A special WW2 Japanese katana

[zhangziyi777]

I acquired this special beauty with the following information which was provided to me.

At one point a organization devoted to restoration and such (I'll dig up the company's name) carefully opened the handle up which reveals the samurais last will and testament inside. I tried taking a picture to show this from a top down view. Unfortunately It was not provided with what was transcribed inside. The same company then put the handle back together. Everything from what i was told is original and was maintained that way over the years. Blades sharp enough to easily slice paper. Blade is in excellent condition, very few spots on blade and the hamon though having hard time getting it in a picture, is pronounced and very beautiful going down the blade. I think the tsuba may of had a small bit of gold inlayed on it but i am unsure. I personally haven't seen another sword with the last will in handle before. Looking for some opinions and or suggestions.

[Misconstrued]

Could you perhaps add some photos of the writing on the nakago?

 

- Jace R.

 

[Brian]

Frankly, the "last will and testament" bit sounds like bull$%@# to me.
Sometimes a random piece of paper was folded up and used as a spacer to tighten things up. Could be a shopping list or a page from a book. Nothing of any consequence.
I'm betting that's what it was.

[WulinRuilong]

"the samurais last will and testament" looks like just some note written by craftsman

[Matsunoki]

It would be strange to record your last will and testament in kanji on the inside of a tsuka where no one would ever see it unless the tsuka was destroyed in the process of discovery. As Yanchen suggests, much more likely to be something the sayashi noted for assembly purposes….imo.

[Bruce Pennington]

A closer look at the nakago showing the macki (notches where the nakago meets the blade) would be interesting.  From the top photo, it seems the machi are almost worn down to nothing, which I've read, means many polishes?

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes lots of polishes, loss of Machi is considered undesirable.

[zhangziyi777]

This was info on the sword when purchased: This prized family heirloom is a 17th century Japanese katana, liberated in World War II by the father of its current owner. The age of the blade was determined by the curator of the Asiatic collection in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The tang is not signed; this is rare, but not unheard of, according to the curator. At one point the handle was disassembled in order to see the last word and testament from the samurai that owned it, which is written on the inside. The Fred Lohman company was tasked with restoring the handle in order to keep the menuki and tsuba in the excellent condition they have retained over the years. The handle is made of sting ray skin wrapped in silk. There are several small marks on the blade; they look like they might be from blood eating into the finish.?˜The katana measures 34.5 inches from the tip of the blade to the end of the handle, and 25 inches from the tip of the blade to the tsuba. The tsuba is 2.5 inches wide and 2.75 inches long.

[ROKUJURO]

Roderick,

 

please don't believe this story! It is just a joke.

 

If a SAMURAI wanted to write his last will in the TSUKA, he would have to destroy it first, as mentioned above. This is no "take-apart" item, so this makes no sense!

It is absolutely not rare to have a non-signed NAKAGO, and a blade "in excellent condition" will never have rust spots or blood stains on it. 

 

[Brian]

What Jean said.

[PNSSHOGUN]

This person from the Boston museum sounds more like an old pirate than a curator.

[WillFalstaff]

[Baba Yaga]

On 5/1/2022 at 7:53 AM, zhangziyi777 said:

The age of the blade was determined by the curator of the Asiatic collection in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The tang is not signed; this is rare, but not unheard of, according to the curator. At one point the handle was disassembled in order to see the last word and testament from the samurai that owned it, which is written on the inside. The Fred Lohman company was tasked with restoring the handle in order to keep the menuki and tsuba in the excellent condition they have retained over the years. 

Who was the curator of the Asiatic collection in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts by name?. I didn't know The Fred Lohman company restored historic objects for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts?

[zhangziyi777]

I am unsure on who the curator was but looking up i got this link, https://www.mfa.org/collections/conservation/division_objectslab

[Nihontocollector752]

Take away from this thread is avoid getting anything identified or appraised in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

[BryanG]

Always buy based on the item, not the story.

[Geraint]

In fairness to the curator all that they actually are reported to have said was that it was a mumei blade from the 1600s, the rest is sales hyperbole.  I am pretty sure that the idea that the MFA sends it's swords to anyone other than accredited Japanese experts is a nonsense.  What we have here is a well written sales pitch from someone who may have done a walk in at the MFA and asked for an opinion from someone who has been sent down from the department to keep the punters happy at the front desk.

 

All the best.

 

 

[drbvac]

Morihiro Ogawa was the curator of Japanese Weapons at the Boston Museaum of Fine Arts probably 25 years ago and his book and the photos from that time in the museum is a work of art on its own.  After he left there he became the curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and even if the blade was unsigned he probably could give some sort of attribution to the blade in question - that said I am almost certain as mentioned before he probably said as was mentioned earlier that it was a mumie blade of a certain date range - period. The last will and testament story I have heard before in several variations but that in and of itself would make no sense whatsoever.  Wills are usually left in trust with someone other than the person whose will it is so that the people who are left after they die can access what their final wishes were for their worldly good. To hide the document in a place where it would probably never be found except by mistake makes no sense at all.