ChrisW

Probably a spot where a bit of metallic or enamel inlay was and has since fallen out. Or could be recent and done by someone who had no idea what they were doing (trying to make a necklace and discovering the metal is harder than they thought or something like that).

That is something that could only be decided by an in-hand assessment; but also whether or not it should be polished is a togishi's call, not someone on an internet forum who is only looking at pictures. You're telling him to not pursue it on suppositions and what if's. His reasons are his alone. It might just be a study piece, or he might be thinking of restoring it. The best answer we should give him is to let someone whose career is polishing to decide.

If it fits well in the scabbard? Unlikely.. Wartime made scabbards made for wartime blades generally fit less forms than older style blades which have a different curvature by comparison. You could check, if the scabbard is already split, by laying it in one half of the saya and see how it conforms to the inside. Does the habaki fit well in the mouth of the scabbard? With time, it does wear open wider, but if it fits well, that helps to confirm its correct.

I'm not seeing any significant damage that would make it anymore expensive to polish than an average out-of-polish blade. I think that sort of judgement call should be made in hand. Either way, this should be seen in person by a togishi to make that call! And I agree with Brian, its a very nice motif!

I would say this has some potential under all that rust!

Congratulations on achieving that dream!

The hada is certainly very attractive.

I wonder if its beyond saving? Or if its even worth it. Do you all think it holds more importance as it is or restored?

Love the blade shape!

You'd be best suited to getting a modern-made sword or having one made to your specifications; that way, you'll know exactly what you're getting. If you get an antique one, not only would you be destroying a piece of history/art work, but you'd run the risk of having it fail spectacularly due to a higher chance of an unseen flaw. There's a lot of modern made blades/shinsakuto that would suit your needs. Paul Chen are good I've heard, as well as any number of modern Japanese-made shinsakuto. If price is a concern, I'd go with Chinese-made ones like Paul Chen (Hanwei I believe is the brand name) or even Korean-made blades. In the end, only you would know its origin and the performance is nearly the same when comparing Chinese/Korean to Japanese made modern blades. There's lots of sites like this one: https://www.martialartswords.com/ where you can get a sword made more or less custom to your needs. I know I've seen sites where you can even specify the steel used/hamon pattern.

I imagine the habaki was sheared in half by the force of the impact, yes?

How bad is the damage to the blade? Always is neat seeing these things.

No problem! Excited to hear what you find!

Neat! This checks off two interests of mine: nihonto and marine archaeology. What an interesting piece! Got any story behind it to share?

I agree with Bruce and Brian here; its worth at least looking into. It looks like it could be quite a beauty if polished.

Well, I guess you'll be able to see once you've got it in hand! It will be very telling to see how they are joined to the tsuba plate.

Hmm... no idea then. Perhaps they're not as hard and fast with their rules on long-time buyers?

Most auction houses say they won't let you rescind a bid. But they can't easily force you to pay up, so typically they just ban the 'winner' from future auctions and offer it to the runner up; which in this case, is you!

Would love to see photos of it all set up once possible! Many of us cannot attend during its duration for obvious reasons.

I believe these are what you call "Gunzoku" mounts -- civilian military contractors. I could be wrong though. Bruce will have your answer I am certain.

That Emura is a thing of beauty! Nice find Stephen!

Makes sense!

I have a few blades that have damage like that. As far as I am aware, when a sword strike occurs on the habaki, it bites into it and often damages the blade underneath it; then the habaki is typically replaced. Here is an example where the original habaki is kept and you can see the damage to the blade under it: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/katanainfight.html

You could also try cutting various thickness of leather scraps to make a leather washer to fit the gap size needed.

Welcome! There are also numerous Token Kai stateside in the midwest if you're ever in the area as well as many dealers too!