SHOW US YOUR GUNTO HORIMONO

[IJASWORDS]

The lovely sword with horimono posted by Colin H, triggered a thread that I have been meaning to kick off for a while. It is my personal opinion that a WW2 Gunto with a horimono is (again in my opinion) one of the "Holy Grails" of military sword collecting. 

I will start with a few of mine, all by the same swordsmith KANETOKI who then changed his name to KANEMICHI. These are all WW2 period blades, that show horimono, Bonji and Kanji.  

I would hope that others could contribute to this thread, as I think it would add to our knowledge of the art.  

[Geraint]

Dear Neil.

 

Here's one by Mishina Yoshiaki.

 

 

All the best.

 

[Volker62]

papered rare long Tanto by Kotani Yasunori, signed " Geinan ju Kenzo Saku"  Showa sichi  nen Ni gatsu

 

this crisp detailed Horimono's style of dragon 

 

the overall style of the Dragon shows a delightful Umetada flavor with its twisted tail

 

chasing the pearl

[Matsunoki]

Added mine again for posterity!!!

 

[Bruce Pennington]

 

[hobnails]

Katana by Kasama Shigetsugu dated 1937

[Michael 67]

Seikōsai Ichimonji kore o tsukuru (晴光斎一文字造之) - 

Yasuki-hagane sanmai-kitae (安来鋼三枚鍛) 
 

[Michael 67]

Kurihara Akihide, Horimono by Akitada

 

 

[Volker62]

wow

 

what a nice sword!

 

what a nice crafted and signed Horimono, congrats!

[Michael 67]

Thanks Volker, it's my favorite sword.

[Bruce Pennington]

17 hours ago, Michael 67 said:

favorite sword.

Michael,

Could I get a full shot of that habaki for the Habaki thread?

[Michael 67]

Hi Bruce,

you are very welcome.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Another by Akihide: https://katanahanbai.com/reference-product/kurihara-akihide/

 

[Bruce Pennington]

What a masterpiece!  And a kokuin (hot stamp) that I have not seen, to boot!  It's now in the Stamps doc.  Thanks John!

[Bruce Pennington]

On 5/30/2022 at 8:44 AM, Michael 67 said:

Seikōsai Ichimonji kore o tsukuru (晴光斎一文字造之) - 

Yasuki-hagane sanmai-kitae (安来鋼三枚鍛) 

Michael,

Sorry to detract from this excellent topic, but could I get photos of the nakago/mei on this one?  I'm starting to make a record of smiths that used Yasuki/Yasugi steel.  And for give my ignorance, but is the smith "Ichimonji" or "Seikosai"?

[mdiddy]

On 5/21/2022 at 3:57 AM, Matsunoki said:

Added mine again for posterity!!!

 

I recall seeing that Mitsuoki at a well-known Liverpool dealer's house once upon a time. One of the best gendaito I have ever held. 

[mdiddy]

Here is a tanto I had for awhile by Kasama Shigetsugu with a nice Fudo Myo-O

 

[mdiddy]

Here is another one I dug up. A katana by Gassan Sadakazu in kyu gunto mounts with sankozuka-ken on one side (as well as bo-hi, goma-bashi + bo-hi on the other side, etc).

 

 

[mdiddy]

I found another one from my archive. A gimei Yasutsugu with horimono. The sword was once owned by Dr. Compton and he gave it to his secretary as a gift.

 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Teishitsu Gigein signed, very special indeed.

[Bruno]

I would be interested to see examples of military stamped showato or star stamped gendaito with bohi. 

 

So far, the ones I saw were private orders non-stamped showato and gendaito.

 

Thanks

[Guest Simon R]

3 hours ago, Bruno said:

I would be interested to see examples of military stamped showato or star stamped gendaito with bohi. 

 

So far, the ones I saw were private orders non-stamped showato and gendaito.

 

Thanks

Hi Bruno,

 

I have no photos (although I would be able to pull out an oshigata of the nakago) but the very first Japanese sword I ever owned (over 40 years ago) was a 'Sho' stamped Showato signed "Kawamura Masanobu saku" which had bohi.

 

Simon 

[Bruno]

Thanks Simon. Any idea if the bohi was made when the sword was forged or added later?

[Itomagoi]

Isn't every bohi cut after forging/hardening like Horimono!? Otherwise the sword is too unstable during hardening and can quickly bend. 

[Bruce Pennington]

You will find many examples on Kyu gunto and zoheito.  Buts it’s rare on stamped blades, but not unheard of.  Here’s a Sukenobu with a Showa stamp

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/44152-need-help-authenticating-whether-this-blade-is-of-value/#comment-458639

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

A controversial one on a Mantetsu posted by @Itomagoi

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/?do=findComment&comment=407807

[Bruce Pennington]

A stainless Tenshozan Forge blade with one 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

A zoheito 

 

Small photo, but it’s there.

[Bruce Pennington]

Oh!  I forgot I own one! Probably made in the mid to late 30s, it’s a “slim line“ blade that was part of the early experiment to chrome blades.  Not exactly what you were asking, but still an early Showa era blade with bohi.  
 

More on it here

 

[Nihonto Chicken]

Would take some time to get to the sword and take a pic, so will you take it on faith that I have a Fukumoto Kanemune (or Fukumoto Kumemune per Yumoto, pg. 40, essentially identical mei) gunto that has bohi and a Showa stamp?  I mean, would I lie to you?