My first sword, 1943 Type 98 Shin Gunto by Imai Sadashige

[Koryu]

Hello, I just purchased my first sword after looking for a nice WW2 officer sword. The polish looks alittle rough but still a nice sword. I may have it repolished to make it nice, just wanted to say hi and see what everyone's thoughts were.

[Koryu]

A few more pics

[mecox]

James, you have picked up a very good sword there Sadashige June 1943 and looks to be in very good fittings.  Recognised as a top level swordsmith.  Blade looks in fine condition, do NOT get a polish done.  By a sword cleaning kit to powder then oil only.

[Koryu]

27 minutes ago, mecox said:

James, you have picked up a very good sword there Sadashige June 1943 and looks to be in very good fittings.  Recognised as a top level swordsmith.  Blade looks in fine condition, do NOT get a polish done.  By a sword cleaning kit to powder then oil only.

I appreciate that! The blade looks better in pictured admittedly,  but I dont see any major flaws. Just some scuffs and scratches. I have read and heard that Imai Sadashige was an excellent smith, unfortunately I can't find a whole lot of info about him. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Sesko shows a father and son, don't know how to tell which one yours was made by:

 

[Koryu]

29 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Sesko shows a father and son, don't know how to tell which one yours was made by:

 

Mine is the top one, signed as Taira Sadashige. I did not know his son was a Smith too

[francois2605]

I love the strokes on the signature, this is beautiful.

 

In case you don't have the Slough:

 

 

[Koryu]

Thank, I have not seen that! Very cool!

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi James, great first sword, thank you for sharing & welcome to the forum. Every student of this group was talented, here is a sword by a relatively unknown smith in the group; "Yoshihiro".

 

[Koryu]

John, thank you for the kind welcome and the pictures of your awesome sword! That sounds like an amazing group of sword smiths! I am excited to be on here with others who share the same love I do.

[Stephen]

Shared with James last night on messenger.

For others who like this school, where my Hiromasa learned.

[Stephen]

A pic he shared, hes not talking a full polish,just a touch up to remove scratches wiped, and pop jihada.

Woody's not doing gunto or gendiato any more, I recommended Ted T. Jimmy H is great but I don't think he wants to wait 4 years.

Anyway it would  awesome cleaned up. Love them ashi.

[Koryu]

Thanks Stephen for having me join the group and your help.

[vajo]

James your sword is still perfect. Do nothing. The wartime polish is absolut ok and looks very nice. A very fine sword from an well known and high rated swordsmith. Congrats.

[Koryu]

12 minutes ago, vajo said:

James your sword is still perfect. Do nothing. The wartime polish is absolut ok and looks very nice. A very fine sword from an well known and high rated swordsmith. Congrats.

Thanks Chris, I looked at it again last night and it is better than alot of other Guntos I have been seeeing. So I see what you mean

[Cookie4Monstah]

Hi Koryu,

 

That is a beautiful sword. I got into a bidding war over one recently and it was by "Sadashige" as well, in much poorer condition though. The fittings are in really nice shape on yours too. It may not need a polish if it cleans up nice. Congrats on your find.

 

Best,

Khalid

[Japan2112]

The war time koshirae with silver mon is really great. The polish shows everything (mostly). I, too, like the ashi as is.

[Koryu]

Very kind words on here, thanks to everyone who has commented and shared there amazing swords and excellent information. What a great community.

[reeder]

Nice one! I’ve had Yoshimune, Hiromasa, Hisatsugu, Imai & Kawano Sadashige out of that group, all great smiths. One of my favorite groups of wwii smiths! Well Kawano as technically Gassan, but still did nice work.