doug e lewis Posted January 7, 2014 Report Posted January 7, 2014 :D an old friend in Washington State, Seattle area, sent me "bad" of her husband's family katana. story is his grandfather brought it back from Japan after WW II..... either surrendered to him or plucked from a pile, not sure. at first I thought 'gunto' from her discription, then she sent the pix! saya looks army gunto to my novice eye; tsuba with release catch, gunto [?]; tsuka maki leather[?]. But the blade looks like traditional katana! do I see some choiji in the hamon? [that that is visible] Fuji-san in the motohiba hamon? all is dirty, rusty [???!!! :x ] and the nakego shows decent wear & rust... and kanji! faint but there. I did lwhat I could to clean up the pix posted here. have asked for more & better pix, but also asked her not to try if she is uncomfortable handling the sword. did ask her not to touch the blade other than to wipe with light sewing machine oil to help stop the rust [did not know what else to say from my perch in Southern CAlif. any thoughts about the katana? did I do OK in my advice? and, is there anybady in her area that she could take it to for a hands on evaluation??? I did recomend she contact the Northern CA Japanese Sword Club, or even Fred W. at Nihonto. Com for their opinion Quote
Mark Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 looks like a normal WWII army sword, the handle is not leather it is cloth but someone has put something, maybe varnish, on part of the lacing -- at least that is what I see. Maker maybe Kiyosada? hard to see at the angle. There are some collectors/dealers in that area not sure if they are NMB members Brian T, Alfred T etc. Quote
george trotter Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 I agree with Mark. Standard WWII army gunto (showato). Hard to see with flash glare, but signature seems to be "Nagamura Kiyotsune". This is Nagamura Matsuichi (Shoichi?). He was an a Seki swordmaker WWII, registered on April 30 1941. No other info. hope this helps. PS.. suggest you friend gently wipes the blade with meths or some pure alcohol and gets the dried oil gunk off and then lightly oils it with sewing machine/gun oil. It will improve it heaps. Quote
Peter Bleed Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 talk, being cheap, let me suggest that the smigh name characters are "KIYOMICHI" Peter Quote
Chishiki Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 Hi. My guess is Nagamura Kiyonobu. Fuller and Gregory ref: 192. Mark Quote
Stephen Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/kiyonobu.jpg Quote
cabowen Posted January 8, 2014 Report Posted January 8, 2014 Hi. My guess is Nagamura Kiyonobu. Fuller and Gregory ref: 192. Mark I agree... Quote
doug e lewis Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Posted January 8, 2014 thank you one and all. I will pass on all the replies to Karen & her husband along with whatever info I can get following your leads. [actually I will give her the NMB site address and she can read the posts on her own ] I seemed to be traditionally made, and not gunto steel, but I would guess even so the quality is not so good---- certainly not Yasakuni Shine level, eh??? Any info about someone in her area she might take it to would still be good. a hands look always best, as my mentors drum into me [they have discouraged my buying anything on line for the last 15 yrs.] She might come down my way this Spring or Summer and I will encourage her to bring it with her. Thank you again. doug e. Quote
Jean Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Sorry Doug, It is early morning in France and I could not help having a good laugh: I seemed to be traditionally made Has it really changed? :D Quote
ROKUJURO Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Jean, I read that also with a smile, but on the other hand, he is an American TANUKI, so you never know.... Quote
doug e lewis Posted January 9, 2014 Author Report Posted January 9, 2014 :D yes Jean.... a little joke! like me being able to really see "Fuji-san or choji" hamon on such a dirty blade, and bad pix. tho with a little imagination.... still there might have been the off chance. a small number of swords were made in Seki in the traditional manner -- at least according to my beginner's book "Modern Japanese Sword and Swordsmiths" by Yoshindo Yoshihara [his "Craft of the Japanese Sword" was my first nihonto book, given to me in 1989 by friend --- it is his fault I am here today on NMB lol ] anyway, would still like her to have a person who really knows there stuff look at it. and might not be worth a polish but it deserve some respect and a good proper cleaning. hope she brings it down with her. her husband might be able to give me more history on how it got into their family. and I want to hold it.... I must take every opportunity to learn from every sword I am allowed to study, even gunto or bad gendaito, yes??? Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 Hi. My guess is Nagamura Kiyonobu. Fuller and Gregory ref: 192. Mark This is right. I owned one a long time ago. If memory serves - and it seldom does - it was okay from a quality standpoint, though yours has seen better days. Nothing special - except to a novice collector (as I was). Quote
doug e lewis Posted January 14, 2014 Author Report Posted January 14, 2014 Not mine yet!!! tho have mentioned it.... as an aside to asking her & husband to bring it down to Pasadena [only 120 miles west of me!] so I can it a look. I do not have a Gregory & Fullers , but nice to know it may be interesting, even in its poor condition, to a beginner; which certainly am!!! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.