WWII Officers Sword - Tell me what I have?

[BurtMayer]

WWII Officers Sword - Tell me what I have?

 

A recent local pick up. I know very little about Japanese swords. Someone told me this was a very good example and that the blade polish was very very high.

 

Things I note: (Pardon my terminology, I'm new)

1. Five marks on end of tang. Blade testing's?

2. The high polish.

3. Overall Length 34 1/4, cutting edge 25 7/8.

4. Shadow highlight that looks like a "G over 3". Was this a spot that was originally painted on that was removed when fitted during WWII.

5. One person at the show said they believed it was WWII fitted about 1934 or earlier? No idea why they said that.

6. Two holes. One for the original assembly, the second for WWII?

7. I have good reason to believe this is out of an old collection. 

 

All photos are too large so below is a Google Photo Album

 

Click here to see photos

 

BurtM

[mecox]

Burt, mei is "Hizen (no) Kuni Tadaaki saku"   and  looks to be   “Tadaaki” (忠昭), family name Ishii (石井).    In 1942 Banzuke was ranked as  Jōko no Jōi (4/7),  and in 1941 Exhibition is Fourth Seat.   Quite a good smith from Hizen with typical suguha hamon and in quality shingunto mounts.  Not dated but looks early war.

[BurtMayer]

On the tag it stated Tachi blade, Edo period and Shin Shinto. What does this mean?

 

I should have said in 5. I was told it was a blade made Edo period, then remounted prewar? I sort of understand what that means, but is it true? Do the 5 notches indicate it’s older?

[mecox]

Well its means one of us is wrong.   It is tachi-mei, but from pics doesnt look shinshinto to me.

As best I found his real name is Ishii Sanhachi and he was born Meiji 38 (1905) February.   That would give ample time to have made a sword before the war, and for remounting as gunto. 

The lower hole looks a bit rough and newer?   Is this the hole used on your sword?

Sesko has another Tadaaki.....but not Hizen and different "aki":    TADAAKI (忠明), Keiō (慶応, 1865-1868), Inaba – “Yamamoto Tadaaki” (山本忠明).

I no longer have Hizen ref books. 

 

 

[Brian]

Tang notches were usually to keep the fittings and blade together. They are almost certainly never anything to do with testing or "kills"

[Bruce Pennington]

Like Brian said, they are Roman numerals.  Yours seems to be "3  2" which will often match the numbers stamped on the fittings.  But your fittings only has the "3".  

 

The fittings are nice, and an upgrade from standard.  You don't show the saya (scabbard), but if it has haikan (belt hanger loops), it is a Type 94.  Most likely it is a Type 98 officer sword.  You can read about both versions on Ohmura's site: Military Swords of Imperial Japan.

 

Posting photos of the marks and numbered fittings.  The painted "3" also matches the fittings and the 3 of the hash marks, verifying these are there to keep the custom fitted parts together.

 

[BurtMayer]

Thanks Bruce, photos of the saya are in the group. All of this makes sense, other than a very very old antique manilla tag that gives all the specs and has lines that say, Tachi blade, Hizen Kuni Tadaaki Saku, Shin Shinto, Metal case." Makes me wonder who looked at this years ago and what made them write the comments.

[nulldevice]

8 minutes ago, BurtMayer said:

Thanks Bruce, photos of the saya are in the group. All of this makes sense, other than a very very old antique manilla tag that gives all the specs and has lines that say, Tachi blade, Hizen Kuni Tadaaki Saku, Shin Shinto, Metal case." Makes me wonder who looked at this years ago and what made them write the comments.

Hizen smiths usually signed with a tachi-Mei meaning the signature is facing outwards when the blade is worn cutting edge down. It’s one of the things that this school did that is fairly unique on blades in Shinto and later eras.

 

There may be some confusion of the previous owner regarding the smith in question. Mecox above has a wartime smith that signed this way and the fittings also match that. 
 

Unless there is another Hizen smith that signed this way from the Shin Shinto era, it’s more likely that this is a wartime smith. The other stuff on the tags all seems correct. 

[BurtMayer]

It’s taken me forever to capture the Hada, or did my camera play tricks on my eyes?

 

Konuka Hada?
 

[BurtMayer]

[BurtMayer]

Looks like liquid metal. 
 

