Emura? I need help identifying this sword please.

[NinjaBear]

I am as new as it gets when it comes to my knowledge of these military swords. I work for a pawn shop and I purchased this sword. I was told it was a Naval Kai Gunto. I believe its a Chounsai Emura. It does have a wide kissaki which, if what I read is correct, was a style that Emura used. 
the Tsuba and its parts all have matching serial numbers "499" 
Any info I can get would be much appreciated. This stuff is so fascinating.

Here is a link to the gallery if needed.
https://imgur.com/a/PhJUZvY
 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes it is a Kai Gunto but not made by Emura, it is a Takayama-To. I'm not sure of the exact translation but that is the type of sword. These were made from Stainless steel so they are not traditionally made. There is a fair bit of info out there about these swords, this example also has a fairly rare retention cord present.

[Brian]

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/takayama-masakichi-man-who-responsible-takayama-ta-768582/

 

Nice kai-gunto. Looks like you did well there. Nothing to do with Emura though.

[dwmc]

Dave M.

[Bruce Pennington]

Officially a Type 97 Navy Officer sword, or Kai-gunto.  The smith, shown in Dave's reference, is Masahiro.  Brian's link will show you the origin of this style of blade, heavy, shorter, more mass in the tip for greater impact.  Designed to kill with one blow.  I have one too, and they are impressive in the unexpected weight for a shorter blade.

 

The six characters down the left side should be the name of the togishi, or polisher.  I can't read them, so maybe someone will for you.

 

The material under the ito (handle-wrap) seems to be sharkskin and the covering on the saya (scabbard) might be polished sharkskin.  I have a saya like that and have been told that if you look closely at the white dots, they have small points indicating shark, whereas the eel-skin has round dots.  But I'm no expert on the skins.  Both, though, indicate a paid-for upgrade from standard navy fittings.

 

Nice find!

[Michaelr]

Anthony, welcome to the forum and congratulations on a Very Nice Navy. This is definitely a place to watch and learn.

              MikeR

[NinjaBear]

Thank you so much! I was told it as Emura, so I feel more educated today 😄

[SteveM]

Polisher is 伊藤六助 - Itō Rokusuke

[NinjaBear]

 

7 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

Yes it is a Kai Gunto but not made by Emura, it is a Takayama-To. I'm not sure of the exact translation but that is the type of sword. These were made from Stainless steel so they are not traditionally made. There is a fair bit of info out there about these swords, this example also has a fairly rare retention cord present.

 

Interesting. So the sword Style is a Takatyama-To? But the sword smith himself is unknown. Im to understand the engraving is the name of the polisher?  I also thought the retention cord was maybe someone trying to replace a lost one. It didnt look like any photos I saw. 

 

 

15 minutes ago, SteveM said:

Polisher is 伊藤六助 - Itō Rokusuke

Is this entirely what it says or only partially?

  


I cant seem to remove this screenshot for some reason.

[SteveM]

謹作高山刀　　　Kinsaku Takayama-tō   (Diligently made Takayama sword)

刀匠　服部正廣　Tōshō Hattori Masahiro (Smith: Hattori Masahiro)

研師　伊藤六助     Kenshi - Itō Rokusuke (Polisher: Ito Rokusuke)

 

Its nearly identical to the signature that Dave posted, except for the polisher.

[NinjaBear]

20 minutes ago, SteveM said:

謹作高山刀　　　Kinsaku Takayama-tō   (Diligently made Takayama sword)

刀匠　服部正廣　Tōshō Hattori Masahiro (Smith: Hattori Masahiro)

研師　伊藤六助     Kenshi - Itō Rokusuke (Polisher: Ito Rokusuke)

 

Its nearly identical to the signature that Dave posted, except for the polisher.

OH! Thank you so much!

[NinjaBear]

I am trying to place a value on this sword. Between all of you guys helping I think  I have this right.

This is a Kai-gunto made in the Takayama-To style. Its a Type 97 Naval officers sword from WW2. The sword smith is Hattori Masahiro and the polisher is Ito Rokusuke. 
Is the blade condition what we would call Excellent? The retention cord is considered to be rare. The handle is made of shark skin.

