Ed Hicks

Red Cross Official's Dirk...first I've owned and nice looking dagger...Blade is a standard arsenal style blade. Ed

Japanese Army Court Style Sword (wakizashi)...mei "Noshu _____ Kanehisa ", partially illegible, nagasa 17-1/2 in., nagako 5-1/8 in., sori 1/2 in., yasurime takanoha, hamon ko-midare, gilt copper habaki with rain pattern, gilt brass hilt and scabbard fittings, guard and pommel top with sunburst, dragonflies on either side of pommel, wire-wrapped shagreen grip, outside of guard hinged to fold, leather scabbard, lyre-shaped mark on base of guard, 26-1/4 in. overall...Sheath is wrapped in brown leather and is mounted for field wear which is unusual I would think. Ed

More images of the hamon

Akinori blade is 24 inches long in shirasaya...Photos show the strong activity in the hamon, but hard to capture it well...Very tight hada and some scratches on the blade from handling. Ed

Chris, I'll get sword details and photos posted soon...Swords are the hardest artifact to photograph well and I'll do what I can tomorrow.

I agree and although this is a very nice sword and not one I will keep likely,I'll give the paper to the next owner just for its novelty value and ceratinly not for its content...I do realize what some folks have done and will do with "papers" such as these, but I will be certain to fully explain the less than historic worth of the paper. Ed

Akinori would be have been an extremely experienced swordsmith! Thanks for the correction to my flawed math/age calculations...Any idea what the paper was for, a sword salesman's certificate or___? Ed

Chris, I do understand that distinction...I thought Akinori may have been an old man during WWII and (a real stretch here) may have known Masahide (at best)...I can not read the document so from what you said so far it appears that whoever wrote it either lied or made a very serious error regarding Masahide and an association with the smith Akinori. Again, thanks for helping with this. Ed

Got it, thanks, and I found one example at http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/akinori.jpg...No details on him, however, and it would be interesting to know if he studied under Masahide...can you tell me who wrote the paper or was it collector's notes? Ed

Chris, Thanks for the quick reply and translations...darned nice sword and my initial impression was that this was/is a gendaito (maybe a very early one perhaps)...If you find any other references on him please let me know-I have nothing showing a maker with the last character of his name Aki Nori...Ed

Od paper Document (came with this sword) and Mei translation needed _____Aki ____??? A very fine quailty blade with dense nioi and nie, clear tight hada, horizontal yasurimei and mounted in shirasaya...A rough idea of what the papers say would br most helpful. I am unsure of the mei and thought it was a gendaito when I first saw it, but the workmanship is better than normally seen and the signature and file marks are not found in my references...Thanks for the help. Ed

There are more than one Sadatsugu smiths and I have no references that show them all...Very well made tanto given to a Marine in the late 1950s I believe...The Kikusui mon is most often associated with Minatogawa Shrine swords, but I have not seen tanto with it...Possible it is a Shrine blade ??? or perhaps stamped by the smith just as a crest with no reference to the Shrine...Whatever it is it's a nice dagger. Ed

Sadatsugu Tanto with Minatogawa Kiku-sui mon...Mounted in shirasaya blade is 6 3/4 inches long...Unusual unokubi-zukuri shape...Nakago with Kiku-sui mon and signed Sada Tsugu.

I hadn't thought about daikon...always reminded me of a rabbit's ears! Tsuba is katana size and I'll list exact size later.Ed

Umetada school Tsuba

Beats me...If gimei the maker had pushed it through the military accceptance process which I would think would be unusual, but perhaps not...If not gimei, then what? Sword maker with the same name? Student? Quality of the blade is exceptional for a gendaito (in my opinion), but the polish (and my photos) aren't the best...Ed

Better photos to follow. Ed

more

Star Stamped Sword Gassan Sadakatsu Rikugun Jumei Tosho if I have researched this correctly...there is a Star stamp above the mei and a tiny "1" on the nakago spine...Images are of the nakago and I will provide better shots of the blade which is not in polish (sticky fingers once abused the blade). Ed

I posted it here for reference and since it isn't in my area of collecting best to sell it...Ed

That's the same sword. Ed

More images

I believe the photo is misleading ...It is a stamp and is not raised ...I will post images in different light. ..Theblade is a true tempered sword of fair quality. Ed

Pacman or UCLA Trojan!!! This is the wildest thing I've seen on a WWII sword...

Chris, I had to look at the sword several times to be sure I wasn't nuts (No comments please)...more images of the blade. Ed