chgruener

Hello all, Here is another one from the Infantry collection. Most of these will have to be shared via an Imgur link. https://imgur.com/a/Ec9NbCw This particular sword was captured on Guadalcanal by the 35th Infantry Regiment.

Hello all, I have been incredibly busy the last few weeks and have not had time to sort through the thousands of photos I took. I have sorted through some today and will behind to post them. I believe a majority of these are previously unknown to the public. I’m very fortunate to have been allowed to take them apart and photograph them. Please view the images of this sword via the Imgur link (due to the file sizes). https://imgur.com/a/kFOcx5i I believe that this example is probably extremely old, but would be interested to hear what the experts think.

You have not. I have been incredibly busy with a military course that I’m currently going through. Have not had much time to sort through the thousands of photos I took. I will post a few more today.

I tried on this one, but it was really stuck, and I didn’t have the correct punch on hand to remove it without damaging it. The others I took apart were pretty easy though.

I can suggest to them that perhaps the displays should be changed, but I’m not sure that they are entirely in charge of that. Being federally owned and operated, the curators don’t have as much say over the displays as you’d think. There’s a lot of higher ups involved and a surprising amount of politics. It’s really silly. The curators I’ve worked with are great people and have good intentions, but they have their hands tied on a lot of things. As for blades in storage already, how do you suggest they’re stored? Currently they are in drawers, laid on acid free fabric, either in their scabbards, or out. Some of the blades started to accumulate rust, some a lot of rust, while in the scabbards. For those blades, I removed them from the scabbard, lightly oiled them, and kept them separate. What do you advise we do to preserve already rusted blades and blades that haven’t seen rust yet?

I was able to handle and disassemble 2 of them. Will post on a separate thread.

Correct. This is how the museum came into the pieces. Very little, if anything, is altered after acquisition.

All pieces are donated or were acquired by the Army. only reason for the frowning is because they don’t want anything to break and they don’t necessarily trust any Joe to handle their pieces. I’m lucky enough to have access to them. However, I did warm them up to it and I took some apart. See my other comment.

I was able to warm them up to taking some of the swords apart. I took quite a few apart and found some incredible things. 2 general officer swords, 2 really old blades, and a couple other really great ones.

Here are some really great swords that we have on display to the public.

Now I understand, thank you!

I do not have more photos of this sword. Only took one of the mon. The blade did not appear to be anything special, but then I did not have a look under the handle. We have swords from Japanese general officers, battle damaged swords, and at least one sword captured on Guadalcanal.

It unfortunately would have been frowned upon if I took things apart. Despite knowing how to properly do so. please see the Imgur link for more photos https://imgur.com/a/2SMaIKZ

Yes it is probably tape. They keep multiple inventory/catalog tags on their items. Thanks for the information you presented.

Hello all, This sword was damaged by shrapnel and still has an original metal hanger? Scabbard is wrapped in leather (also struck). Handle seems short (possibly blown off?) with the blade being very thick and heavy. The blade was struck causing damage and the tip is broken. Does anyone have an idea as to when this blade may have been made? I will probably not be able to remove the handle. Thank you in advance. see Imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/J9yNq4q

Hello all, does anyone recognize this mon? Thank you.

Hello all, I’ve already made a post in the translation topic section about my efforts so reference that post if interested. I came across this sword in our collection today and it struck me as being very odd. Does anyone know what it is? No scabbard. Any information is appreciated. Unfortunately I will not be able to take these apart unless they are already apart ( I know ).

Thank you for all the fantastic information and reference!

Thank you! is Hoki no Kuni ju the place? And Yoshiyuki the name? I am still fairly new to swords and haven’t quite figured out the way they signed these. Thank you again.

Hello all, I am an active duty Army officer and I currently work with the National Infantry Museum located in Columbus, Georgia. We have dozens of swords here. Most, if not all, are untranslated and have not been taken apart for inspection. While looking them over today I pulled a few for photographs and was able to see a couple tang signatures without much effort. This sword in particular caught my eye and was wondering if anyone here recognizes the smith and has a possible date range for its manufacture. All of our swords were either donated or captured by the US Army and have been in the US Army’s possession ever since. I do not have the sword’s details on hand, but could pull them if the blade is significant enough. Not every item will have provenance or additional information. This is all in effort to update the museum’s catalog. Most of the Japanese artifacts have been neglected in that the staff is overworked and cannot research everything they’d like. I have made an effort to aid in the research of as many items as possible. See attached photos of the sword in question via the Imgur link. I will post more as time goes on. https://imgur.com/a/dxE8nww

Hello all, looking for translation assistance on this one. I recently acquired this sword directly from the daughter in law of the veteran who brought it home. The vet served solely in the Philippines and along with the sword, he brought home a plethora of photos. the sword was incredibly filthy and it took over an hour to remove the Mekugi (had to be drilled out). The tang was full of rust and the blade wasn’t much better. The blade is pitted, discolored, and someone improperly cleaned it a long time ago. See the attached link for photos of the sword. https://imgur.com/a/kSgu5N1

Was finally able to remove it from the mount. Cleaned off the excessive amount of rust. the blade itself is in poor shape, pitting, discoloration, and someone definitely took an abrasive cleaner to it at one point. Not in the last 30 years, however. see the Imgur link for all photos. https://imgur.com/a/kSgu5N1

I believe it’s just jammed. I found the mekugiana. The mekugi is definitely original, extremely stuck, brittle, and dry. the sword was acquired from the family of a veteran who served in the Philippines. It hasn’t seen the light of day since the 1990s when it was put in the attic.

Hello all, I just obtained this sword and the mekugi was extremely tight. As per general advice, I made a small hole through the mekugi with intention to replace it anyway. The problem is that the mekugi does not appear to even go through the blade? I stoped drilling when the mekugi began to crumble and i was able to look inside the hole, only to see blade on the other side. I did the same on the reverse and again only see blade. I am very confused how the blade is being held inside the mount if there is no mekugi holding it in place. advice?

Neat, thanks Steve! Do you believe that this is this a machined blade or hand-made blade?