Prince Chibata's gunto practice sword

[Jim Manley]

Thomas suggested I create a separate thread about this Murata-to. I have very limited information so I'll share what I can.  the Nagasa is 25 3/8" . All of the fittings, including the habaki are copper. The tsuba too is copper and patinated black. The Saya is canvas covered and may be sealed with lacquer. The blade was polished and the original polisher's marks remain. There is a definate nioi line along the suguha hamon. 

In Mr. Ohmura's article on Murata-to he includes a photo of Prince Chibata's identical blade which is signed and dated 1933 along with the aribic no. 116.  I don't know if the fittings & kosheri for Prince Chibata's blade survived or if they were like those on my blade which I assume are original. 

Jim M. 

[reeder]

Cool, neat one!

[Kiipu]

  On 11/20/2020 at 2:26 AM, Jim Manley said:

In Mr. Ohmura's article on Murata-to he includes a photo of Prince Chibata's identical blade which is signed and dated 1933 along with the arabic no. 116.  I don't know if the fittings & koshirae for Prince Chibata's blade survived or if they were like those on my blade which I assume are original.

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Just a small correction here if I may.  There is a small error in regards to the date of Prince Chichibu's practice sword 練習刀.  The obverse of the nakago is dated 大正八年八月吉日 which comes to August 1919.  The logo on the nakago denotes manufacture by Tōkyō Artillery Arsenal  東京砲兵工廠 (1879 to 1923), one of two such arsenals in Japan at the time.  Both arsenals reported directly to the War Minister.

[Jim Manley]

Thank you for the correction. Always learning something new. 

[Kiipu]

  On 11/19/2020 at 12:54 AM, Jim Manley said:

Here are some shots of my Murata-to. All the fittings are copper and the saya is canvas wrapped. It is not sharpened which makes sense if it is a practice sword. Also there are no Menuki but ovals of wood to orient the hands on the Tsuka. No. 103 w/ arsenal stamp. Two mekugi ana .  Amazingly it's in perfect condition, 

 

Jim M.

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Are both mekugi-ana 目釘孔 used by the current tsuka 柄?  I can only see one peg hole in the hilt pictured in the OP.

[Bruce Pennington]

Ohmura calls the stamped number a serial number, so it's possible the Arsenal was numbering these, or it could have been a system started by Murata himself.  No way to know.

[Kiipu]

Baron Murata passed away in 1921 and the last known blade signed by Kanemasa 兼正 was in 1894.  Ohmura-sensei actually has a page devoted to him but it is in Japanese.

男爵　村 田 經 芳

[Jim Manley]

Only the upper hole was used. The lower hole is visibly smaller. No discernible file marks on the tang either. 

 

Jim