blades87

Hi, Dave. I would go with Stephen's recommendation to lightly oil the tang in order to prevent it from rusting further. Mineral oil (hardware stores carry it) works best if you can't get choji oil. Protect the blade and tang from rusting any further by applying a light coat of oil . FYI, only handle the blade and the tang using a cloth, which will prevent rust from forming when you touch the steel with your bare hands. -Put a couple of drops of mineral oil on both sides of the blade any gently wipe it down with a cotton cloth. -Put a drop or two on the cloth and wipe the tang down. This will stop the rust from spreading and put a thin layer of oil on the steel. -Do not use 3-in-1 or any standard oil because they can organic compounds that will cause rust. Also, keep all the parts from the sword and store them in a ziplock bag for safe keeping. I just joined NMB about a month ago and there is an abundance of knowledge and help here on the board. Cheers, Toby

Hi, Roger. I recently purchased a late period Gunto (1945) that was in pretty bad shape. I ,too, am restoring it for a family keepsake. If you have any pictures of the tang (the part of the blade located under the handle [tsuka]), please post them. We can translate the inscription (mei) on the tang to provide you with a bit more information on the sword. Cheers, Toby

Hi, Roger. First, replacing the saya core will be a bit expensive. Second, does the saya have a core in it? If so, you can pull the core out and check the fit of the existing core to the nagasa. Given that the Gunto you have is probably machine stamped, the likelihood of the nagasa curvature deviating too much from the Type 3 saya seems a bit unlikely. I just looked at my 1945 sword made by Kanetsugu, which appears to be a Showata finished sword that is machined made, and the curvature is very similar to yours with respect to the kissaki closer to the top of the saya. Cheers, Toby

Ah! Got it! I need to do some more research on the date format for the late gunto sword production. [Period][Years in the period][Nen][Number of the Month][Gatsu] 昭和二十年二月 I am in your debt and thank you for helping me start to visualize how the inscribed kanji differs from the printed kanji. I have been using Tangorin.com for translation and research. Cheers, Toby

I have hit a bit of snag here and was wondering if I could get some clarification. I think the mei on the nagaka is written as [Period][Year of the period][Number of the day][Hi][Number of the month][Month]. In this case, it would be 昭和二十二日二月 (showa ni ju ni hi ni gatsu). The kanji for hi is throwing me off. The number of the day appears clear, but the kanji after ni does not appear to be one I can identify. I am expecting to see 二日, but I do not see that particular kanji on the omote mei. I have been looking through Hiragana, katakana and a bunch of dictionary sites trying to correlate the kanji. If I have translated this correctly, the mei literally reads, "the twentieth year of Showa, second day, second month". February 2, 1945. Again, I thank you greatly for your help. The information you have provided me thus far has allowed me to better understand the construct of how the omote mei is written. Cheers, Toby

Many thanks, Stephen! Your explanation of the first part of the translation has helped me understand how the mei is constructed. So, if I am interpreting it correctly, the mei reads as follows: [Nengo][Year of the period][Number of the month][Kanji - Month][Number of the day][Kanji - Day]. If this is the twentieth year of Showa, that would make it 1945, correct? So, if I translated this correctly, the inscription reads, Showa ni ju ni gatsu ni hi, correct? 20th year of showa, second month, second day. I am using Richard Stein's site as a reference, so I am going to plug away this. Thanks again for your help! Toby

Good morning, NMB members. I am brand new to the board and I am making my first venture into the history and restoration of World War II Japanese swords. I am focusing on this period because my relatives were involved in the Pacific theater of the war and they had a couple of NCO katana hanging in their basements. I want to learn more about the late era swords and have placed an order for "An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths 1868-1945" by John Slough, which I should have this week. All of this research is for my personal interest and is not being used for commercial purposes. So here are the details of what I have. I have a WW2 Japanese katana that appears to be from the latter stage of the war, based on some of the research I have done on the fittings and the manner in which omote and ura mei are placed on the nagako. This sword was no properly maintained, so it has deteriorated quite a bit in a short amount of time, which is extremely disheartening. The omote side mei has five characters engraved in it. The omote side appears to have the remnants of a painted signature that has since deteriorated due to neglect. The ura side mei has two characters engraved in it. There appears to be some kind of stamp mark on the omote side of the tang There appears to be a signature on the top of the tsuka core. I have posted two pictures from each side of the nagako in order to best capture the mei. I wish I had a Canon SLR to take these photos and may resort to using a scanner if the images need to be clearer. I have also posted a picture of the signature on the tsuka. FYI, I have adjusted the brightness and contrast on the pictures a pbit in order to bring out the characters. Also, I had originally posted all of the pictures in the post, but the forum post became too big for my liking, so I compressed the pictures. Any information is appreciated. I am going through a big learning curve here and I am trying to pull together all of the pieces so that I might gain some more knowledge about swords produced during the 1940s. I am not expecting anything big, to be honest. From what I have read so far on this forum, the participants provide great information about the mei. If I use any of the terminology in the incorrect context, please let me know. If you need more information, better pictures or pictures of other components,please let me know. Again, many thanks for all of your help. Toby Tang.zip