Kaigunto230

Thanks for the follow-up again, and congratulations on having the prodigal son come home!

Woohoo!!! That was a far better resolution than I was expecting when I started the thread. But now, don’t hold out on us! We’ve got to see some photos of the sword!

Thanks very much, Ray. I haven’t done much Bizen research and wondered if something like that was possible. And the other than financial reasons on not submitting for shinsa, that’s a great point. Any thoughts overall on the piece?

I have a friend who is shopping around for a Nihonto in Gunto mounts. He's considering purchasing this kaigunto and asked for my opinion. https://www.shigure-militaria.com/blank/14th-century-signed-兼光-ijn-kaigunto . I told him that I thought it was a nice piece overall, with a pleasant sugata and sori, and the the koshirae was good, as was the price. But I was worried that being shipped from Japan and purportedly this old without papers makes me nervous something was wrong with it, to include that it's gimei. What're your thoughts on whether or not this is gimei or just generally on the piece?

Thanks @Bruce Pennington and @Conway S. He paid $400, so for a Nihonto in not terrible finish with a visible hamon and some gunto fittings - we figured he couldn't do too badly. I haven't seen it in person, so I'm just basing the not-quite-fitting on his descriptions. But interesting to hear it might not be a put-together piece. When it was for sale, I said that even for a put-together piece, getting a first Nihonto to study at that price point wouldn't be the worst, even if it is mumei. The nakago's an interesting shape, the hamon is lovely overall, and there's the possibility of some good historical wartime usage here.

Some more photos:

Has anyone seen a custom-fitted Nihonto mounted in Type 19 fittings? My buddy purchased this a while ago (for pretty darn cheap, so I think he's ambivalent on the answer to this thread). It's a wakizashi-length blade mounted onto what appears to be a Type 19 handle. When he was purchasing it, he snapped some photos and sent them my way; he's not a sword guy, so here's what I got. You can see the habaki is not fully fitting. And when I asked if there was wiggle around the handle or the fit into the scabbard, he agreed. I personally think it's some post-war put-together piece. Do you? And beyond that, have you seen use of family swords/Nihonto on Type 19 fittings before? I hadn't, but it's an interesting thought. I'd love your opinions on it. Like I said, he bought it for cheap enough that he wasn't being hosed, regardless, but I promised him I'd post here to see what the experts said. Thanks!

Thank you very much @Bruce Pennington!

@Bruce Pennington and @Kiipu Could you please point me towards the thread with this information? I'd love to learn more. Thanks!

Thanks, gents. It's just so odd to see a sword term and not be able to find any hits on this forum, what I consider to be the experts. @Bugyotsuji Interesting! So probably a modern term retroactively applied to Gunto? Weird that enough sellers are using "Ryaku" instead of "Rinji" / "rinjisei".

In researching a couple swords, I've come across several sales pages recently that use the term "Ryakushiki" or "Ryaku Shiki." In context, it seems like these sales pages mean prewar Nihonto using civilian tsuka paired with additional gunto koshirae, or separately, late-war swords. Presumably, the latter half of the word is easy - SHIKI (式), type, like Type 99 Arisaka, Type 97 kaigunto etc. But I’ve never seen “Ryaku” in any of the literature and most tellingly, I tried searching it here on NMB, and there’s only a couple hits as part of longer mei, back in the early 2000s. Yet, I keep seeing it, so I figured I’d make a quick post asking if others have stumbled across and then tripped over this wording. The typical AI overview slop on Google gave me: “Ryakushiki guntō (略式軍刀) is the Japanese term for the simplified, late-war version of the gunto sword, which was used by the Imperial Japanese Army. As World War II progressed and resources became scarce, the production of standard military swords was simplified to conserve metal and speed up manufacturing….. The ryakushiki guntō is often confused with other military sword types from the same period, but its distinctive simplified features are a key identifier for collectors.” Some quick examples from Googling: Ryakushiki-GUNTO 略式軍刀, WW2 Japanese Army Officer Sword | eBay Japanese SWORD WW2 army gunto officer sword ryakushiki signed $2,000.00 - PicClick WWII Japanese ARMY Showa 刀 Katana Ryakushiki Gunto Sword Signed 'Idohiromitsu' $1,395.00 - PicClick https://www.instagram.com/p/C9LMmF2S2e8/?img_index=3 Anyone have any insight to share?

I think this is good advice. I’m in no rush and anticipate they’ll probably still be there in a few months. In the meantime, there’s always more studying to do. Half the fun of any acquisition, Nihonto or Gunto, is the research along the way. Thank you and everyone for this little pawn shop jaunt; I’ll probably stop back in the shop in early 2026 and see where we are.

Ha ha, this is all great stuff! And you're right on the psych game - if I'm being objective, I don't have a great poker face. We'll see if he follows up in the next few months, and if not, I'll swing back and try again eventually. Honestly, even at $3000, seems like a pretty good deal, doesn't it?

Sure could be on seeing my interest when I took photos, but I'm positive I didn't get a "Douche Bag tax". I very much ascribe to "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." He's shrewd, I'm sure, but he also didn't have them displayed even on the wall; they were in the back of the store in a rifle case. He only brought them out when I showed a passing interest and identified a refinished Type 32 he had listed for, gulp, $899. Because they were tucked away in the back plus the fact that he's had them for three years means he probably honestly doesn't care about selling them. I could tell he thought they were cool pieces too. Your last point on sending someone else is sneaky, I love it, and it might just work!

It went exactly as I thought it might but hoped it wouldn't. Me: "I'll give you $1300 for them." Him: "No, I need $3000." Me: "What?? You said $2000 last week." Him: "Welllllll, I said I couldn't take less than $1000 each, so I'm not." He's got me there.....