Bryce

G'day Thomas, The photos aren't great, but almost certainly gimei. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Just as a follow up, I recently obtained a copy of "Nippon Toh". This sword is specifically mentioned in the book as being made entirely by Gassan Sadakatsu and not his father Sadakazu. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, OK, so it is still a Chinese knock-off of a Japanese gunto, but it may have been made around the time of the war (or not). Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, That does not look legit to me. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, The mei looks pretty good. There are a couple of unusual things, but it is close enough that I can't immediately call it gimei without further study and better photos. During this period, there is quite a bit of variation in Gassan Sadakazu mei. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Sam, As Con mentioned earlier the second haikan was protected by leather to prevent rubbing, so the absence of wear in this area is not definitive. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Lance, It is a nice type 94 koshirae with the rare pinned kabutogane. If you search the site you will find a thread on "pinned kabutogane". Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Everything already mentioned above suggests this is a type 98. I don't think there are any individual "cast iron" rules, but the combination of all these factors together says type 98. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Sam, It looks like a type 94 to me, especially if the gloss paint is original. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Mark, Thanks for posting. To help you here is a comparison shot of your dragon with a more detailed example by Gassan Sadakatsu dated 1920. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jake, I have a set with very similar theme to yours. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Eric, The bonji on your blade represents the entity Fudo myo-o. I have a Gassan Sadakatsu blade with similar horimono. Your blade is not Gassan work though. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I am always happy to learn something, fire away, show us what you know. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, The Gassan school is famous for its ayasugi hada. Sadayoshi and Sadakazu are credited with rediscovering it, but it was Sadakatsu who refined it to the beautiful uniformity we expect to see today. If we group Sadakazu and Sadakatsu together, I would argue that it isn't Ayasugi hada so much that unites them, but rather, tight, uniform, masame hada. Ayasugi hada never dominated Sadakazu's work, but it is the most common hada for Sadakatsu's Showa period work. Each of these smiths forged blades in all sorts of styles, with some dominating different periods of their working lives, but in general terms, I would describe their work as very controlled, with ko-nie and nioi. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I don't understand your question. You are asking me what characteristics they have in common, when they have so many that most people can't tell their blades apart? Is this a language thing? Is there going to be a punchline? Is this like "Two Gassan smiths walk into a bar .........". Adam, that looks like a nice blade. It is a pity that Eric doesn't post some better photos of the hada and hamon. Cheers, Bryce