Sean

[SeanHath]

I’m trying to establish the origins of this wakizashi sword. It’s unusual because it doesn’t have a Tsuba, being fitted with an ‘S’ shaped hand guard instead. The blade has some chips and scratches that look to be from sharpening. The blade is sharp - but doesn’t have a ‘razor’ edge. My first thoughts were Navy or maybe police. Can anyone identify it?

Thank you in advance.

Sean

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Sean, welcome to the forum. Quite an unusual sword, off the top of my head such designs date from the early Meiji period and could be from any branch of the government. There is a certain quality about the Koshirae that seems better than usual.

[SeanHath]

Thanks, do you think everything fitted is original? 

[George KN]

I was hoping more people would chip in on this thread, since it's an interesting sword!

 

On 1/25/2025 at 11:01 PM, SeanHath said:

wakizashi sword

It actually almost looks long enough to be a katana... Have you been able to take the tsuka (handle) off by removing the mekugi peg? Having some pictures of the nakago (tang) would be really helpful in dating the blade. If the sharp part of the blade (measured from the back) is more than ~60cm it would be a katana.

 

I really like the style of the fittings on this though - no menuki or wrap, very utilitarian, and very genuine. 

 

The only thing I'm not sure about is the tsuba/guard though. It looks like it has age, but it's very unusual. If it is original, then my guess was from the 1850s-1930s where Japan was westernising somewhat (Meiji period+ as John mentioned).

 

It's a shame the blade has so many chips and scratches - looks like an amateur has mistreated it badly 😞 (a professional polisher may be able to salvage it though)

 

It could be that the blade is much older than the other fittings - but without seeing the nakago it's impossible to tell.

[SeanHath]

Hello George. Thank you for your reply. I will take more images when I get home and upload them for you with measurements of the blade too. 

[SeanHath]

So the blade is 23 inches with an overall length of 29 inches.

I’ve taken more photos as promised.

[George KN]

Thanks Sean for the pics and measurements!

 

It is then a wakizashi based on it's size, but also looks like the tsuba/guard (I'm still not sure what's most appropriate in this case!) has been there for a long while judging from the staining from the seppa. So I'm leaning towards that now being original to the rest of the koshirae.

 

The sword is still a puzzle though. I can't see anything quite like this in my copy of Military Swords of Japan 1868-1945 - the fittings are halfway between a traditional nihonto and a police saber... 

 

But the nakago really does set the cat amongst the pigeons. It doesn't look like a recent fake or reproduction, but the start of the bo-hi (groove) is really odd. It almost looks like the steel has been folded back on itself and filled it in further down.

 

Also very odd is the mekugi ana (hole for the mekugi peg) - the bo-hi goes around it? Almost like the ana was punched through afterwards with some force. 

 

I'm now on the fence about whether this blade is machine-made, or an older cut down nihonto that was fitted in a hurry into new mounts (such as during wartime)... Is there any sign of a hamon on the blade? And are there any markings anywhere? (such as on the mune / spine of the blade)

[SeanHath]

Hi, after studying this sword more closely I’ve only found one marking of any sort on the Kashira. See the attached photo. Sorry if it’s obvious - I have no idea what it is!

Sean

[SeanHath]

It’s almost Masonic? Im not sure when the first Masonic lodges opened in Japan?

Edited Monday at 11:01 PM by SeanHath
Spelling error!

[PNSSHOGUN]

It's a Kamon; Japanese family crest. Some variation of Maruni Hinomaru Ogi.

[SeanHath]

10 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

It's a Kamon; Japanese family crest. Some variation of Maruni Hinomaru Ogi.

Ah ha! Thank you! I had assumed the Kamron was a tent - in my hubris hasn’t even considered I had photographed it upside down! 

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes, a fan.

[SeanHath]

5 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Yes, a fan.

Would this Kamon mark be of the

sword maker, or the owner - or either?? 

[KungFooey]

2 hours ago, SeanHath said:

Would this Kamon mark be of the

sword maker, or the owner - or either?? 

Probably the owner.

[SeanHath]

Ive trawled through one of my reference books from cover to cover and found these Kamon motifs - there’s definitely some similarities. 
Did Japanese families adapt Kamon to combine designs to represent marriages (as the European heraldic arms did)??

 

If anyone could translate the Japanese here that would be epic!

[SteveM]

Yours is a combination of the two above. The literal translation is "five-spline fan with three-tomoe, in a circle". 

Tomoe is the motif of the comma-shaped marks.

 

https://myoji-kamon.net/kamonDetail.htm?kamonName=丸に五本骨扇に三つ巴

[SeanHath]

20 hours ago, SteveM said:

Yours is a combination of the two above. The literal translation is "five-spline fan with three-tomoe, in a circle". 

Tomoe is the motif of the comma-shaped marks.

 

https://myoji-kamon.net/kamonDetail.htm?kamonName=丸に五本骨扇に三つ巴

Thanks Steve - how do I go about learning the actual family name using this information? 
Cheers,

Sean 

[SteveM]

Often those sites will provide a list of noteworthy families who used a particular crest, but the site I linked to doesn't list any such families, so its a bit of a dead end. But as a side note, family crests were used by multiple families, so its often difficult/impossible to pinpoint a crest on a sword to any one family.