Description doesn't match the Blade.

[Fusilier]

G'day guys,

 

I recently purchased this sword for re-sale and it came with the attached plastic laminated sheet that the seller told me he'd been given by the bloke he purchased it.  The document says the sword was forged by a smith named Ishihara Kanenoa circa 1596 and that it had been aquired by an Australian Officer called Captain Les Padmen who it says served with 2/2 Tank Attack Regt at Buna in New Guinea during WW2.   A couple of things ring alarm bells on that story for me, firstly the Seki Stamp on the Nakago and the style of the characters look Showato to me. Secondly, having done a namesearch for a Capt Les Padmen, the only Padman I could find that may have been our man is a Lieutenant (PADMAN LESLIE ROBERT : Service Number - W70413 : Date of birth - 01 Feb 1925 : Place of birth - DONNYBROOK WA) who served for most of the war with the Anti Aircraft Search Light unit in Darwin and who deployed to North Borneo at the end of the War.  As far as I know, there never was a 2/2 Tank Attack or even Anti Tank Regt.  He was attached for a short period to 2/2 MG Bn but was never a Captain and from what I could see, never deployed to New Guinea or Buna.

 

Any light, anyone can shed on any of this would be much appreciated,

 

I'll attach some pictures.

 

Cheers David

[xiayang]

That's a shōwatō, though it may have been slightly shortened.

 

濃刕大杉住石原兼直作 = Nōshū Ōsugi-jū Ishihara Kanenao saku

[Fusilier]

Cheers Jan, That's pretty definitive.

[Rivkin]

....

I got to learn writing seller's description like this one. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Pretty rare to see such a long nakago & tskua on a gunto.  Wonder why it was made so long?

[Bruce Pennington]

I checked his mei on various others and while his Ishihara seems uniform, he did seem to vary how he made the "Kane".  Only a couple had "Noshu" while most had "Seki", and a rare few had no locale at all.

 

This one from JSI shows his "normal" "Kane"

[Tohagi]

"That's a piece of a story!"

Wonder how he could see a "pears skin hada" in such a polish condition...

This seller could sell sand to MBS !

 

Maybe he write storys for Netflix in real life ...

[Fusilier]

I agree Eric, I think the previous seller may have taken the swords description from another sword.  The link to Padman maybe a coincidence but there are a number of elements to the story (the name, officer status and the link to 2/2 MG Regt) that do have an element of truth.  It's far more likely that Lt Padman (not Capt), who had an important role but undistinguished war, acquired the sword when the Japanese surrendered in North Borneo.  Impossible to know now for sure but that said, I'm grateful to all of you once again for confirming my suspicions.

[Fusilier]

6 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Pretty rare to see such a long nakago & tskua on a gunto.  Wonder why it was made so long?

Out of curiosity Bruce, what was the defining factor in determining the length of the nakago.  Hand size, blade balance, or was it just a random thing?

[Bruce Pennington]

18 hours ago, Fusilier said:

what was the defining factor in determining the length of the nakago.  Hand size, blade balance, or was it just a random thing?

I'm afraid other guys will have to help with that question.  Not something I'm aware of, other than simply seeing a lot of nakogo over the years.

[Peter Bleed]

This signature sure looks "long" to me and the jiri looks odd as well. Its as if the nakago was cut off to fit the signature -- but that isn't the way things were done. This is rather odd, not "bad", maybe just odd.

Peter

[Fusilier]

41 minutes ago, Peter Bleed said:

This signature sure looks "long" to me and the jiri looks odd as well. Its as if the nakago was cut off to fit the signature -- but that isn't the way things were done. This is rather odd, not "bad", maybe just odd.

Peter

Cheers Peter, I know what you mean, when I first saw it, it wasn't like any I'd seen before.  The patination appears consistent across the nakago so I'd assess it was produced like that.  As you say, just odd.