New member looking for help with possible WW2 nihonto

[waynet74]

Hello, my name is Wayne and I have this sword I purchased a few years ago as a WW2 relic. I suspect it is traditionally made despite the gunto mounts. I am primarily interested in war relics and know very little about Japanese art swords, my main motivation for buying this one is the fact that I have always admired the sword my grandfather brought back from the Pacific and is now owned by my father. The cutting edge of this one is 27" and I can see a great deal of 'activity' in the blade. The tang is unsigned and there is a large ware in the mune. I believe it to be Mino work, but I am not sure. That's pretty much all I know and I would like your opinions. Thanks!

 

[Shamsy]

Hi Wayne and welcome.

 

Being in wartime mounts or not doesn't really mean much. There's a higher chance that the sword is not traditionally made, but there's also a large number of swords in wartime koshirae that are.

 

No obvious stamps, so I'll leave it up to the experts to guess whether traditional, but that's a good start. Hamon is attractive too, nice little waves. Looks better than oil, but not my area. Very nice looking kissaki too, quite large. If I were a betting man, I'd say more likely to be traditionally made?

 

I'd not post pictures of swords resting on hard surfaces like stone counter tops next time though. That'll get some comments (like mine funnily enough). This site is dedicated to the preservation and respect of Japanese swords. A towel under the blade to protect it would be easy and much better received.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Wayne, you bought a very nice sword, the mounts are the earlier good quality ones seen on Type 94 and early Type 98's.

[waynet74]

Thank you for your thoughts! Sorry about the marble surface, I won't be repeating that.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Wayne can we see the scabbard please?

[waynet74]

Here are some pictures of the sword in the scabbard.

 

 

 

[16k]

First, I can say your socks aren’t world war 2!
 

Then, it looks like a very nice sword overall, well finished. Do you have closer pictures of the Hamon, where we can see the activity and the surface of the blade? A shot of that ware would be nice too. And also a shot of the whole naked blade, just like you did for the koshirae, without anything, not even the Habaki. It would help in determining possible age and if traditional or not.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Very nice sword Wayne, good early example made before WW2 started sometime in the mid 30's. All it needs is a rank tassel & Sarute, which holds the tassel like so:

[waynet74]

Please bear with me as I try to get good pictures. Here are some of the blade with an eye toward capturing some of the hada detail. I will try to get some of the naked blade later as the master bath is the brightest room in my home and my wife is using it right now. I really appreciate the feedback!

 

I will add that a fiber of our living room rug is covering part of the blade in the kissaki pic. It is not a chip or flaw.

[16k]

I do believe it is traditionally made indeed!

what is the patina of the nakago like in hand? Brown, blackish, dark chocolate, light brown? I suspect it is much darker in hand than the photos show. So far, I’m leaning pre war blade, maybe Shinshinto.

[Ganko]

Looks like lots of good activities in it. Shinshinto or maybe Shinto?

[Ken-Hawaii]

Wayne, the fastest way to get opinions on the jidai (age) of your blade is to post photos of the completely-bare blade. Be sure to remove the habaki, as it can hide valuable info.

 

Welcome to NMB.

[waynet74]

I would say the tang is a dark chocolate brown.

[waynet74]

Here are some pic of the complete naked blade. For what it's worth, the numbers on the parts all match.

[16k]

Shinshinto for me. Bakumatsu period (but keep in mind I’m no expert!)

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi Wayne, you bought a very nice sword, the mounts are the earlier good quality ones seen on Type 94 and early Type 98's.

Agree with John. In your saya pics you can see the place where the second, removable, ashi was. So this was originally mounted in Type 94 fittings and the second ashi was lost or removed over time (I have read that the officers would often remove them as an inconvenience).

[waynet74]

Thank you Bruce! I thought about that possibility before.

[Dave R]

Agree with John. In your saya pics you can see the place where the second, removable, ashi was. So this was originally mounted in Type 94 fittings and the second ashi was lost or removed over time (I have read that the officers would often remove them as an inconvenience).

 

 To the best of my knowledge the second haikan was only for parade anyway, which is why it was made removable.

[waynet74]

Thank you for all of the comments! So I am the owner of a 19th century Shin-shinto blade? Any other opinions on the age? It's interesting to think that this sword in its present fittings was carried for the entire WW2 period. Wonder where it's been!

[Rivkin]

Not bad for gunto mounts. Feels late shinshinto. Bizen style. Very hard to throw an exact name, but if required, can be Toshimitsu.

 

Kirill R.

[waynet74]

Thank you all for the input. I am considering putting this sword up for sale. Is it possible to solicit some opinions on what a reasonable asking price might be in terms of current markets? Thanks.