Yukihiro

Is the putting back together of a project gunto really worth the trouble? I mean, apart from the aesthetical point of view? Is such a sword considered worth collecting and is one likely not to lose the money that will be invested into it? Regards, Didier

Thank you very much indeed for your answers.

I have noticed that one-hole gunto tsuba (that is with a kogai or kozuka hitsu-ana) often had only two seppa, but that might be an impression.

I have noticed that the number of seppa on army shin-gunto vary greatly: some have only two or three, while others have four and more (up to eight, if I am not mistaken). I would like to know whether the number of seppa depends on the degree of "luxury" of the koshirae or whether it is linked to the period when the sword was mounted. From what I could see, most civilian tsuba are fitted with one seppa on either side, with sometimes an additional one or a leather seppa with a strap. Thank you in advance for your answers! Didier

Thought I could add mine to this thread : 横田 (Yokota) on the nakago-mune of my (one & only!) Toshimasa gunto - most likely the original owner's name.

That is an interesting subject, because these "shops" do come up regularly in the conversations we have on here although there is no clear definition of what they were in actual fact. Yes, I think you are right : if somebody knows more about them, it has to be Nick Komiya.

Brian, Pardon my question, which must have been answered somewhere else on the forum already, but is it possible to know whether a gunto was mounted in a shop or directly by the army and, as a subsidiary question, have these shops been documented in any way - number of such shops, typical mounting styles of some of these shops as opposed to others? Regards, Didier

Look up the word "gimei" on the Internet and you'll get a full explanation of that practice.

Of course, Chris, I don't expect it to be more than it actually is. Nevertheless I am curious of any piece of information I can gather about it. Those name-cutters were supposed to have worked for several smiths at the same time and here it seems to be the other way around, which I thought could be of some interest.

Here is another example of one of Slough's nakirishimei : Toshimasa's. Upon closer examination, it appeared to me that there could have been not just ONE specialist name-cutter working for Toshimasa, but (at least?) TWO. Do you think my assumption is correct? Regards, Didier

Two guys were competing, none of them wanted to give up, and up went the auction. That simple. The luckier of the two is the one who didn't get the sword.

Well, Showa22 is now a wealthier man...

I agree with you : it is overpriced.

Speaking of plaques, what do you think of this "historical" sword? https://www.naturabuy.fr/Sabre-historique-Japonais-SHIN-GUNTO-seconde-guerre-mondiale-item-5257773.html Regards, Didier

At least I was able to discover why there are two ways of tying tassels!

George's sword is interesting in many respects, among other things as a testimony to the use by Japanese officers of fully civilian-mounted swords during WWII with only minimal adaptation - here, the canvas saya-cover. I would be interested to know whether there ever was a tassel on this one, as (to my point of view) no army or navy sword would ever be worn without the corresponding tassel. I have read somewhere that NCO leather tassels were no longer available by the end of the war - could that also have been the case for officer tassels?

Yes, of course - my point was only that such a configuration IS possible

Thank you for sharing, George! I would bet your sword was made long before WWII. The fact that the seppa (washers) overlap the hole in the sword guard (kogai hitsu-ana) is also of particular interest to me, as it is also the case on my WWII gunto, which is fitted with an older civilian tsuba.

Bruce, I think this might be the photo you were looking for. A second one, this time with what seems to be an iron tsuba.

Matt, Your Munechika is without a shadow of a doubt a great piece of history - thank you for posting! Regards, Didier

From the way it looks, I would be EXTREMELY surprised if this tassel were original...

This is the NCO tassel replica that came with the sword when I got it :

Chris, there are indeed three seppa in all, and I must say that I have suspected the shiny one to be a replacement or a later addition. I have taken for granted that the NCO tassel was a copy : it looks brand new.

Thank you very much, Ed. Of course, making sure that my sword is in its original configuration is of primary importance to me, because this will allow me to retrace at least part of its history - most nihonto lovers will tell you that "a blade speaks for itself", but, as far as gunto are concerned, I feel that every single element - not just the blade - has a story to tell.

Maybe an indication that the seppa which is closest to the habaki is the original one is the fact that the tarnish on both of them seems to be rather uniform. I cannot imagine that this isn't the original habaki, at any rate.