you paid… vs what your budget was, etc. As a tsuba, a decent shot, I reckon.

Good spot Conway, no wonder this sword was so familiar Great to see you posting Stegel , -Sam

To Stegel’s point about the swapped tsuba, here is another example, but the seppa are correct for the the pattern 3: https://whartonmilitaria.co.uk/details.php?section=edgeweapons&item=EW0048

Hmm, I've often wondered about this subject myself. As others have said, unless there is obvious battle damage or provenance, we can never really know what a blade has been used for. However, you can tell a lot about the smith and other craftsman's intention for a blade, which I suppose you could use to help frame a story for your wife? For example I get good vibes from my mumei Shinto katana. It was likely made in a more peaceful era, has an active hamon (suggesting artistic intent), and a nice koshirae with both swallows and ho-ho (phoenix) suggesting to me freedom and rebirth (yes, it is my profile picture): I doubt many people would have too many problems with a sword if it clearly had intentions other than just combat? Wartime blades I'd argue are more neutral, because while they were often forged for WW2 specifically, everyone knew that rifles and artillery were really doing the frontline killing then (the killing of prisoners not withstanding). I mean heck, how much use were they really expecting from the kai gunto whilst on board a ship? So I tend to think of them more as national status symbol rather than just as a killing weapon, although yes, many were used in atrocious war crimes. Now... On the other end of the scale are survivors like this: Shinogi-zukuri, light in your hand, razor sharp, strong sori, real age to it. This thing has been made to cut flesh like butter. It might help if it had a koshirae, but at the moment nothing about it suggests artistic intent, and it has seen many polishes because of how thin it is compared to the nakago. Whether that has been simply because of its age, or because it's been used and consequently needing repolishing, I don't know. But it's safe to say even I'm not a big fan of it - I keep thinking it's going to try and take one of my fingers if I'm not careful when handling. So that sort of thing you might struggle with the framing... (Sorry guys about wheeling out the same pics I've put on other threads, but thought it was a relevant example). Maybe some pics or further details of the sword you're waiting for @MEENag might help us suggest a way you could sell it to those that are a bit nervous of having them in the house? (Maybe the sword has even arrived by now?)

I wouldn't want to wreck the family heriloom sword, but if my life depended on it, I would take the risk over using a cheap alternative. In any case I personally feel more concerned with WWII blades having been used in war crimes, just because of the scale and the fact that soldiers were probably less afraid of wrecking an arsenal sword.

As much as I dislike @Jacques comments in general I must agree on that. Majority of swords that exists today weren't used in battles, and if did, then they weren't used to fight with. Have you seen what happens to a sword when it meets another blade/armor? There are some with Kirikomi (if we trust they are original and not 'added'), yes, but encounter/duel is not a battle. Not to mention that (except maybe for generals or Daymio) you wouldn't want to destroy expensive sword while you can bring a cheap/one-time only piece. How about 'blood sword'? We can only speculate. In theory blade won't suffer even if you cut off someone's head or split them in half (spine included). But I've seen swords getting bend on Tatami ... Anyway, I fully understand wives attitude as I have very similar perception at home

Many swords that have come down to us were never used in combat; those that cost the equivalent of a family's food for a century to make were often kept and passed on as gifts, or handed down from generation to generation.

At the next San Francisco Japanese Sword show, on 8/1,2,3/2025, I will be selling a Tachi. This is Yamato Tegai, mumei, o-suriage, and Kamakura period (so I believe), Tokubetsu-Hozon-to. Photo below. The sayagaki was done by Mr. Tanobe. Attached below. Please join me at my table at the upcoming San Francisco show. San Francisco Show details below https://nihonto.com/35th-annual-san-francisco-Japanese-sword-show/ 手掻鞘書きとその訳.pdf

Gimei wouldn't be pappered. But yeah blade really was popular as its creator.

熊沢兼俊 - Kumazawa Kanetoshi