Kaigunto230

My wife hypothesized that it was un-sharpened upon order/creation and the officer never got around to sharpening it upon issue. Again, that makes sense in the naval context (not many needs/opportunities while underway), but it would strike me as adding an extra layer of work unnecessarily to have the sword purchaser sharpen it instead of the smith/factory upon creation.

I'd like to circle back on my sword. It's been intriguing to me that the blade is very dull. Ha ha, the results of my paper-cutting test do not bear repeating here. Does the dulling of a blade occur naturally over time, and if so, would it have happened from the end of WWII to now? Or, if not dulled naturally, was it simply never sharpened? It makes more sense in the Navy than the Army to have a sword without a sharpened blade given seaborne duty, but this isn't a parade sword, and given the leather saya, it seems like this was at least intended for combat conditions. Does anyone have any thoughts or run into this before?

Thomas, oh fun! I first read "demonstrations" as the ordered and polite protests that occasionally happen outside the gate against the U.S. Navy having nuclear-powered aircraft carriers there. On second read, now I'm wondering if you mean some type of showcasing of iaido, Nihonto, etc? As for the Meiji-era book, it is interesting, but it probably is more general resource on the military history of the period than Nihonto specifically. It's the guidebook to a fascinating exhibit put on by the Yokohama Archives of History Museum that documented the transformation from late Edo to late Meji Japanese military. Lots of documentary history that covered uniform changes (where the tie-in to this subject comes in as the government changed who could carry what type of swords and what those swords looked like). Also, the guidebook has less English than the exhibit itself. I just tried Googling for a link to the exhibit/possibly the book with no luck, sorry.

Thomas, that sounds great! Jokes aside, my wife's an artist and will love seeing a new angle to Japanese art in Nihonto. That there will be other art at all is just a great bonus! We're getting very excited. Kirill, ooh, I hadn't even thought of bringing cash. Do any dealers bring Squares or other card-accepting devices? I'm not necessarily keen on walking about San Francisco with thousands of dollars on my person. Also, in case others hadn't run across this, I found a coupon for $3 off admission: https://www.nihonto.com/31st-tokenkai/ .

Hello everyone, Michael Seeley here! I've been reading and browsing this thread for a few months and wanted to introduce myself. I'm originally from IA but live out in northern WA state for now. I'm a longtime student of history, particularly military history; I focused on Napoleonic and Ancient in college, but I've always been fascinated by Japan and their martial traditions. After law school, I joined the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, and I was stationed in Yokosuka (about two hours south of Tokyo) and Sasebo (west of Nagasaki) for a few years. During my time there, I went to as many museums as possible and saw the most gorgeous Nihonto on display. I've got some pictures of some very interesting stories from out of the way museums that I should post here. For instance, Odawara had a katana that was used for a revenge killing by a son after years of searching for his father's murderer. Now that I'm back in the States and have a bit more time and money, I've really started academically studying Nihonto. My book collection includes these; I'm off to a good start but need to invest in more titles. And here's my nascent collection of all periods/types, which includes a Type 97 Kai Gunto, a 1700s smallsword (I'm a fencer), my own Naval uniform sword, a locally-made sword cane, Kris (my leave travels in Asia), an Arisaka bayonet, and a shinai for kendo. With the naval connection, I'm very interested in late-Meiji/Russo-Japanese War-era mounts, as I love the meeting of East and West with the beauty of traditional blades. I posted that I'm going to be at the San Francisco Token-Kai in August, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting you all! Thanks for all you do for the historical community.

Grey, thank you! All great tips, and the NBTHK website has a lot of great info. I’d love to meet up. I found your online store some times back from the Japanese Sword Index, and saw your note about bringing a book in your bag if you have room. There’s a couple I’m eyeing, so I’ll shoot you an email here in a couple weeks if I decide on one. And if you don’t have any space, that’s totally fine! Particularly because the one I think I’m most likely to buy is a doozy page-count-wise 😬 (Dawson’s Cyclopedia. I really enjoy Kyu Gunto mounts and am hoping to see some at the show). Mark, are you sharing the table with Grey, or is that a different Mark? Thank you as well! It seems a lot of the handling advice boils down to “have good situational awareness/be mindful and be intentional about your actions,” and I think that fits quite well with the rest of Japanese culture. And as for interacting with dealers and hosts, just some plain ole good manners and being considerate goes a long way!

Good evening everyone! I’ve been very much enjoying reading all the incredible threads here and my own growing collection of books on Nihonto over the the few months. I’m also taking a vacation to San Francisco in August and will be attending at least one day of the Token Kai (I don’t think I can convince my wife to go for more than one day ). Prior to that event, I was wondering: 1. Is there anything I should know prior to attending my first show? I.e. Things you wish you’d have known as an early student and collector 2. Shipping a sword - We’re flying into SF, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I buy a sword at the event. How should I get it home? If you think I should ship it, any tips on carrier, insurance, packing etc? Or if I’m going to put it into a check bag for my flight, things I should know? I’m having pre-nightmares of opening my bag at home and having a sword in two pieces! 😬 3. Anything I should bring to the show? Gloves for handling swords, a sword care kit for removing mekugi, books? 4. Areas I should be particularly studying beforehand? 5. Lastly, is anyone else planning to attend? I haven’t posted much here because I feel like the “children should be silent until spoken to” stage at the moment 😂 But I’d love to meet the faces behind the threads. Thanks for any thoughts! Very respectfully, Michael

George, thank you so much, sir! I really appreciate your help, both here and in so many other posts across the forum. You've been very generous with your time, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

Bruce, WOW, thank you so much, sir! That's incredibly helpful. I've seen your name throughout these forums, and you always leave such helpful and insightful comments. I hope you know how kind and appreciated that is. Thanks again!

(cross-posted from SBG Forums) I purchased this Japanese sword from an antiques dealer today for just under $600. I'm looking to get some more information on it. There's some interesting things about it. The dealer explained where he got it, has a very good reputation, and said that if I thought it was fake, I could return it. I don't think it is, but I'm not an expert and would love some assistance. Here's my observations: -The tsuka is wrapped in leather, not ray skin. -The saya is cedar and not lacquered at all. It's wrapped in leather, with one hanger. The rivets are marked in English and say "K. R. Tsurame". There's also some markings on the wood itself, under the cap that covers the throat of the saya. - There's two mekugi. -The tsuba and fuchi are both marked "448". -There's an anchor arsenal marking. -There's both a mei and a black written marking on either side of the tang. -The blade itself is not very sharp, doesn't appear to have any hamon, even an ornamental one, but is in okay polish (I think), with only a few imperfections. I believe it's stainless steel. Does anyone have any information they could tell me about this, and first and foremost, is it a fake? Did I get a good deal? What year it was produced? What was the rank of the bearer? What dothe markings on the saya and each side of the tang mean? Thank you so much for your help!

There's both a Mei on one side of the tang, and set of black marks on the other. Could anyone please help me translate? On the Mei, there's four kanji and an arsenal mark. Other than being Naval, if someone knows which arsenal this is from, I'd appreciate it.