Is there anything noteworth that it is missing?

[Brian]

Anthony, are you looking for a sale description to list it somewhere? Most consider it polite to mention that if you are.

[Stephen]

Search the forum for Takayama to

We're well stocked with post about them.

[NinjaBear]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

Anthony, are you looking for a sale description to list it somewhere? Most consider it polite to mention that if you are.

Not at this point. I'm just somewhat confused by terminology and other languages. I thought I had this all figured out at some point, and I clearly was misinformed. Im just a methodical person so it seemed simple to type it all out to make sure I collected all of the info accurately. I paid $700 for the sword, so I was curious what it was worth. Some of the prices ive been seeing in the BST area are 4-6 thousand the prices I was seeing on ebay were less. So thats confusing to me also. 
 

 

42 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Search the forum for Takayama to

We're well stocked with post about them.

I wasnt sure if that was the term I should be researching. I'll start poking around. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Anthony,

A standard Takayama-to runs about $1,400 USD.  If you use the retention cord and the upgraded saya covering (which shows wear), you could bump that up a tad.

[PNSSHOGUN]

The handle has some condition issues so I can't see it going too much over 1400. 

[IJASWORDS]

This subject piqued my interest in my Hattori Masahiro to see if it was signed the same (been years since I looked). Photos attached. Up market Kai Gunto fittings, Seki stamp, not made of stainless steel, no date. Think it owes me 1200 bucks. 

[vajo]

WOW! what a nice Kai Gunto Neil.

[NinjaBear]

14 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Anthony,

A standard Takayama-to runs about $1,400 USD.  If you use the retention cord and the upgraded saya covering (which shows wear), you could bump that up a tad.

 

12 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

The handle has some condition issues so I can't see it going too much over 1400. 

Thank you so much guys! I really appreciate it. Is it missing a tassle or did some come without? 

[Bruce Pennington]

An officer would never have carried their sword without a tassel.  Navy all used the dark all-brown tassel.  They can be found at sometimes at NMB (PNSSHOGAN just sold one), ebay, and dealers.

[PNSSHOGUN]

They were all issued with tassels, however carrying them without a tassel is certainly possible as I'm sure some officers found them annoying or got in the way in the field. One of the more famous instances of this is General Kuribayashi removing all insignia ranks from his uniform, including his tassel, before leading the final charge on Iwo Jima.

[Bruce Pennington]

Interesting example John!  I should modify my statement to "I can't imagine an officer carrying a gunto without a tassel", as I actually don't know WWII regulations or practices about the matter.  There were naval officers stationed on islands, and therefore "in the field", but I wonder how many of them were actually in front-line combat.  I suspect most kaigunto spent their life sitting in the corner of their quarters on ship or in offices.  But again I'm speculating about things I know nothing about.  It is interesting to note that most gunto today are found on the market without tassels.  I imagine some were removed before surrendering at war's end, some were removed and sold by dealers and collectors, but just how many were removed and not used by the original officers ..... good question!

[NinjaBear]

On 9/27/2020 at 2:13 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

They were all issued with tassels, however carrying them without a tassel is certainly possible as I'm sure some officers found them annoying or got in the way in the field. One of the more famous instances of this is General Kuribayashi removing all insignia ranks from his uniform, including his tassel, before leading the final charge on Iwo Jima.

Oh wow, this is really cool! Thanks for sharing! 
I wish there was a way to tell the difference. 

On 9/25/2020 at 3:22 AM, IJASWORDS said:

This subject piqued my interest in my Hattori Masahiro to see if it was signed the same (been years since I looked). Photos attached. Up market Kai Gunto fittings, Seki stamp, not made of stainless steel, no date. Think it owes me 1200 bucks. 

The Hamon on this is very different from mine. It leads me to think that they werent made by the same person. If I read right, Hattori Masahiro didnt personally make the swords, sometimes prisoners would sign his name? Or something to that extent.