Nobuyoshi Gunto

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

 

I was lucky enough to acquire this sword recently. It is a nice sword in its own right, but it also came with some interesting provenance. Allegedly it was once owned by a Japanese army officer by the name of Zenzaburo Ishizuka. This Nobuyoshi blade was handed down to him from his father. When he went off to war, he left this one at home and took a showato with him instead. When he surrendered to American forces in the Philippines at the end of the war, he handed over the showato, while this sword remained safe with his family. The Nobuyoshi sword was never surrendered and remained with his family until it was sold. This explains the pristine condition of the koshirae.

 

Unfortunately I don't have any real proof that this story is true. I thought I would share this story because it gives some insight into how the gunto that we love, ended up where they did. I imagine I would have done the same thing, saved the treasured family sword for special occasions and taken a less expensive showato into the field.

 

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[vajo]

Buy the sword, not the story 

[Brian]

Indeed. What counts here is that it is in fantastic condition, and the blade looks great too. Wow..what a package. Look forward to more pics. Condition is superb!

[lonely panet]

story aside, that is a very nice gunto

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes, hard to improve on a beauty like that.

[Karu]

Nice story and a gunto in awesome condition

[Bruce Pennington]

I like them both, too.  Bryce, hoping to get a closer view of the fuchi:

 

[Stephen]

Nice double habaki leads us to older blade. Just the one pix??

[PNSSHOGUN]

http://www.guntoartswords.com/nobuyoshi.html

 

Some more pictures here. 

[Bruce Pennington]

48 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

http://www.guntoartswords.com/nobuyoshi.html

 

Some more pictures here. 

Thanks John!  I see the sakura was more prominent in the OP photo, but the leaves are there after all.

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Here are some more photos. The koshirae is in almost pristine condition. The saya is the lacquered wood kind which I think is quite rare. What makes this sword really stand out is the beautiful, two piece, gold and silver foiled habaki. Unusually the fittings which are the mid-war type, are not numbered or marked in any way. The boshi is ichimai style with a long kaeri. The only down side is the blade is suriage and machi okuri.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Mister Gunto]

Gorgeous piece!

[Kaz S]

I absolutely love this piece. Amazing.

[Greg F]

Beautiful blade