Ian B3HR2UH

I have seen one of these onshi swords in the flesh and a few in photos . The one I handled had a gold foil habaki and the characters were placed centrally on the habaki . My recollection is that those I have seen in photos had the same characteristics although I stand to be corrected on this . The cheap looking habaki and odd placement of the characters on this one raise a red flag for me .

I had a quick look through my catalogue and found the Norimitsu. As Lewis said he liked his daisho . Attached is a daisho from the catalogue which has both blades by Hankei .

I don't think your sword is a late war piece . I think it is a real 19th or possibly early 20th century sword of low quality. The pocket for a kozuka would not appear on a late war piece . The quality of the seppa also points to this being real

You are really fortunate to have a sword with that provenance . Does the koshirae that was sold with it in 1937 still exist ? Count Ito's collection must have been huge . I have a catalogue from another of his sales in 1937 . This sale amongst other pieces contained one of the Hocho Masamune that is now a National Treasure as well as a Mitsutada and a Bitchu Tsugunao which are Juyo Bunkazai . There is a write up on a couple of Count Ito's swords in the NBTHK English edition Vol 37

I have two canvas field belts which are in the attached photo . Last weekend I saw another one with what I suspect is a pretty unusual feature . It had a small leather pocket on it which had a small bamboo mekugi nuki still in it . Has anyone else seen this feature? Does anyone have any idea what the strapped leather piece ,in the middle of the lower belt in the top photo, might have been used for?

Thanks Mauro, that information will please my friend

Here is a page of them from a Japanese publication. A friend has a brass one ,also with the Ebisu and Daikoku design, signed Yamoto ju Iyetsugu who Haynes lists as working C1700 . They all seem pretty crude . Does anyone know how you tell the real ones from what I presume are copies

It is a Shin gunto or army sword rather than a kai gunto which is a naval sword . You can tell this by the handle mountings. The blade is signed Kaneshige and is most likely made during the war years

Aiden , your Naval sword ,as has been pointed out, is junk however your Army sword is definately genuine and could be quite a good one . The presence of the owners name in the silver plaque and the lacquered scabbard are indications of the blade possibly being a good one . You really need to get the handle off in case it is rusting underneath and it is this rust that is preventing you getting the handle off . I would remove the peg completely ,pad the tsuba with cloth or leather then start tapping the tsuba with a block of wood . If you don't feel comfortable doing this seek out a collector who has done it before and get them to help .

Why would anyone take a real Japanese blade then etch it to make it look like a chinese fake , sign it so it looked like a chinese fake and then mount it up to look like a chinese fake ?

Good that you asked before buying . It is a Chinese fake .

Jeff , it is hard to judge blades when you are holding them in your hands , even more difficult from photos and almost impossible from crummy photos like these . You can see almost no hada or hamon in the photos . I doubt that even Mr Tanobe himself could tell you much from these photos .

Thanks for your articles Alexander . The thought that items that I now own have passed through the hands of previous collectors ,who have also treasured them , has always interested me . One minor correction. In your article on Walter Behrens you perpetuate the myth that Henri Joly was Belgian . He was born on the 24th of Feb 1878 at Chartres France . His 1901 and 1911 census entries confim that he was French . The attached tsuba is one of two I have that were once part of Henri Joly's collection .

It IS the typical late shin gunto blade

It's not a Gendai sword , it is not made pre war , it is a classic oil tempered piece mass produced during the war years .

This shows that there are still good things out there to hunt for, not just the mediocre pieces that the board gets bombarded with . Congratulations Paul

I would have thought that you will get more for it in the west than trying to sell it to a dealer in Japan

It is a junker, give it a wide berth

This is not most likely fake but definitely 110 % fake , as is the kozuka

The mei ( signature ) is so freshly cut that it is obvious that this is a showa era blade , you are deluding yourself if you think otherwise

Your hamon is grey because the sword is not in original polish having been cleaned up by someone . The opinion you are quoting shows just how little it's author knows

The seller is right it is probably made in the 1940's . The second opinion giver knows nothing .

73 Yasuyo This sword is by Shumenokami Ichi no hira Yasuyo not Yasuyori . It was owned by the Miyasaka Shrine in Kagoshima Prefecture who handed it over to the Ibusuki police in December 1945. The blade is dated 1723 and is 33 .5 inches long . There are photographs of the sword and the lengthy inscription on the nakago in the documents from the American Archives that Stephen Thorpe shared with us . Attached to this is a copy of one of those pictures showing the Shirasaya, box and lacquered box that accompanied the sword . Further photos are on page 82 of Satsuma no katana no Tsuba by Fukunaga

Look at where the top ashi is in relation to the koiguchi . This is all wrong - avoid it .

70 Peony wakizashi 71 Nagamitsu Thanks for posting this Brett . The attached photo shows 70 and 71 which were taken from the Aso Shrine in 1945 and remain missing