EGB

Thank you Edward

Hello, I'm wondering exactly what this might be. I came across this gunto in an antique store and it didn't have a mekugi so I was able to take it apart. My first thought after looking at the blade was oil quenched, but it was in not great polish/ had some finger prints on it. Although now I'm not as sure. It is signed Sukehisa, but when I went to research smiths with this name I couldn't find any in the right era. I could also find no stamps on it anywhere. I didn't see a date. Anyway it piqued my interest and I'm wondering if any of you all with far more experience might be able to infer about it. Does not having stamps increase the probability of it being water quenched/traditionally made? If in the end it is oil quenched/machine made what are some probable reasons it might not have been stamped? How do smiths avoid being documented? Is it having a seemingly mysterious origin more or less valuable? Would an undocumented smith be more likely to make traditional or non traditional blades? There are a couple threads on swords signed Sukehisa, but none seemed to match this one. I was hoping that perhaps someone had dug some more info since these were posted. I am also not experienced at comparing mei Translation of Katana Mei Need help identifying mei of 2 Shin Gunto please! Kai-Gunto Translation Help Katsuhisa? I wasn't able to get any good photos of the blade in the shop. It still had a lot of metal on it and the nakago seemed pretty new so I figured it was a wartime sword. As best I could see it had a gunome midare hamon. Couldn't see much else because of the polish. The fittings to my untrained eyes the fittings seemed lower end. But those I did get better pictures of. It has a snap that is part of one of the seppa, no lock. If anyone has any thoughts on it I would be very appreciative. If it turns out to be something interesting I may go back to the shop and try to negotiate the price down. Thank you in advance, Edward

Came across this shingunto in an antique store and was hoping someone here could help me with the mei. Blade looks oil quenched and it had an etched hamon I think but it wasn't in good polish. Couldn't get great pictures in the shop. Couldn't find any stamps. Thanks Edward

Type Type 32 cavalry Saber Era/Age : 1899-1935 Nagasa/Blade Length : ~32 inches/ 82cm Sword Location : Eastern Virginia Will ship to : USA Price and Currency : $475 USD Other Info and Full Description : I have decided to sell this gunto to make room for more nihonto. It is in good shape, with matching serial numbers. At some point it went through a factory refurbishment, and an older serial number on the saya was struck out and replaced with 018996, to match the blade, and a zero was added in front of the serial on the blade. The blade is still quite sharp. I believe it has a (poorly struck) Kokura Arsenal stamp and an inspection stamp and two other stamps that I'm not sure about. The leather finger loop appears to be cut off, perhaps at the time of its refurbishment, though its remains and the rivet are still present. The latch still works well. I believe it is the longer cavalry model. Let me know if you would like to see more pictures. Edward

more picures

I am tying to learn about this type 32 ko I found at an antique store. I don't know too much about Military swords but it seems that these are rarely faked, so I figured that there was a high chance that its genuine at least. I would appreciate your all's help in learning more about it. I have found four stamps on the knuckle bow. I think Ive Identified two of them. One is a Kokura arsenal stamp I think, though it is very poorly struck and really only the outside edges are visible. Another i believe is a Kokura inspection stamp. Did I get that right? can anyone ID the other two stamps? The blade and saya do have matching serial numbers, 18996, but they are weird. On the saya another serial number was crossed out and 018996 was stamped on below, and on the blade it looks like they added a zero in front to make it match. I'm guessing that this was part of some factory refurbishment, any other theories? Could the Serial no. help narrow down when It was made? To me it seems to be in good condition, the latch works perfectly and it is still very sharp. I can see evidence of it being sharpened with a file, which I think I read somewhere on this form was done. The leather loop seems to me like it was cut off to me, but the rivet that held on is there and the remains of the leather are under it. The blade is about 32.5 in long so Im assuming this would be the cavalry style. Thank you in advance, Edward

I should have added these at the beginning, but here are some photos of the rest of it. Im not a professional sword photographer.

I am hoping someone can help me translate the signature on this wakizashi. It belongs to a friend whose father got it in the 1950s. Nothing is known about it before then. Thanks

Can anyone help me translate the signature on the tang of this wakizashi? A friends father got it in the 1950s but nothing is known about it before then. Would like to get at least a general idea of how old it is. Thanks for your help.