RunaTuna

Huh, interesting, the more you know. I figured with the shape it's in, it had to have spent time in a hot, humid, salty aired place like the Philippines for a while haha.

I feel that. I really just wanted a WWII sword (not just the parade sword, I had hoped it was a shin-gunto). But considering this sword came WITH the parade sword, it was probably an heirloom sword someone took with them into WWII (as it was common for Japanese soldiers to do this), and a GI brought home after the Japanese disarmament. So the sword is doubly cool to me now.

I have heard of that, but having one good patch and the rest looking old would be uneven annoy me to no end and I would eventually end up paying to have the full blade done just to satisfy my OCD

To me it is worth spending the money to restore it, I just wish I didn't have to haha. If that makes sense. I'll probably just have to forget any vacation plans I had this year and put a pause on my antique gun collecting for a while in order to save up for the restoration.

So really, there's no way to restore this other than spending way more than what it's worth?

So, I reached out to David Hofhine about getting the blade restored. He confirmed the sword's authenticity. He guessed Koto period (pre-1600). He said however, his services to restore it would cost more than the blade is actually worth. He said it's about a 500$ sword and he charges 70$ per inch of blade for his cheapest polish. He does not recommend other people's work (of course not, he doesn't want to lose business). And that doesn't even take into account what it will cost to replace the hilt and sheath. So I'm kind of back to square one. Surely there must be someone who is in the middle between "Expensive 30+ years experience sword master" and "Bubba the cheap amateur blacksmith".

Ah, dang was hoping for something closer. Thanks for the help though!

I am in Nashville, Tennessee. Chicago or Indiana would be a bit of a drive lol. There is a Kendo club here, maybe they might have connections who can help? I know they never use real swords or anything but the ones who run it are from Japan and they surely must have an interest in real swords and know some people.

@rematron Thanks for the heads up. I don't necessarily need a fancy display or to have the blade looking brand new. I also don't need it super sharp or anything, not like I'm going into battle with it haha. Just a new hilt and scabbard and cleaning up the blade to not look so rusty. One smith someone recommended to me is David Hofhine, but I know nothing about this, so I would definitely appreciate advice anyone here can give before I do anything. I definitely want to make sure if I do get it cleaned up, it is by a true professional. And like the FAQ said, this may have just been a mass produced weapon and might not be worth having a full restoration done. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of Nihonto experts in the Nashville area from my research. If anyone else from around here can chime in that would be awesome.

Well hot diggity dog, that's really cool! Now to find someone who can restore it. I'm not giving it to Bubba the amateur blacksmith, I need someone who knows what they're doing.

Ah, that sucks. Thanks for the help. At least I still have my other Japanese blades.

Sorry about that. Here is some more pics to the best of my ability. The blade is about 20.5 inches (52 cm) long. I guess I just want to make sure it's not some mall ninja junk haha. If it is any sort of real Japanese antique I will be happy.

Hello, I recently won an auction for two Japanese swords. One is a kyu guntō the authenticity of which I have already verified. However this 2nd sword I am not able to find any information on, as it has no markings on it. I only bid the value of the kyu-gunto, so this one was just a bit of a bonus. I normally collect milsurp firearms, bayonets, and other militaria, so I was hoping this might be a shin guntō. I had someone tell me it has Muromachi era patina and that the shape is characteristic of Bizen (kurijiri nakago) which was one of two major sword producing sites in the civil war. But honestly that sounds too good to be true. Was hoping to get some more opinions. Also, the hilt is missing so any ideas of how I would replace it in the even it IS authentic would also be appreciated.