truelotus

hmmm .... actually I believe chinese are able to make good qualoty tsuba, fuchi, kashira and menuki with quality as high as Japanese one. but with such craftmanship, the price will be much higher, also :D now ... supposedly you got USD 500 to spend on fuchi kashira set ... will you buy a Japanese one or chinese one with almost equal quality for say ... USD 50 less than the Japanese counterpart ? :D

hmmm .. the quality of chinese copies are getting better and better ... my friend owned katana made by chinese forge, from sponge iron (folding & forging) and though it is not as good as real gendaito, but I seriously think that all of the details, such as when we loooked at the hamon (real hamon) we can see clearly nie, nioi, hataraki ... yeah ... good sword come at a price, I got my special made katana I think it may pass as medium grade gendaito for untrained eye :D now, if the makers in china begins to read some books, I think newbies may expect difficulties in near future :D

Ah yes ... I see that it was indeed using screws ... in that case, I am agree with Jean & Bruno above ... try a spray of WD-40 to loosen the rust and use a screwdriver to pull it out if that's not working, simply try to pry the screw ... do it carefully and you won't hurt the blade :D and after that, replace the screw with bamboo stick, carved from chopstick :D

no ... I believe this is original blade, as the Indonesian has no knowledge of Japanese sword, and too many details on the blade to be called a forgery. I seriously think that this blade is going through acid treatment, as Indonesians do with their krisses (traditional daggers) ... Indonesian believe in "myths" and "magic" and many believed that their daggers, and also sword (including Japanese swords left by IJA troops on WW2), are possessing some kind of spirit within it, and thus needs to be "treated" and "maintained" ... unfortunately, the way Indonesian treated their blade is using mixture of tamarind and lemon, while the blade is soaked and washed in coconut water first, then they add arsenic powder ... in time, this will transform the blade into stone-like, and this what I see in the wakizashi above. and sadly this practice is a disaster for a Japanese sword ... as you see the blade is "dead" already ... considering the niku is pretty thin, I am in serious doubt that this blade is restorable, but still it is an interesting piece of Japan history which stranded in Indonesia :D

I admit that I am being lazy at this moment :D thank you very much, Jean ... and if I'm not mistaken, Osafune Sukesada is working in Bizen around 1500 CE, on sengoku era, right ?? and if so, do you think this wakizashi is a "mass produced" blade produced during that era ??

Hi KEith as requested, pic from hamachi - munemachi area and could someone help me with the mei translation ?? thanks

First thing first = NEVER put your sword on hard surface like cement floor like what you did on the picture, it may scratch the blade. Use a soft clean (white if possible) cloth to protect your blade 1. NEVER USE ABRASIVE ON YOUR SWORD ... better to neutralize or stop the rust, use clean white cloth and 96% alcohol, wipe clean the blade to get rid of gunk, dirt, gummy oil, etc buy a light mineral oil, sewing machine oil will do, put few drops on clean white cloth and gently wipe the blade - the idea is to put thin layer of oil on all blade surface 2. metal alloy ? if you refer to the blade, this kind of blade is made of carbon steel, and it is intended to be used as weapon, so it is quite strong 3. value depend on many aspects, one is whether this blade is handmade or not, and this needs you to disassemble the blade to see whether a signature present in the tang (nakago) 4. this is a military equipment, designed as part of the soul of Japan embedded within the soldier as well as his sidearm, so if you refer what these sword made for ... simple ... as symbol and identity and pride for Japanese soldier and to kill enemy (and it did very well on it) 5. though I've seen gendaito in type 3 mounting, I seriously doubt yours a gendaito (true Japanese sword made using traditional method), most likely yours are oil quenched and not traditionally made 6. it is called MON ... and it is only a common logo used by IJA (imperial Japanese army) 7. you need to know how to handle and maintain a Japanese sword :D Hi nick, your sword is GUNTO (gun = military, to = sword), it is a 昭和18年制定陸軍制式軍刀　昭和18年～終戦　(通称: 三式) or commissioned shin gunto army type 3, made between 1943 - 1945 the cherry blossom thing called menuki, and it is a standard in every sword like this. The cherry blossom is just a pattern IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) used. If you wanted to know more, just visit : http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_062.htm simply look at the other side and push the ito (the lace) slightly upward and knock the out gently ... if you don't have a mekugi nuki, a bamboo chopstick and a small rubber mallet will do if the peg is in bad condition, you can shape the bamboo chopstick as replacement (soak it in tea for 3 days, and let it dry before using it)

