DTM72

Have you contacted Roger directly? His info is below. @omidaijo

Sorry Jaykob. I didn't mean to lowball you. I have PTSD and a survivor of a scary marry-go-round incident when I was in the American revolution in France with the freedom fighters of Madagascar.

I am looking for a Type 97 kaigunto with sharkskin saya. Not wanting the painted, textured, or rayskin versions. Prefer older family katana, but would consider wakizashi as well. Excellent condition Showato or good condition gendaito acceptable too. Do not want the stainless blade. See photo for example of the saya covering. Thanks in advance! Dan

Anyone notice the rare extended drag on the saya? BTW, I'm still on the hunt for a nice kai-gunto with fine sharkskin saya, not bigger rayskin. Thanks!

Yes, Matt is around the Richmond, VA. area. I will tag him so he can see this post. @mdiddy

I see my short ken tanto in the middle of the table, flanked by 2 of my katana. 597, 598, 599. Ken Tanto was actually sold, just before taking to shinsa so new owner took possession as it left shinsa.

Not working for me as well. Wonder what happened?

As already mentioned, the NON-alternating tsuka ito is the first thing I noticed. The shinogi looks to almost be halfway down the blade, nearly centered. The button on the fuchi is plain, not normal. The fuchi edge looks to be rolled upwards, as in poor quality stamping or a thin casting. Lastly, the habaki looks to be off at the top, as-in the cut out for the mune' is too small. A shot of the nakago would help alot. So far, I'm leaning towards reproduction.

I guess I'll be the bad guy and point out some issues that I see. The blade number, being in the 60,000 range would put it in the initial type of NCO sword, following the copper handled versions. This group rannged up into the low 100,000's when the middle type came out. The initial type had the thick brass tsuba and copper fuchi with the various markings. The middle type has the thinner plain iron tsuba and black fuchi. This example is a mix of both versions. It could be that this was damaged in the field, and a field repair was made, keeping the original blade and tsuka, but adding the iron tsuba, iron fuchi, thick iron seppa, and possibly the non-serialized saya. <-- all just guesses. All still legitimate NCO parts, just a mash-up.

Mark Ceskavich, and family, did an excellent job with the show. Nicest group of people to work with as well. I look forward to next year!

it was great meeting and chatting with you. Dan

I'll be there, with two tables. I will have a small sign on the table with my NMB screen name "DTM72". I will have one red suit and one black suit of armor on each end of the table. Please stop by and say hello! Dan

So sorry to hear that! lol

Started my packing yesterday. I have so much that I have to pull a trailer to bring all of it!

I think I may have found the National Treasure of, well not Japan, but some other country. Well I'm not sure any country would claim this. WWII Navy Kai Gunto for the Buy it now price of $2999.00 ! It's not even a Kaigunto! It is bent, got multiple edge dings, chrome plated alloy, tarnished alloy fittings...total trash! The handle (can't bring myself to call it a tsuka) has been removed but no pictures of the tang (not worthy of being called nakago). https://www.ebay.com/itm/364946612315

Jewelery and Coin often get tables at the Chicago and Orlando shows. Great guys to deal with. I have bought from them on and off eBay and traded with them, in person. I have heard it mentioned that Showa22 and The Samurai Monkey 24 are the same person. <-- not sure if that is true.

You only missed it by 1 letter. Close enough right? Tada Sada 忠 定 At a quick look, they somewhat look similar...especially once chiseled in the chippy Showato fashion. Have you ever seen the Gifu stamp on the mune?

Yoshi 義 Tada 忠

I just got a blade with a gifu stamp on the nakago (tachi mei) AND the back edge. Never seen that before. This is on a type 3 RS. Dated June of 1945 (Showa Ni Jyu Nen Roku Gatsu) 昭和二十年六月 <-- latest date I have owned.

Bruce, Your work amazes me! One day in the distant future, people will look back at this site and see the work you and others have undertaken and be very thankful for the information they have found. You are appreciated!

If you have it, I need the koiguchi for at type 3 RS saya, as well as the kojiri for the same saya. <-- long shot I know, but doesn't hurt to ask. Thick brass seppa. You are the best Mark!

Judging by the choji style hamon near the habaki, I might be willing to bet this could be an Emura or a Nagamitsu.

A point of reference for this statement. Tachi mei is with the signature facing outwards,when worn as a tachi,with edge down. Similarly, katana have the mei facing outwards as well, when worn as a katana, with edge up. Since the type 94's and 98's were styled and worn as tachi, following tradition, they should all have the signature as tachi mei...but, we see signatures on both sides for showato, and gendaito.

Building on what Brian posted, Buy something in decent enough polish to appreciate. Project blades usually stay that way forever. I don't want to use the term "project blade" but many of us started with a cheap priced blade that we have these ideas of saving with a polish. <-- without knowing what a TRUE polish entails or if it is even worth a polish. Buy one good sword instead of multiple cheaper ones. At one time I had 15-20 cheap blades that all needed polish, or had missing fittings, needed a tsuka re-wrap or replacement. All were blades that I could afford at the time and none were really "keepers" or something to be proud of. Bad flaws will only bother you more and more over time. Buy the best condition you can afford. As I learned more about Nihonto, flaws were something I could not overlook. As a beginning collector I would often say to myself that "It's a nice blade except that one blister (fukure) or that one split (kizu)" My eyes were able to look past the flaws, back then. Now my eyes are drawn to the flaws and cannot look past them! Think of it in terms of a woman. She has a great body and a cute face, except for her big nose. A young guy may be ok with her for a short time. As you get older, you want the total package and cannot look past the giant nose. Wishing you all the best! Dan

If I still lived in Coventry, I would gladly come visit you...but I am back with the other unruly Yanks on this side of the pond. I wish you well at the show! Dan