Bridges

Someone posted what appears to be a late war, type 98 in a Reddit group I’m in. Note the black saya

Thanks Bruce! I’m going to try my hand at it in a few weeks. You’re right, with the handle being cold peened would make for an arduous task. Even if the end cap was removed, typically the nut over the square screw is very tightly torqued onto the tang making it extremely difficult to go in behind the handle. I also have a type 19 that has had the tang threads flared, forever sealing the nut and square onto the tang. I’m also concerned that the wet leather seppa may result in trace amounts of water sliding down the hilt and into the tang…that’s a remarkable thought though! The type 19 parade sword do not have a habaki so I won’t have any issues there. Very intuitive, I’ll let you know the final results!!

Got it, would a togishi not remove that or are you thinking it’s a hairline crack?

Hey Jean, the forum does not explicitly state that, and the majority of resources refer to tosogu to define Japanese fittings/mountings in general or varieties, not strictly for traditional blades. If an admin wants to clear this up, that would be fine but tosogu are not strictly for blades made in the traditional style. Furthermore, you can have traditionally made blades in gunto fittings. I’m not sure why this even matters as we are discussing seppa which are used for both traditional blades and guntos. Seppas are made for all nihonto, not exclusively traditional. As I stated before, this is a discussion over genuine seppa, not guntos and not traditional blades.

That’s interesting John, you’re speaking Greek to me now haha but what I’m gathering is, the mei is not correct which is a red flag. Darkcon, are you referring to what appears to be rust near the kissaki?

Good to know George, is this similar to firearm permits in the US?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, below is an interesting eBay post showing some high bids early in. I think the hamon is beautiful but the habaki is very ugly and looks modern. Tsuba looks quite plain as well. I am more familiarized with kyu-gunto types so you all may be able to elaborate on the “certificate” this blade comes with, signature and the age. The nakago appears cleaned to me as I don’t see any active rust. This item is coming from Tokyo. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404060191076?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TW-8h2A-QKy&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=5b5Igx0HQ7e&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Hey @Bruce Pennington, can you let me know which members are doing this? I’d like to ask them how they are going about this

Wow John, I think that’s some of the finest art I’ve seen since Davinci. On a more serious note, I think my 4 year old niece could craft something less reprehensible than this. I’m in disbelief

@Bruce Pennington check out the “white” spots and the wood grip instead of Buffalo horn. I have heard that they used wood on the type 19 colony swords in Taiwan but this lacks the Taiwan designation. I read that somewhere a month ago so I could be wrong as I can’t recall my reference point. These swords are not shipping from China. They’re actually in some rural parts of the US. I would like to have a fake but both sellers are asking around 600 USD for these things…

Update with pics: In my endeavor of hunting for parade swords I have found 2 separate examples that are raising red flags and are either fake OR Chinese copies. I have checked Dawsons and and Fuller but no info is contained to explain these hilts. Let me preface this by saying, while almost all of my parade swords have brass back straps/hilts, I do have one that appears copper alloy in nature (which may point to further variations) but for now, I would like you to observe the odd “sand” in this metal, the sloppiness of the Sakura engraving and the poor overall quality. The type 8 handle has not been peened either, everything is wrong. These are two totally different blades with similar sandy accents. Let me know if you think these blades are real, I’m am very suspicious based off of my personal collection and information in the books.

Ben, seems like we are birds of a feather. I search the same titles haha congratulations on finding a gem

Hey @Ben123, last question I have for you. What did the seller list your gunto as? I’m asking as there is some heavy variation from eBay sellers listing these swords under varying titles.

Thanks Bruce!

I couldn’t find a category for this question to go into so here I am. If I get clarification I’ll move this question accordingly to the appropriate forum. So there is a seller on eBay called stcroixblades who currently has two “signed” blades. These blades are a type 19 with an inscription of the owner’s name on the backstrap and a police type short sword with an inscription of the assumed owner on the hilt. This is extremely uncommon on fleebay or anywhere else on the internet and this individual has multiple militaria and nihonto types that are supposedly signed or have mons inscribed. Has anyone done business with this seller? He is a little on the high side but I wanted to see if anyone has experience with him before I entertain buying one of these blades as he is clearly a dealer but has several uncommon types.

Hey Dan, I’ve also seen these reproduction type 8/19s and even a type 32 at Kult of Athena but never a true, Japanese type 19 parade sword reproduction at any of these sites

That’s a beautiful type 19 company grade kyu-gunto Ben. This was a transitional type between the type 8 and type 19. Did you source this locally or online?

I can see trace amounts of rust on the nakago, they did a bad job of doing a bad job lol people on eBay throw their money at anything (sometimes I’m included)

I’ll be honest, my 5th dress sword will be coming in a few weeks and the variation between type 19s is astounding. Whether it is an army or police model, standard machined blade or war trophy that’s been mounted into the fittings, various mon, different metals used for the hilt, blade length, with Bo-hi and without, differing materials used for grip, rank on the backstrap, or occupied territory 19s, i want to procure a fake type 19 if possible. The variation alone could make for a great small read. I may start compiling material.

Does anyone have examples of fake Japanese parade swords? There are 0 examples of faked type 19s on the internet. With the low sale price of type 19s, I doubt there are as many fakes on the market as other types but I would be interested in seeing a fake to help sharpen my senses.

Thanks @Michaelri am definitely going to look into going!

@vajoit sold for well over 800, Although it was sold for “$650 USD” there is a 20% Internet fee, tax, and 40 in shipping. Buyer was probably approaching 1k dollars. https://www.proxibid.com/Guns-Military-Artifacts/Militaria/WWII-Japanese-IMPERIAL-NCO-OFFICERS-SWORD/lotInformation/73179879

Hey @Bruce Pennington! I thought this was a late war type 98?!

That’s a great point Stephen, I’ve been checking pawn shops and auctions in my area but no luck for now.

my bad @Stepheni must have overlooked that topic. I answered that question in another forum, I’m fairly young and message boards like this are entirely new to me so you may have to cut me some slack! I am located in SC, there are no groups around me dedicated to this art. I have talked to another member who is close by to my brother so I may link up with him and see if we can information swap. Chicago would be a drive but with South Carolina having no groups or shows, that may be my only option. I’ll check out the 1 year request tab. I have Dawsons and Fuller’s guide, I just lack the hands on experience with just about all types. Right now, while I have the books, certain variations like late war and island made types are throwing me for a loop. Vajo also pointed out that the guard is chiseled, I need to develop an eye for that to determine whether something is cast or handmade. I love Dawson’s guide but the angles at which pictures are taken are not the best but then again, nothing is perfect. Ohmura has a great website as well but the pictures are greatly lacking. Right now, pictures are about all I can go off of, without that, I end up bidding $500 on a fake type 😅