General staff officer's fuchi? Also, tsuba help please

[Cuirassier]

Hello all

I bought a very interesting, well, I will call it a shin gunto, as the saya is military, and the bindings are typically military.

But the fuchi is not standard, for sure, and appears to be oak leaves; oak leaves on European swords tends to mean a general staff officer rank (or flag officer if navy). Is this the same here, is this shin gunto I bought a general staff officer's sword?

 

Second question. The shin gunto has no tsuba; clearly having been removed. I doubt very much, courtesy of the fuchi and menuki, that it would have been a standard gunto tsuba. Clearly, I have to get a tsuba for this sword (the blade is worth it); can anyone give me some advice on the type of tsuba likely to have been original to the gunto?

 

Finally, one of the menuki is missing

I can not make out what the remaining one is of, if anyone can advise, so I can try to get another for the reverse side.

 

Cheers

Mark

 

 

[Geraint]

Dear Mark.

 

What you seem to have is a civilian mounted katana that has been converted for military use. The fuchi has nothing to do with rank, nor are they oak leaves. The menuki looks as if it might be a grain of millet. It is quite possible to find katana converted for field use though not common, sometimes a sarute is pierced through the end of the tsuka to allow the attachment of a tassel. This means that your tsuba hunt will probably be easier as you could use almost any type.

 

All the best.

[nagamaki - Franco]

appears to be oak leaves

 

Look up (search) Japanese Kiri mon.

 

Would enjoy seeing more images of this sword including an overall profile image so that we can see the shape, thank you in advance.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Mark,

 

The Kamon on your Fuchi is known as Gosan Kiri (3 5 3 upper flowers), not to be confused with Goshichi Kiri (5 7 5 upper flowers)

 

Goshichi Kiri is currently used by the office of the Prime minister of Japan:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Go-sh ... _crest.svg

 

Gosan Kiri was used by many families and organisations.

 

Cheers

[Kai-Gunto]

I thought it was Paulownia leafs.

[John A Stuart]

Kiri is the Japanese term for Paulownia. John

[Kai-Gunto]

Kiri is the Japanese term for Paulownia. John

[Cuirassier]

Hi Guys

Thank you very much.

 

Geraint

Yes, it is pierced at the end of the tsuka.

 

nagamaki

I will take some more pictures soon; it is at my other property.

 

ERazer

From what I can see, the Kiri means the person that carried the sword was a member of the Japanese government, rather than a member of the Japanese armed forces per say, would you agree with that?

 

Regards / thanks

Mark

[Geraint]

Hi Mark.

 

Not quite right. Malcolm's post says that the kiri mon on your fuchi is used by many families. Don't get too hung up on the significance of the fuchi, assigning the sword to a family on this basis won't work. We are all keen to see more of the sword because it is the blade itself that will be the interesting bit.

 

All the best.

[Brian]

In this case, it is just a design, and has no meaning per se. Just a late Edo fitting with a common decoration on it.

 

Brian

[Baka Gaijin]

Good evening Mark,

 

The 3 5 3 is often mistaken for the 5 7 5 at first glance.

 

As Brian says don't read too much into it, 3 5 3 a very popular design.

 

Cheers

[Cuirassier]

Blade images attached.

I take it the bohi was added later?

Worth a 450 GBP polish with Tony Norman?

Regards

Mark

 

 

[benatthelake]

In this case, it is just a design, and has no meaning per se. Just a late Edo fitting with a common decoration on it.

 

Brian

 

Brian: How can one tell when a family mon was used as a common decoration and when it was used as identification of family and ownership? I too have a tanto on the way with Kiri Mon on the fuchi, gashira, and tsuba.

 

Would later Edo be more decorative and earlier (perhaps < 1800) be more family identity? Are some Mon's more commonly used for decoration versus others? I can't imagine a samauri with a Katana Saya with a different family mon other than his. Certainly when it is also common on armor...that can't be for decoration. What am I missing here?

 

Ben M.

[Surfson]

I can see that it is signed and dated. It is also machiokuri. It is hard to answer your question about a polish without knowing more about the mei and whether it is shoshin or gimei. In general, most purists on the NMB would NOT recommend sending such a blade, even if it is shoshin from a modestly regarded maker, to a non Japanese-trained polisher. It looks like it has a very nice hamon and could be a beauty. If you post better photos of the nakago, you can get more feedback.