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Hi George. I don't view anything here as inherently "negative". Healthy criticism is welcome. The way you view things is valid, and is valuable as a new user approaching the board. Allow me to address a few of your points; in an attempt to help explain some of the issues we experience. @Brian, our forum administrator, has talked about a few of these over the years and he is ultimately the "boss man" when it comes to changes. I do know that he is working on updating forum software - and when that happens - many new "quality of life" changes will be implemented and some of the "old school" forum stuff will be phased out. So some of this stuff may just be "in progress" as we speak. *The site loading issues will hopefully be temporary, and are like you say, a result of some recent DDOS attacks. *Traffic is small because the hobby is small. This is not a site for martial artists or practitioners, but rather focused on the artistic qualities of Nihonto. We pride ourselves in focusing on preservation. There are a lot of martial arts resources for practitioners elsewhere, that is more focused on practice rather than preservation and art. *Image limitations are tricky... It cost a lot of money to host a site with this many images. You may not realize, but this is one of the largest depositories of Japanese Sword images on the web, and that's no small feat. To increase image size limits, upgrading to gold will increase the limit, but otherwise it's just too cumbersome on the site. *For "topics you've interacted with" would be nice. What I do for this, is click on my own profile. When you're viewing your own profile, if you scroll down, you will see all the topics that you have recently interacted with. Hope this helps explain our situation a bit, -Sam

Hi Steve, Unfortunately this item for sale is not a genuine Japanese sword.

Hi Joeloe, welcome to the forum. Let me start by saying that you are awfully lucky. And there is no need to take this apart; it’s best to keep this type of sword assembled. What you have is a “Type 95 Gunto”. Yours was made in 1938 by Suya Shoten Co, inspected by Tokyo first army arsenal inspectors, and under kokura arsenal supervision. Yours is the first variation, often referred to as a “copper hilt”. They only made about 6750 swords of this variation before switching to an aluminum hilt. The copper hilt variation#1 Type 95 gunto is exceptionally collectible, and I have recently seen examples sell for between 3k and 6k. It’s real in my opinion. Does the scabbard have numbers at the opening that match the blade? Would you mind sharing an image of the tip/end of the scabbard also? Thanks for sharing, -Sam

Please wait for the more knowledgeable to chime in. I'm still honing my ability to decifer kanji. Could it be?: 兼 Kane 氏 Uji Best, -Sam

Some good discussions for cross-reference: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14310-bakumatsu-kaei-ginnan-po-yari-osafune-sukesada/ https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/51765-yari-blade-shape-question/

I’m no expert in fittings, and I haven’t seen it all of course. But the oldest tsuka I’ve seen in-person, from the muromachi period, were large and robust. I was surprised at the simplicity and overall utilitarian look.

Unfortunately this appears to be a fake, and not Japanese. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. -Sam

Last year at the Las Vegas Japanese Sword Show, Brian Tschernega did a presentation on tsukamaki and discussed tsuka. He brought several old tsuka from the Muromachi period onward, and talked about them. He emphasized that old tsuka were "teachers", and that they inform and inspire modern crafstmen to better emulate how tsuka were made in the past. Preserved old tsuka can help keep those tradition alive. Obviously not all tsuka are old, but just another scenario tsuka may be traded around. It's important to keep them in the hands of people who care about their preservation and appreciate that history and craftsmanship.

Interesting @Volker62, I am not familiar with that one. Is it an early edition, or a separate publication entirely? Can you tell us what differentiates that book from the others? Considering that I have all the others, I would love to complete the collection! -Sam

Haha, true Bruce. I do attempt to list them, but they frustratingly have to reside off of the “master list” because I have it in serial number order. I have a few now that have either been obscured like this, or had the numbers polished away This one will have to be: 1 _ _ 4 _ _

Here is an example currently on eBay that has had the serial numbers removed. Presumably someone scratched them out thinking they were a bad thing.. A shame to see. I can’t even catalog examples like this. -Sam

Hello @MattBrandon, welcome to the forum. I'm going to relocate your post to the "translation assistance" section. I think you'll get a faster reply there. The fittings are pretty standard "Type 98 Shin Guntō" fittings with nice looking leather combat cover on the scabbard. The matching "135" numbers is great to have, and strongly suggests that your fittings are originally made for the blade. This is a good thing, because often times we see swords that are "pieced together" from mismatched parts. Looks in nice condition. Best of luck, -Sam

