Weidas

someone will be very disapointed and frustrated soon... i paid ~$300 plus shipping. Somehow, my mind started to work after i transferred payment - why so cheap - normal price is 650 to 850?:)

my thought was the same.. however, it seems, that this sword should be considered as "roughly" altered to fit into kyu-gunto mounts. but why to alter blade lenght if you can shorten nakago...?

didn't go that far:) for me it was enough just to see general view

sorry for perhaps stupid question, but why to do that on the begining of the tang?

Hello everyone, there is interesting gunto om e-bay - mix of kyu and shin gunto. However, there seems some marks of overheating near tang. Like it was re-heated. What is your opinion about that? http://cgi.ebay.com/VERY-NICE-Japanese- ... 2a01dd3652 thank you!

and by the way this is quite poor fake - begining from fuller and finishing with mixing of both arsenals into one - number on blade is placed as Nagoya, inspection mark refers to Tokyo, arsenal mark on fuchi misses one more canonball, producer mark missing, drag on scabbard looks like of Tokyo... Forget it, Klaus

this one is 200% fake. Have one alike from my beginner days, when i was jumping on everything which was referred to Japan without at least basic knowlage. Luckily i paid not too much for that junk...

No, George, most NCOs with round iron guard are with catch hooks at the top. However, locks at the side are also possible, therefore Chris should check this before buying any scabbard. Plus, if to be more precise, Chris, check also under which arsenal your NCO was made - Tokyo or Nagoya - their scabbards differ a bit

thank you very much for help!!!

thank you very much, Jacques! even with my untrained eye i see differences between mei... I hate to ask this sensitive question - but does that mean its gimei? or any other options?... PS. i hate those on-line translators. translations are more than confusing

Hello All, there is interesting sword on e-bay in kyu-gunto mounts: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT according to seller, mei is Settsu-no-kami Fujihwara Tadayuki 摂津守藤原忠行 . I couldn't find Fujiwara Tadayuki on the planes on internet. found obly SETTSU-no-KAMI TACHIBANA TADAYUKI. can anybody provide more detailed information about the smith and mei as itself? thank you very much for your help

truly pity to read that someone don't care about kyu-gunto koshirae and sees only the blade. My opinion is that this koshirae is part of sword history and must be kept together... speaking about koshirae, pictures don't show clearly but tassel and some shadow on the end of the handle, which looks like police sign allows expect that this is police gunto. In that case the sword would be worth more than army T19. Dave, could you do more pics of handle also?

got e-mail to my secondary address from him yesterday also. just curious - what pan Pawel does - sells fakes, or just takes money and do not deliver anything, or..?

sounds logical

in all resources i was able to find - internet, books of R.Fuller&R.Gregory, J.Dowson, i saw only tassels hanging from sarute or from loop, or just fixed at the end of tsuka(R.Fuller&R.Gregory "Military swords of Japan 1868 - 1945"), but i never noticed tassels hanging from scabbard. Maybe i just missed. My opinion is that according to regulations, tassels were supposed to hang from sarute, however, people are always people , everyone with his own attitude and character and therefore exceptions were always possible. but as individuals, not as regulations.

i also have some swords marked with arabic and kanji figures. what i noticed, arabic figures were stamped, kanji - looks like scratched or something. Most likely we'll never know why it was done so...

Hello Stephen, yes, activity seems very much alike. So, it goes to the favor of nidai.

yes, it the same up to mekugi thank you, Mr. Jacques. Although the question still stands - shodai or nidai, it is not very much relevant. However, is it worth to polish it and send for certification or as Peter wrote its not worth doing that from the point of value?

I'll ask for more pictures.

Hello everyone, friend of mine obtained very interesting sword in kyu-gunto field grade mounts. Seems, that the sword came from collection of Mr. Ron Gregory and is posted in Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks. There mei on nakago which seems like signature of Fujiwara Tsuguhiro. However, there were at least 2 generations of Tsuguhiro. Can anybody help with confirmation of which sword smith made this sword and provide more information about it. The blade is in old polish and we are thinking to arrange re-polishing and sending it to NBTHK for certification. That is, if this project will be worth such expenses and time... In this case your help in suggesting good polisher and procedures of certification would be highly appreciated i apologize for putting it not in Military section, however, in this case i'm more interested in history and value of the blade, not mounts. I apologize for not enough pictures - in case of need i'll ask for more thank you very much in advance!

that's exactly what i'd like to know, Mr. Nakamura

Dear All, while digging on all possible resources about Muneshige, i found several examples, including one, posted here by Mr. Jacques. After closer examination of this current sword and wakizashi i have i noted differences in mei and location of mei. I don't mean any offence or something like that... but could this sword appear to be gimei? In that case, i believe, my wakizashi would be gimei too... kindly ask you for opinion of experts as much as it is possible to decide from pictures.. examples on internet: http://www.japanszwaard.nl/Z-N1.html http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/08147.html http://muso.mud.pl/miecz_elem_10.htm mei of mine is attached. once again, meaning no offence - i truly wish i'm wrong...

i apologize for late reply - was on business trip and few days with limited access to internet. thank you All for your comments. Mr. Nakamura, pleased to know you

Dear All, i found this katana on e-bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/K-Japanese-KATANA-S ... |294%3A100 i have wakizashi in shin gunto mounts of the same smith and very interested to obtain katana. signature looks the same. Kindly ask you four your opinion about it

thanks, Joe. Actually, buying price would be 2,5k, but the, add customs dues and VAT... maybe i made mistake refusing. I bought some items from this seller and i was satisfied, but... as i said i'm not experienced enough yet to obtain questionable items. Seems that "my" kai gunto is still has to be found :D