Dave R

I am sorry you took it that way. As I said above, the majority of the people here are both knowledgeable and helpful. To quote "Truthfully there is a lot of good information here, and some very knowledgeable and helpful people,.." I shall leave it at that other than to thank you for your hard work maintaining what is a very useful and informative forum.

I have no problems with honest opinions... I certainly get them enough at the Armouries and at the To-Ken. Truthfully there is a lot of good information here, and some very knowledgeable and helpful people,..... and some who are neither! Sometimes the criticism is less of the item and more of the person posting it. Now consider your own reaction to what is a very mild criticism of the behaviour of some of the people (not yourself by the way) on this forum!

... There is a reason why I don't post my new acquisitions here, I just take them along to the Royal Armouries and my local To-Ken instead! Genuine experts who criticise and comment on items in hand in a courteous and informative manner.

Looks better than you usually see on "Island blades", my guess is a quick and dirty Suriage on a genuine blade for one reason or another.

Can you post a pic' of the kissaki, I think this might be a field O-suriage on a genuine Shin-Gunto.

What I took away from Mr Bowen' article was that "Amahide" is as much a trademark as a Mei, and that the variations probably had some meaning within the shop, that we are unlikely to ever understand.

This was a bit of a surprise to me. The Handachi style mounts look recent and the Ito evidently bust and then got badly re-wrapped, but the blade looks pretty decent "judging from the photo's"...note disclaimer! There are many things that only show in the hand. I doubt anyone will state a cash value for reasons given above, and it's not forum policy to value stuff..... And I would say that it is worth spending money on to sort the problems.

I downloaded it as a pdf, Mr Bowen has said before that he is happy for it to be shared, and I think it is in fact somewhere on this site. So I think I am ok putting it here. Amahide.pdf

I do wonder, if there was any significance to saya and ito colour. I know I am not the first to ask this question, but I doubt we will ever get an answer.

Always a problem dating a piece, unless it's papered, and sometimes even then. However, here's what the seller described as an early Edo piece. I have been told it might be older, but given a "tweak" in the Edo period.

An interesting sword. Blue/green Ito, which is not all that common and something I like to see. The copper reinforcing bands are different,, but for the leather tab I would actually question if it had ever had a leather cover.

Nice to see another vermilion saya, there does not seem to be that many around.

But they do turn up, with Seki stamps no less! Nota bene this is not a defence or promotion of the "Pilot Sword" legend, I think some of them were made for shorter officers, and others as a homage to Samurai times ( and probably in Buke zukuri koshirae originaly), and some for men who just preferred a shorter blade. Regarding heights of officers... http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/2014/05/30/173407 I have already posted one such above, and I remember a Mantetsu Wakizashi turning up on here one day. They are rare, and reused old blades are greatly in the majority for the shorter Shin-Gunto. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23002-mantetsu-wakizashi/

It may very well be, and your comment is not cantankerous, but it's worth following the link and seeing the discussion. Face it, any very short blade in Gunto mounts is going to have a modified saya. There is another very short blade in Gunto mounts that was posted here I think by Vladimir (Fumei), hopefully he will chip in at some point. It's probably worth considering how we are going to define "short Gunto" though. Blades, koshirae, which type of koshirae. I have loads of "Pilot swords" on file in wood and leather saya, and Mr Komiya posted a load of information on repurposed wakizashi here... http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/family-short-blades-gunto-688110/ But if we are looking at radically altered Koshirae.......

Not in my possession but a good example I think. Shin gunto wakizashi from Wrldtrvler0203. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/help-shin-gunto-showato-please-729538/

I have seen non Japanese blades with cast on guards and bolsters, usually in pewter or other white metal. It is seriously no big deal with low temperature alloys. A bit of a quick and dirty fix when you lack craftsmen who can make proper habaki.... the which is no easy job!

I am pretty sure that is cast on, I reckon I can see where the metal ran on to the blade.... Possibly unintentionally.

When you think about it, this does explain the rather radical storage strategy in Japan! Blade into the shirasaya, shirasaya into a katana-bukuro, katana -bukuro into a katana-bako! I have also read (here?) of a Japanese collector who would not open the box to show something off, because it was the wrong season/weather!

Possibly not paint, but oxide staining!

Can you get it X-rayed at a local vets or an engineering testing station? You will than get an idea of where the mekugi is, and who knows, possibly even a signature. ps. Thanks for posting this sword, I was trying to remember where I has seen a cast on Habaki before.

I would buy from here, rather than on an auction site. There are some real issues that can effect Japanese blades that you will not see in a photo, and you could end up with what is basically scrap metal. Follow the link for a quick informative precis of what I am writing about... http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/flaws.html

Shirasaya are designed to split if needed. They are stuck with rice glue only, and my experience has been that overnight immersion in water will soften the glue enough to split the shirasaya.

Why do you think it was in Kyu mounts earlier?

The usual advise for the nakago is to scrape with a piece of bone, antler or horn, and less is more if you know what I mean. Current advise from a reputable source also suggests oiling it, given that we are collectors, rather than Edo era Samurai. Oil your nakago – The Cutting Edge For the blade, if you are not going for a (very expensive, long delay) Japanese polish, I suggest Uchiko' the hell out of it, with a good quality Uchiko from a reputable source like Namikawa Heibi! I bought a load (100grm) from them for a very reasonable price, and they took Paypal. The point about Uchiko is that it does no harm to an out of polish blade, and does remove a fair amount of the crud. Talcum powder works up to a point if you have problems getting the good stuff, and is a damn sight cheaper than the bad stuff. https://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/164

Hiya, do I see two functioning Mekugi there?