Hi Leo, cool sword. Bruce, Conway, John, and Joseph got you covered with good input. I am a fellow Oregonian. If you'd like someone to take a look at your sword, feel free to send me a message. I doubt I could offer much more information than has already been provided; but sometimes it helps to get some questions answered in-person; and I'd be happy to show you how to care for the sword and oil it. I have no interest in buying showato, so I have no ulterior motives other than to help. Anyway, feel free to reach out if you choose. There's a militaria show coming up in Portland on June 19th-20th; could be convenient. All the best, -Sam

Thanks Bruce, this is a good one to have posted on the board. I have already linked this thread to a potential buyer and saved someone the headache. I have a feeling that we will be seeing this one again someday... -Sam

I think it's Nihonto; in my opinion. I've never seen a fake with such an unusual, yet clearly intentionally done blade geometry. Everything else looks good, and I'd really like to see the other side of the nakago and more photos. Very strange no doubt... My non expert opinion would be some kind of shinto or shinshinto oddity. Extra emphasis on the non-expert part... -Sam

Good eye, Bruce. I agree. We will have to keep a keen eye out for these. Thank you for sharing. To add, the habaki on copper hilt Type 95 swords should have a cutout on the mune (like the Nihonto habaki we are familiar with). The subsequent aluminum hilt variations did away with the habaki cutout. Also factory original copper hilt swords were made without a mekugi. Instead they are secured to the hilt only by the grommet screw at the kobutogane. Example of the habaki on a genuine sword:

The inscription reads: 城州 住 國重 Which translates to: Joshu Ju Kunishige Which basically means: Kunishige made this in Joshu (or maybe in Chikuzen. Or perhaps in Chin-shu wherever that is). If my interpretation of the above is at all incorrect, I’m sure someone will correct me; and for Franks sake I encourage anyone to do so. You might think this would be enough for some detailed info, but unfortunately, nothing in Nihonto is that simple. There were many swordsmiths who signed “Kunishige” over the centuries, and unfortunately your blade does not appear to be dated (if it were dated, there would likely be an inscription on the other side of the tang). All hope is not lost though… Your sword looks interesting to me. We might be able to help narrow down a date range, but for that we’d need a lot of good photos. Primarily of the entire blade profile without fittings and the tip, both sides, and also both sides of the nakago up close. See my little photo guide below. All that said, even with perfect pictures, judging swords via photos is far from ideal. To get a really good idea of what you have, we always recommend getting it into the hands of a respected expert or togishi. -Sam

Thanks Rohan; Paul Martin mentioned it being in an article, so I had wondered if it's online somewhere. I really like that book. I was a little disappointed when the Yamashiro edition didn't have an extra section at the end like the Yamato book did with Saiha. I'm spoiled I suppose Thanks again. -Sam

Interesting. We may need better photos of the nakago. Who was the well known expert who said it was burnt? Attached is a comparison of two nakago from the same smith. This is from one of Tanobe Sensei articles on saiha that I have failed to locate. Both swords by Yasutsuna; the left is normal and the right nakago has experienced fire damage. I got this image from one of Paul Martins posts, in the ancient thread linked here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/2771-this-should-be-interesting/#comment-22963

@FrankF, Thanks for sharing your sword with us. I could be mistaken, but your sword does not appear to be wartime to me, and may be older. I will move this to the Nihonto section to get more eyes on it. We can always move it again if necessary. Best, -Sam

@Bruce Pennington Unfortunately this was the best photo I got. I think it might be a partial Showa stamp, but very hard to tell

Thank you so much Conway and Tom! Much appreciated. It sounds like an interesting sword in untouched shape. I owe ya’ll one -Sam

Similar nakago to the recent post in the link below, but my attempts to match them failed. Same hot stamp. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/55768-help-with-asano-kanezane-nakago-inscription/#comment-583777 Could someone help me please with this translation? It’s for an individual that I do not personally know, and they plan to sell it. -Sam

@dkjw Hi Josh, welcome to the forum, I am inclined to agree with the above. It looks like a reproduction or fake to me. For the time being, I’m going to relocate this discussion to the “military swords of Japan” section. At least while we talk about the possibility of a stamp. I don’t think that’s an anchor stamp, but it’s very hard to see with the photo and would be in an unusual location. We can move it to the fake Japanese swords section later if we decide. Best of luck, -Sam

Very interesting to see a Type 95 sword without sarute. I see them this way in the market very often, but kind of assumed that they had been removed relatively recently. Looks like a Tokyo example. Thanks for sharing, Best, -Sam