Questions about guntō

[optimus]

Dear fellow forum members,

 

I can't really get my head around this gunto. Nagasa about 69 cm. What are your thoughts?

More pictures will follow

[optimus]

More pictures

[optimus]

[BANGBANGSAN]

Not Japanese sword

[David Flynn]

Repro, probably Chinese.

[optimus]

Thank you Trystan och David!!

[Brian]

Combines most of the telltale signs of what to look out for when you need to avoid a fake. Chinese fake, don't bother trying to translate, it is meaningless.
Sorry to bear the bad news.

[optimus]

Thank you Brian!

 

[ROKUJURO]

MEI looks like "KOBAYASHI TO TEN", but chiselled so clumsily that I doubt a Chinese provenance.

[Kiipu]

5 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

MEI looks like "KOBAYASHI TO TEN", but chiselled so clumsily that I doubt a Chinese provenance.

 

小林力夫 = Kobayashi Rikio.

That is the personal name of Sadanaga 貞永, a modern day swordsmith.

Katana signed Unshu-ju SADANAGA kore-wo tsukuru

[ROKUJURO]

Thomas,

thank you!

I found a MEI of SADANAGA/KOBAYASHI for comparison.

 

Does not look like the same man.

[Kiipu]

Sorry Jean, I should have stated that it was a Chinese reproduction.  The Chinese will "borrow" current Japanese names and engrave them.  I find it interesting what they come up with at times.  How they found poor old Sadanaga's real name is anyone's guess though.

[BANGBANGSAN]

21 hours ago, Kiipu said:

Sorry Jean, I should have stated that it was a Chinese reproduction.  The Chinese will "borrow" current Japanese names and engrave them.  I find it interesting what they come up with at times.  How they found poor old Sadanaga's real name is anyone's guess though.

Thomas
You're right, Chinese fake sword uses existing well-known Japanese names, not only sword smith's name. like this one on GB, it borrowed Japanese-American singer-songwriter and producer 宇多田光 Hikaru Utada's name。
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/need-help-with-a-sword-please.1202697/#post-10951366