Pressed-paper Saya Cover

[Bruce Pennington]

I just discovered that a saya cover I bought at an antique shop in Narita Japan is not leather, but is pressed-paper! I had always thought it odd how light it was yet extremely stiff, not pliable like leather at all. But it looks like leather!

 

I was looking for something else in my Fuller & Gregory book when I came across a cover with the exact same stamp as the one on mine! I'll quote Fuller:

 

"Large stamp on the ersatz scabbard covering of the shin-gunto in Plate 80. Unfortunately it is partly obliterated but the centre column refers to the 'patent application' or 'patent applied for'. The right-hand column appears to be the address of the unknown manufacturer in Kurume city, which is the capital of Chikugo province. (Herb Gopstien)."

 

Under Plate 80: "...The field scabbard is not covered with leather but is a flexible compressed paper similar to a thick manilla card....This may be regarded as an ersatz measure due to the growing shortage of leather in Japan by that time....No other example of this covering has been reported. (Herb Gopstein)."

 

Well now there is!

 

Here's the one in F&G:

 

Here's mine:

 

Here's a close-up of the torn part and you can see the layered paper:

[george trotter]

Amazing what they used... also good that you noticed it. Always great to get "another one" of anything just to prove that they are not "one-off" variants.

Now, a clear pic of the stamp so we can discover who the producer/patent holder was...

Great stuff Bruce, thanks.

[Peter Bleed]

Hey, there was a War on!

Peter

[16k]

It’s impressive how well it has survived to this day.

[BANGBANGSAN]

Amazing what they used... also good that you noticed it. Always great to get "another one" of anything just to prove that they are not "one-off" variants.

Now, a clear pic of the stamp so we can discover who the producer/patent holder was...

Great stuff Bruce, thanks.

The stamp is not clear enough. I can read some of it

Right:久留米市西町花（田？）

Middle:特許出願中

Left:田中（政？）之（助？）（君？）

The better photo will help.

[vajo]

WOW! It looks like leather.

[b.hennick]

I once owned a blade where the tsuka wrap looked like and felt like leather. There was damage to the tsuka that revealed that it was actually linen that was lacquered to look like leather. Amazing things were done!

[Shamsy]

I'll post my two 'not quite leather' saya covers today when I can as an edit to this. I think one is paper too.

 

Okay, well I'm not really so sure now. I think the thin one in the first three pictures is paper. It's brittle, dry and doesn't feel or sound like leather at all. The other is some sort of... fake leather maybe? The way it is cracked and peeling... Anyone that knows more about leather than me please chime in!

[Kiipu]

Below is my translation of the kanji characters identified by BangBangSan in post #5 above.

 

Left Column

Unreadable.

 

Middle Column

特許出願中 = Tokkyo shutsugan-chū = Patent Applied for, Patent Pending.

 

Right Column

久留米市西町花? = Kurume-shi Nishi Machi ??.

"Kurume"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurume

For the possible identification of the last two kanji characters in the right column, see the post below by SteveM.

[SteveM]

 

The stamp is not clear enough. I can read some of it

Right:久留米市西町花（田？）

 

 

 

花畑 would be my guess. It is the name of an area within Nishi-machi in the city of Kurume. 

[Tanto54]

Just a quick reminder that Japanese historically used paper for raincoats and umbrellas.  They were coated with lacquer and/or persimmon juice to make them water-proof and strong, so the idea of a paper cover is not so unusual in Japan.

[Kiipu]

Slightly better pictures can be found at the link below.

"Help with Saya Stamp & Shoe Strings"

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/help-saya-stamp-shoe-strings-761543/

[BANGBANGSAN]

Slightly better pictures can be found at the link below.

"Help with Saya Stamp & Shoe Strings"

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/help-saya-stamp-shoe-strings-761543/

The photos of mark is still not clear enough

[Bruce Pennington]

The photos of mark is still not clear enough

Yes, I think the print is just too poorly struck. The pictures are focused. It's the print that is weak.

[vajo]

Composite paper as armor.