Kai Gunto: genuine or fake?

[Nazar]

Hi all. I need your advice. on  the kai-gunto. 

 

This kai-gunto popped up on a local internet auction. I have my concerns about its genuinity but my expertise in this sphere is still far from sufficient. Also the same seller has another gunto with a 5 digit number on habaki which (from what I learned) is a clear giveaway of fake. So maybe you could help me identify if this sword is genuine or not. Unfortunately, the photos I attached to this message are the only ones available at the moment. I requested photos of tang from the seller but didn't get them yet.

 

Kind regards,

Nazar

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi Nazar,

Other than the light color ito, it looks legit to me, and even the ito looks properly wrapped, so maybe custom job?  Would help a lot to see the nakago (tang).

[Kiipu]

Handle looks to have been soaked in bleach.

[Brian]

Only things that made me pause are the fact that the blade looks buffed, and the habaki back is too close to the blade. Level with the machi. But that could be from impact.
Nakago will tell the full story.

[Ian B3HR2UH]

I would be very suspicious of this piece . As Brian says the habaki is way off and a few other bits raise red flags for me . These coupled with the fact that the other piece the seller has is a Chinese  fake leads me to say don't go near it unless you see photos of the nakago

[Nazar]

Thank you for your inputs!

 

And here goes nakago...

[Navy]

The fittings seem to be correct kai gunto parts, but all the gold finish is gone, among the ito and same colors. As suggested by Kiipu it looks like they have been treated with some chemical stuff.

Do you have a pic of the nakago without habaki, in the area of machi?

[Kiipu]

Ran across this naval handle that has the same white color in one set of pictures and then a brown color in another set of pictures.  I wonder if this could be this case with this sword?

Shodai Kawashima Tadayoshi Gendaito Hozon - Kai Gunto for review

[Nazar]

That's my belief too that patina on brass elements is artificial. To my noob eye all things looked correct but my red flag was patina. It's too uniform on all elements to be natural.

I think these are the only photos I could get.Seller had troubles removing tsuka and I doubt if he could remove habaki.