ARMY MOUNT 23 3/4" KOSIMA YOSHIMICHI

[Dogditcher]

Not sure how far this forum reaches -This was a sword purchased From Tsuguyasu (Tom) Wada

My memory of him was of a very kind man who would stroll threw a show and politely

inspect swords of interest -

Enjoy

 

 

 

[Dogditcher]

 

[Dogditcher]

[mecox]

Steve, this is YOSHIMICHI 吉道: real name Kojima Yukiyoshi (小島幸吉).
Born Meiji 27 (1894) April 22.   Registered as Seki smith in Showa 16 (1941) May 16 (age 47).

[Bruce Pennington]

Very unusual for an army sword to have the black ray skin.  That is normally seen on Navy swords. However, in the past year, I have seen two or three others like this. Must’ve been a custom request.

[mecox]

Bruce and Steve,  looks to me that the same under the kabuto-gane is different, and added later.  Also the kabuto-gane is put on back-to-front.

[Dogditcher]

A closer look -

 

[Bruce Pennington]

How interesting!  Now I'm curious to know what exactly that material is that is under the ito.  In the first photo, at top, you can see it's been torn and missing as you near the tsuba.

 

We know from a repair team report that many swords were repaired by them in the field, and the item most damaged was the tsuka (handle).  This could be one of them.