Naval Tachi Gunto

[ianday]

Hi everyone. My first post on these forums.

 

I've taken a few photos of my dads gunto which has been in his possession since the 60s. It was given to him by a naval officer that acquired it from a Japanese officer during the New Guinea campaign towards the end of the war.

 

It's most likely of little value to a Nihonto collector but has a lot of sentimental value to myself and my dad. Like most people who first get a nihonto I would like to get it polished and restored but for now, any help identifying it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Here are a some pics. As you can see there are a few fittings missing, particularly the metal loop on the end of the tsuka and the tassel attached to it, some of the seppas and the kuchi-gane.

 

Any advice on getting polish and restoration work done? As I'm from Brisbane, Australia, all I've found locally is Jigouku Studios http://jigokustudios.com.au. I understand from reading here, the proprietor, Cameron Appleford may be a member of these boards. Would he be a good first point of contact?

 

Cheers,

Ian

[ianday]

A couple of close-ups of the blade. I might be dreaming but I think I can see a slight wavy hamon through the rust.

 

- Ian

[Brian]

Ian,

It's a naval Kai Gunto, in a bit of a sorry state. It has an arsenal Seki blade, which means it is not traditionally forged and folded, but still made by a smith.

A polish would far exceed the value. But perhaps there are people who do an "arsenal blade polish" since this does not warrant a fully traditional polish.

For now, I would stabilize any rust with oil, and concentrate on preservation more than restoration. There will be a hamon there, but it will be an oil quenched one, so no real activity to see.

You might be able to find some of the missing parts. Try http://www.guntoartswords.com for them.

 

Brian

[cabowen]

The blade was made in Seki during WWII. It is signed Hirotaka and dated Showa 18, which is 1943. Due the stamp at the top of the signature we know it to be a mass produced, non-traditionally made blade. It will have a hamon but it oil, rather than water, quenched.

[ianday]

Thanks for the info guys!

 

I realised that it wasn't traditionally made because of the seki stamp but was hoping it may have been water quenched still..

 

Getting an arsenal blade polish would be fine by me, a polish to match the quality of the blade and to get it out of the sorry state it is in now. The worst part is, I know who the culprit is that let it get to that state.

After taking the photos I wiped it with some choji oil so the rust should have stabilised.

 

I had a look at guntoartswords.com and found that they actually have the same tsuba set so I'm guessing it's not actually missing any seppa. I had just assumed so as the tsuba is quite loose.

 

- Ian

[ianday]

The blade was made in Seki during WWII. It is signed Hirotaka and dated Showa 18, which is 1943. Due the stamp at the top of the signature we know it to be a mass produced, non-traditionally made blade. It will have a hamon but it oil, rather than water, quenched.

 

 

I'm trying to figure out what kanji is used. Is this correct? 廣隆 - Hirotaka

 

As far as the date all I'm getting is 十八 - eighteen, but the rest doesn't seem recognisable.

 

You did a pretty good job translating that. Is it possible to enter the kanji here?

 

So far I haven't been able to find anything on the swordsmith.

 

-Ian

[ianday]

Another photo showing as much as I can get of the hamon.

 

-Ian

[cabowen]

The blade was made in Seki during WWII. It is signed Hirotaka and dated Showa 18, which is 1943. Due the stamp at the top of the signature we know it to be a mass produced, non-traditionally made blade. It will have a hamon but it oil, rather than water, quenched.

 

 

I'm trying to figure out what kanji is used. Is this correct? 廣隆 - Hirotaka

 

As far as the date all I'm getting is 十八 - eighteen, but the rest doesn't seem recognisable.

 

You did a pretty good job translating that. Is it possible to enter the kanji here?

 

So far I haven't been able to find anything on the swordsmith.

 

-Ian

 

廣隆 - Hirotaka

 

昭和十八年 - Showa 18 year

[benatthelake]

Ian:

 

I would like to complement you on your photography....very nice.

 

What camera/process did you use?

 

Best regards,

Ben M.

[ianday]

廣隆 - Hirotaka

 

昭和十八年 - Showa 18 year

 

Thanks again Chris! Looks like the swordsmith needs to work on his kanji as I really can't see a resemblance.

 

Ian:

 

I would like to complement you on your photography....very nice.

 

What camera/process did you use?

 

Best regards,

Ben M.

 

Thanks Ben! At at time I was aspiring to be a pro photographer.

 

I tried to emulate the photography on uniquejapan.com with a basic home setup. Just a little too eager to post some photos here.

 

My camera is a Nikon D300 w 50mm f1.4 lens but just about any decent camera that has the ability to fire a remote flash would do.

 

I chose the following camera settings to have a clear/sharp photo. Blur is nice it's not needed here.

 

Shutter: 1/'250, f/8, ISO200

 

The main thing to consider with photographing something shiny like a sword is how light behaves, how it reflects, what affect the distance of the light source has etc. So its good to have a light you can move around and view the result. I just had a Nikon SB800.

 

The setup:

Background - black velvet (absorbs light)

Lighting - Flash firing across blade and bouncing back from paper. hight above sword is around 20cm to get a thin strip of light bouncing back

 

The long sword shot is actually about 7 separate photos merged together like a panorama. It's about 19,000 pixels wide but it's too wide to upload the full size here. I moved the flash in line with the camera to highlight the section of sword I was photographing (you can see the highlight in the mune)

 

I imagine it would be much easier with a large soft-box either side.

 

Here is an image to illustrate the setup (bored at work)

 

Cheers,

Ian

[ianday]

Does the copper colour on the detail of the pommel seem unusual or does it just appear to be worn down to the base metal? I haven't seen anything that looks similar.

 

-Ian