John Barry

For my Kai gunto

Closeup view of the nakago for the Shin gunto.

Here are my 2 swords. I think they both deserve a spot on this thread. Both are flea market/dry goods store finds but both were made by renown smiths. The Shin gunto was made by Ishido Teruhide and the Kai Gunto was made by Miyaguchi Kunimori. I already posted the Kai gunto here back in 2021 but the Shin gunto was acquired recently. I was going to ask you guys for translation but i found it out myself here. Anyway, here they are.

Thanks Bruce. I think i will try finding cloth loop for the Tassel. My only problem here is that the available material are synthetic. I also don’t want to try copper wire although there are lots of that here.

And here’s a close up look at the tsuka, tsuba and spacers. I noticed that there Is a number 4 stamped on each one. Including the fuchi.

This is the blade shape by the way. It has some rust but the hamon can be seen. Especially on the omote side. On the other side is a different story. The hamon is still visible when there is good light. When I got this, it had some rusting going on. So I applied oil on it in an attempt to save it from further rusting. I'm sure a qualified polisher can restore it back to glory.

Thanks Bruce! The blade has some rusts on it but the fittings are nice. Except for this minor damage on the saya.

The omote side

Sir Geraint, I do not have the proper camera at the moment. I hope this phone camera picture would suffice. Unfortunately the habaki is on there really tight i know it will come lose soon. Im just too afraid to hammer or try to take it apart.

Thank you all for the response. I will send more photos of the blade and Nakago this afternoon.

Good day gents. Once again, I find myself in need of your assistance in identifying this sword I purchased recently. I know well enough that this is a kai gunto. But as to who made it. I haven’t any clue. Unfortunately there is rust on some of the blade and some damage to the saya. But despite it’s imperfections, this sword is far superior over that shin gunto I posted here before. To me the blade looks like it was forged traditionally but I am not sure. The mei seems to be on the other side and I don’t see any arsenal stamps anywhere. I will try to take more pictures as soon as I get home from work. Anyway, thank you in advance for the much assistance. Barry