Hi Keith will ask the owner for the pic asap :D

Hi Jair ... looking at your blade ... and I agree with all of the above ... it is definitely a fake ... and not a good one ... the hunches are : 1. the kissaki is very very terrible, with no yokote ... look at the real one, compare them with yours the true beauty 2. the hamachi and munemachi are not in line hamachi and munemachi should be in line, few exceptions from old swords that has been shortened (and even so, it is not so distantly separated as in yours), and yours are definitely not old :D look at the sample below 3. the nakago have very odd yasurime, the mei is ridiculous, and the middle line is not straight and I very rarely seen a mei in the center for sword (plenty in tantos, though) ... they usually tends to be on left side of the nakago, and definitely never seen one with modern military ranks ... not to mention that the rust is suspicious :D 4. hamon on yours are cosmetic (most likely acid etched), and lacks the true beauty of a hamon you know, Japanese swords in general are following certain rules, that are specific to it. There are few exceptions, but most are in line with that rules ... well ... I hope my explanation is can give you a new insight ... don't be discouraged, my friend ... as we learn from our mistakes and errors :D I just hoped you did not spend a lot for that sword

so ... is there someone who can help identifying this sword ??

Hi TJ may I add up that the tsuka need repairwork :D

Hi Mark I also noticed that the ishizuki is indeed forced into being a kabutogane here in Indonesia, we cannot easily reproduce fittings like that, so most likely this sword was found in poor condition, without kabutogane, and tsuka ito, and then the owner tried some kind of plastic surgery to make the sword intact, by adding up his own shoelace as ito and plug the ishizuki into the end of tsuka ... and by doing so, he ruined the saya enough talking about the fittings ... so ... do you think the blade is authentic ? is it restorable ??

sorry for the misunderstanding :D I am now approaching a friend with mantetsu blade ... see if I can buy it from him and get a proper polish for it, I'll let you know :D

yup ... agree with George above ... I've seen many fittings from gunto, ranging from a very good one until last-ditch war effort one (surprisingly with gendaito blade attached to it) and I think both of yours are original, too

Hi all back to this beloved forum :D recently, a friend of mine come with and offer for "short samurai sword from WW2 era" ... my first thought was it must be a fake but nonetheless I asked him to send couple of picture for identification and what come along next puzzled me ... this is the first picture I got you can see that it is in proper gunto mounting, but SHORT ... no menuki seen, and the scabbard seems not original gunto (or shortened one) more pictures followed, and I got more and more puzzled ... check out the fittings below, I think it is original dimension (I asked him to take pictures with scale, so we may know the length) tsuba with chuha still intact tsuba (typical shin gunto I think) this is the end of scabbard, of which I believe we should see an ishizuki (scabbard tip), but it ended up abruptly ... yet we can still see semegane in shin gunto style this is the kabutogane, of which seemed originally comes from ishizuki (scabbard cap) ... and forced into being a kabutogane :D haikan is correct double flowering cherry as per shin gunto mounting the fittings ... no menuki, so I assume perhaps someone once opened and re-wrapped the tsuka (and he did a poor job) habaki and part of the blade ... honestly, the blade looked dead to me ... dunno whether it can be restored view of the blade I think sugata is good, typical of wakizashi -and somehow mounted into gunto mount last one ... nakago seems in proper shape ... and there's MEI ... this is why I brought this up to this forum - as I think this is an authentic mei with aged rust so ... what do you think ?? is it a real deal ?? or a fake ?? just as information, this one offered to me with USD 1,000 price tag note that I do not wish to buy this sword, I just think that this is interesting and uncommon object, and the only reference I got is from http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_048.htm which mentioned it as crew gunto ... but to see such interesting object in Indonesia is such a thrill, I found a gendaito, mantetsuto and now crew gunto ?? any comment is very much appreciated :D thank you & regards Donny

