Late War Type 98

[Bruce Pennington]

Came across this today (looking for something else!).  Seems to be very late war Type 98 fittings.  Peculiar because it's got a Showa-stamped Kanetsugu blade in it, which should put the manufacture date of the blade no later than 1942.  Of course there is a known 1945 blade with a Showa stamp, so this could be another.  It's not dated, so it could be either way.

 

Back to the reason for the post.  It's got the featureless metal fittings and very thin tsuba.  There are many posts of these scattered all about the NMB, so I though I'd start a thread dedicated to the issue.

Found HERE

 

 

[Dave R]

Judging by the saya, the blade was originally in Buke koshirae. I think it worth remembering that for Japan, the war began in 1933, so 1942 was late war!

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 3/21/2021 at 9:47 PM, Dave R said:

Buke koshirae

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Ah.  I keep forgetting that civil fittings had similar shapes (or I should say the WWII fittings reflected old shapes!).  So the kabutogane is likely an original from it's civil days, right?

 

In that case, the only item of interest is the very thin tsuba. 

 

Still, it's a good thread for future posts of similar fittings.

[PNSSHOGUN]

This does look like civilian mounts of the time the sword was made. The late war fittings are usually similar to normal examples but considerably cruder or completely plain. They tend to have snake or shark skin wrap, and the Ito wrap quality is poor. Such swords would not inspire much confidence......

[Dave R]

  On 3/22/2021 at 2:19 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

This does look like civilian mounts of the time the sword was made. The late war fittings are usually similar to normal examples but considerably cruder or completely plain. They tend to have snake or shark skin wrap, and the Ito wrap quality is poor. Such swords would not inspire much confidence......

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 Late war fittings are a variable beast. They can be the usual metal but devoid of detail, or with all the detail but in a less strategic material. The above example is the former type, note it has Gunto menuki.

 Below are two that are in my collection, one of each type..... and a note from a knowledgeable commentator. The plain mounts are plated brass as was regulation. The detailed mounts are of plated steel, and the ito over sandpaper. The note describes minimal alterations for service use.

[vajo]

The saya is interesting. Burlap over the wood and lacquered black. I think this was in a leather cover too. Overall a nice combination which have looked nice in the original patination of the fittings.

[Bruce Pennington]

Thomas found another here:  Warrelics

[PNSSHOGUN]

That looks like an authentic chinese fake.

[Dave R]

  On 4/1/2021 at 6:07 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

Thomas found another here:  Warrelics

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 I see that one as more than a little dodgy as well.

[Dave R]

  On 3/22/2021 at 3:14 PM, Dave R said:

The plain mounts are plated brass as was regulation. The detailed mounts are of plated steel, and the ito over sandpaper. The note describes minimal alterations for service use.

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 Correction, not sandpaper but some sort of very fine nodule'd  same, shark has been suggested.

 

[Kiipu]

  On 4/1/2021 at 6:07 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

Thomas found another here:  Warrelics

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I tracked the sword down to an October 2013 thread over at WRF.  I do not think it falls into the same category as the OP.  The WRF sword could have been made outside of Japan during the war?

Samurai swords