legitimate Generals sword

[brannow]

I thought I would share this legitimate Generals sword with the board.  It came from the Son of an army vet who was a part of the early occupation.  The son told me his father traded an elderly Japanese general a 10 lbs sack of sugar for it.  He didn't know the tassel denoted the rank until I told him.

 

Enjoy!

Bill Rannow
Mpls, MN

[Brian]

Great find!
And one of those cases where the tassel may be worth more than the sword

[Volker62]

what a find !

 

 

thanks for sharing Bill!

[Stephen]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

Great find!
And one of those cases where the tassel may be worth more than the sword

So Bill whos the smith?

[PNSSHOGUN]

Great find Bill, will you be selling this one? Excellent early Type 94 mounts, were you able to get the name of the General from the son? This is the find we all dream of.

[Michaelr]

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. This is a lucky find, congratulations   

   MikeR

[Bruce Pennington]

Quite a high quality job on that mon on the kabutogane, too!  Gorgeous

[David Flynn]

Is there any provenance with it, besides the story of how it was traded? 

[brannow]

No provenance other then the story but I have no reason to doubt the guy I bought it from.  These type 94 gunto mounts were usually carried by high ranking officers.

[lonely panet]

On 1/9/2022 at 10:36 AM, David Flynn said:

Is there any provenance with it, besides the story of how it was traded? 

no paperwork imho is a issue. 

 

oral histoies are affected just like the game chinese whispers 

[Brian]

Wow...you guys are downers. The value is in the sword anyways, and the tassel. Bill is just sharing it with us, not trying to sell it to anyone here.
Bill, thanks for sharing. Feel free to tell us more about the blade too.

[paul griff]

Hello,

         Yes,thanks for sharing.....Can’t expect to get paperwork with all war trophies...most have mine have oral history from veterans family etc.........Quality package like that from respected dealer...good enough for me...

Regards,

              Paul...

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

A real story can turn into real provenance, however you need some key points in the story (name, theater, unit etc) for that to happen. Without those the story is almost impossible to verify and, unfortunately, must remain just a story. 

[MarcoUdin]

On 1/8/2022 at 2:41 AM, Stephen said:

So Bill whos the smith?

I would also like to know the Smith, looks like a nice older piece

[Stegel]

Great find Bill !!

Personally i believe the story, as i remember my Mother telling me how BAD it was straight after the war, shortages were peaking in almost everything till after the clean up and economy rising again. The 10lbs of sugar would have been worth a small fortune at the time, it would get you other things in a barter deal and keep your family from starvation.... worth more than a sword which won't feed your famiy and would end up being confiscated eventually, leaving you with nothing! Just my opinion.

I'm with Steve and Marco, please show us more of the blade and smith details.

 

I have a Generals sword also, but it was surrendered in Malaya, and the British were a bit more exact in highlighting these things especially from surrender ceremonies.

here's the plaque on mine. The blade is an old Shinto mumei, but i have the note the general left with it.

 

 

Steve, i love reading your comments, great work!! sometimes they really make my day!

[brannow]

These type 94 gunto were only carried by higher ranking officers.  They were not carried by lower rank officers.  I once bought a very nice Sokan Tanto with horimono from a vet.  He had befriended a family and gave them a sack of rice.  The tanto was a gesture of their appreciation.  No doubt it was their family treasure. 

Another story, several years ago I found an ubu tachi by Gojo Kuninaga that ended up going tokuju.  The story with that one was the guy who brought it back as a souvenir was a member of MacArthur staff.  I have no reason to doubt the story of the Vet or the story that the Gojo came from the estate of someone on Gen MacArthur's staff.  Those guys all got great swords to take home because they had Japanese liaison's.

 

Anyway here are a few more photos.  Hard to read but might be Sukemitsu.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Bill, all officer ranks carried the Type 94 until the introduction of the Type 98. Though by 1945 it's likely the officers who survived since the 1930's and still carried a Type 94 would be a high rank by that point. There were also plenty of Generals that retired before & during WWII, leaving great condition Type 94 like yours intact. 

[Ian B3HR2UH]

Stegel , are you just going to tease us with the one shot of yours ! How about some more photos and details .

Ian Brooks

[DTM72]

@brannow Hope you bring this sword to SOS in February.