you can check on its appearance here ... http://www.artswords.com/an_early_imper ... 122808.htm or here http://www.japanesesword.com/Images/Swo ... katana.htm @ all : I apply the link not for promotion, purely for educational purposes regards donny

helping you know a bit about kissaki ... :D

just barely wanted to make a suggestion, but you come up first ... maybe I'll add up something ... 1. buy some alcohol ... 96% is the best 2. pour a little bit of it on white, clean cloth, and start wiping the blade surface for all dirt, dust, oil / brasso residue 3. dry it with another piece of clean white cloth 4. go to hardware store and buy mineral oil ... or best if you contact nearest local sword club / kenjutsu club to obtain choji oil ... 5. put few drops on a 10X10 white clean cloth and start to wipe the sword until all sides of the blade (minus the tang) is covered with thin layer of oil only a thin film of oil needed, no need to make the sword "wet" with oil this will preserve the sword for many years to come ... enjoy :D

thanks Grey, for the translation :D And thank you, Chris, for the straight answer ... I myself already inform my friend about the price range of USD 500

woah ... a new insight thank you very much, george ... as I cannot find single reference to this kind of mon ... your information is very valuable regards Donny

looking at Keith's blade ... my first guess is the piece is surely koto ... after reading the explanation ... I am amazed :D nice piece, Keith ... and as for the wakizashi ... hmmm ... wondering what will come up after more pics appeared :D

thank you, Bob ... for the warm welcome :D ... and I already add my real name in the signature

definitely not part of original motif, since it is clearly embedded and overlaid unto one cherry leaf on the kabutogane ... I think it's a mon or perhaps unit logo ?? there are few guntos like it and I've seen some with different logo ... and no explanation whatsoever on this kind of symbol on the fittings of a gunto :D

Hi all back to me again ... this time I've been approached by a friend offering his sword for sale ... for now I only have 5 pictures to show you, and sorry, as some of it are not in best quality currently, I am acting as some kind of adviser to a friend who'd like to buy the sword wonder if you could add up something to my comment overall view kaigunto with NCO gunto scabbard, I don't know how the previous owner abused this sword, as the samegawa, which should be black is turned into white ... I think someone once open it up and "wash" it blade is somewhat too shiny ... could it be a taisabiko ? as it is a kaigun to but I have managed to know that this blade has been polished with metal cleaner ... this is the tsuka .... well you can see that the original finishing in tsuba has been cleaned into shiny bit with metal cleaner (what a waste). including kabutogane and fuchi ... we can also see traces of black pigment on the same ... this is the blade overly shiny in my opinion ... hamon is visible, but not in suguha as in Yasukuni-to, was it wrong if I suspect this may be a stainless steel blade ?? but you can see rust spot on the first picture on the kissaki oil quenched blade ? pictures of the nakago below ... sorry, too blurry .. I cannot read single kanji you can see that there is mei inscribed, and also an overly shiny tsuba ... result of of metal polish usage ! anyhow, the sad part is the previous owner did not forget to clean the tang using metal cleaner ... T_T some rust spot, cannot see yasurime, and with only one mekugi ana any comments are more than appreciated. This blade is offered for USD 2,000 thank you and kind regards Donny

interesting ... how they managed to add emblem on the standard ornament I have this one, on my friend's gunto ... and still unable to decipher its meaning :D