BANGBANGSAN

Thanks Bruce!

Bruce Do you have more photos of this sword?

I’m not an expert for the Java swords. But I think this type of Gunto is a purely combat weapon made in the battlefield. It may have been produced with the involvement of Japanese blacksmith/sword maker who were responsible for maintaining the army swords(軍刀維修団）, and the materials used were probably something from old car springs. I would like to add one of those Java sword to my collection one day for research purposes.

Swedish steel Company " Shellberg from Höganäs AB" mentioned 日支事変勃発のニュースは、端典の各地の工場視察を終わり、ストックホルムの旅舎に 帰った直後に聞いた。 その時瑞典の銑鉄は、二二〇クローネ（当時の為替平価、五三銭七厘）迄にはね上って いることを知った。これは二ヶ月前には九〇クローネだったということに対し、実に二倍 半の値上りである。その頃、チェルベルジーを経て買付た瑞典のフーフォース社の原料フ ープ三八ポンド（当時の為替時価、二〇円）という、東京よりの知らせがあった。このこ とは正に、原料価格が数ヶ月前に於ける、吾々の製品価格に相当するところ迄騰貴したこ とで、真に容易ならぬ場面が展開して来た訳である. I heard the news of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Incident just after returning to my lodging in Stockholm, following inspections at various factories in Denmark. At that time, I learned that the price of Swedish pig iron had soared to 220 kronor (equivalent to 53.7 sen at the exchange rate then). This was an astonishing increase, as it had been 90 kronor just two months earlier, representing a rise of two and a half times. Around that time, I received news from Tokyo that Swedish raw material hoop iron weighing 38 pounds, purchased via Shellberg from Höganäs AB, was priced at 20 yen (based on the current exchange rate at the time). This meant that the price of raw materials had surged to a level equivalent to the price of our products a few months earlier, signaling the beginning of a truly challenging situation.

Typo 烏（乌 Black） instead of 鳥（鸟 bird)

濃州関住福田兼次 Noshu Seki ju Fukuda Kanetsugu

以餅鐵 Motte Mochi Tetsu (Using Mochi Iron) 盛岡住 Morioka ju 山內 Yamauchi 藤原國多作 Fujiwara Kunimasa Saku

鳥城 Okayama Castle 鍛刀舎 Tantosha(Forge) 三田住 Mita Ju 蛟龍斎 Koryusai(House of Water Dragon) 義光作 Yoshimitsu saku

I read this interview with 大崎靖宗 Osaki Yasumune, and the interviewer is 栗原謙二 Kurihara Kenji, a apprentice of the second-generation 小林康広 Kobayashi Yasuhiro. In the article, some interesting story is mentioned, where 靖宗 Yasumune talks about"In fact,we use oil to soften the blade after water quenching to improve it's flexibility.And this method was invented by Dr.Kuto Haruto 工藤治人(The chariman of Yasuki Steel Mill Company 安來鋼製作所 ）.It was certainly a better method for cooling down the entire blade more evenly than the traditional method."

In the chapter titled "CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF SWORDS PRODUCED" in The Yasukuni Swords, it is mentioned: "Nevertheless, Yasukuni smiths engaged in sword forging with maximum effort, always seeking to improve their techniques and produce the highest number of swords possible. They employed a sword forging method called 'makuri-gitae,' which is one of the relatively less time-consuming traditional methods, and it favored a hamon in suguha. This method seemed the most appropriate to the circumstances, and suited the forging of practical swords such as gunto." It also mentions that "each smith produced about ten swords per month around 1935, and succeeded in increasing the monthly output to fifteen swords around 1940. Supplying for the Pacific War, which started on the 8th of December 1941, some of them surprisingly produced twenty swords per month in 1942, the year in which production reached its peak. It is speculated that this output was achieved by teams consisting of a swordsmith, two sakite, and a charcoal cutter, using no electric machines." Given that traditional sword-making is a highly labor-intensive process, it indeed seems almost impossible to complete a blade in just two days without the use of power hammers or other modern machinery. This would require extreme efficiency and coordination from the entire team, pushing the boundaries of what could be done by hand in such a short time. Traditional methods, especially without the help of machines, would usually take longer, which is why the reported productivity is surprising.

He also mentioned that the Tsuru 鹤 Tamahagane was too hard and small carcks werer often seen in the sword.

The new generation of Japanese swordsmith by Tomio Tsuchiko

I read this interview with 大崎靖宗 Osaki Yasumune, and the interviewer is 栗原謙二 Kurihara Kenji, a apprentice of the second-generation 小林康広 Kobayashi Yasuhiro. In the article, some interesting story is mentioned, where 靖宗 Yasumune talks about"In fact,we use oil to soften the blade after water quenching to improve it's flexibility.And this method was invented by Dr.Kuto Haruto 工藤治人(The chariman of Yasuki Steel Mill Company 安來鋼製作所 ）.It was certainly a better method for cooling down the entire blade more evenly than the traditional method."

Thanks for posting this. It looks like there were some engravings on the tang, but they were scratched off? The tassel is very interesting. It looks like it was fieldmade and wrapped around the wrist to prevent slipping, rather than to indicate rank.