[Geraint]

Dear Burt.

 

To summarise somewhat.  This is a very nice sword, the thick seppa/washers and the pierced tsuba/guard as well as some other features are probably what lead your friend to tell you it was 1934, there is a quality about these mounts which not all Shingunto have.

 

The original label called it a tachi because of the fact that the mei/signature is on the side usually called tachi mei, most katana are signed on the other side of the tang.   Now as Chandler has already said this is a distinctive feature of the Hizen school who tended to sign tachi mei on katana, it would not mean that the sword was a tachi though from a dealer point of view it might be nice to describe it as such.   Dating it to Shinshinto or late Edo period is understandable but in this case wrong I think.

 

Have a look at this thread, particularly about 11 posts down where Morita san has posted an oshigata that matches well with yours.

 

This does suggest that this smith was known for forging gendato, traditionally forged swords as opposed to Showato which are not traditionally forged.  To my eye and from your photographs your sword does look interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if it does turn out to be gendaito which puts it into a whole other bracket.  

 

Go slow, don't do anything more than wipe the blade surface with some very light oil and get in touch with a local sword club who can examine the sword in hand and tell you more.  There is a ton to learn and a never ending mine of information to assimilate but the journey is fun.

 

All the best.

 

All the best.

[BurtMayer]

Geraint, thank you kindly for the summary. I also appreciate all the other answers and comments. I do wonder what you mean by "if it does turn out to be gendaito which puts it into a whole other bracket."

 

I did read that topic days before I posted my example. I felt that there was no definitive answer. The comments discuss that there is much to learn about Hizen smiths that is unknown, mentioned by Cabowen. I also read it as, there is another name to research.

 

The comment about 1934 was made by another bystander at the show. I believe he was saying that about the timeframe in which the blade was mounted into the current fittings. Like it was in other fittings earlier as mentioned in the other topic. He was an asian gentleman (and I say this because he seemed to know what he was talking about Japanese swords, I did not) and also said the Tsuba and parts were of the "highest quality and special order." This guy was looking at other swords that were not WWII military related. He said for a WWII collector this sword was very very high in desirability, almost but not quite to the top of the top, and that the polish was the highest level. He said it would be very difficult to find/locate a nicer one.

 

About the 5 notches. I do see a small division between 2 and 3 of the hash marks. "3" being the number on all the small parts of this sword in its current mounting. Why would they also paint a number 3 on it? I've searched the net for weeks, and no one definitively knows the answer. The answer is always batted back and forth. Also why the 2 holes in the tang? Same as the blade in the other topic. It is hard to see if the blade in the other topic has the notches, but then its also not mentioned.

 

The old tag that is attached has a previous owners name attached. It has scotch tape in two small spots. The tape has turned a deep orange yellow. Without carbon dating it, I'd guess it was placed there in the 70's or earlier. The owner passed in 2023 in his high 80's. His obituary states that he was an avid collector of antique guns and stuff. Guys who bought good stuff early and held onto it. Not to see the outside world until they pass. This tag is the one that says "Tachi Blade" above "Shin Shinto" in old ink, and maybe that's not correct. The dealer tag is the one that says Edo Period.

 

All and all, it is what it is. I thank everyone for their thoughts and comments. I purchased this sword because I liked it and I feel there is something special about it. Its super sharp. Sorry for the long winded response. I have few others, but not like this one so its very interesting and addictive.

 

Burt

[Bruce Pennington]

14 hours ago, BurtMayer said:

About the 5 notches. I do see a small division between 2 and 3 of the hash marks. "3" being the number on all the small parts of this sword in its current mounting. Why would they also paint a number 3 on it? I've searched the net for weeks, and no one definitively knows the answer. The answer is always batted back and forth. Also why the 2 holes in the tang?

Just a guess, but I'm thinking the hashed "23" was the original number that matched the numbered original fittings.  "3" would be the fittings number of the current set.  The 2 ana (holes) mean the blade was refitted to the current koshirae and had been in something else originally.  It's a fairly common thing to see.

[BurtMayer]

Thank you Bruce.

[Michaelr]

Burt, great blade and beautiful mounts. A real keeper. Congratulations and thank you for sharing   

  MikeR

[BurtMayer]

I also did not know what this was. After some research I realized it is a good thing.