Gendaito sword question

Kurogasa55 · July 10, 2010

Hi everyone, i am new to the forum and i have a question about a sword i just got.

The sword is signed as being made in the first month of 1945 by Sukemitsu(made at Yasukuni shrine presumably). It is in civilian fittings, old tsuka,tsuba,menuki etc. What interests me about the sword is that at the bottom of the tang there is another mekugi hole with a very large amount of rust on it, which leads me to believe that it is a much older blade. The other old, old blades that i have are all black rusted tangs just like the very bottom of this tang. Only the very bottom by that hole is rusted in that way and the rest of the tang is much newer looking. My question for you is, do you think this is a much older blade even though it is signed as being made in 1945? any help will be greatly appreciated.

Brandon

Mark · July 10, 2010

Brandon

if it is signed and dated as being made in 1945 i am sure it was (if made before and the inscription done in 1945 it would say it was modified etc then). maybe the handle had moisture in it that settled to the bottom? if you post a clear picture of each side we can judge better. How did you get an idea that it was made at the Yasukuni Shrine? I do not know of a smith by that name working there in 1945

Kurogasa55 · July 10, 2010

Brandon

if it is signed and dated as being made in 1945 i am sure it was (if made before and the inscription done in 1945 it would say it was modified etc then). maybe the handle had moisture in it that settled to the bottom? if you post a clear picture of each side we can judge better. How did you get an idea that it was made at the Yasukuni Shrine? I do not know of a smith by that name working there in 1945

i bought the sword on ebay so you will be able to read both sides of the inscription in the pictures but i have yet to upload pictures that i have taken. The pics that he took do not show the very bottom but you can read the inscription for me and see if i made any errors. Here is the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SIGNED-ANTIQUE-JAPA ... 19bd7078f8

k morita · July 10, 2010

Kurogasa55,

The sword mei is Hiromitsu, not Sukemitsu.

cabowen · July 10, 2010

The blade is dated January, 1945 and made by Hiromitsu. Most likely a non-traditionally made blade. Second mekugi-ana is there because it was originally mounted in 1944 pattern gunto koshirae.

huntershooter · July 10, 2010

I also fail to see the Yasukuni connection.

If it were made there it would be signed YasuXXXX, not Sukemitsu.

I do not believe it predates the war, date is probably correct.

It is possible the tang was modified (cut) to accomodate civilian fittings or was so badly corroded was cut to salvage the rest of thw nakago.

Who knows?

Kurogasa55 · July 11, 2010

thank you all for the information. I appreciate it

sanjuro · July 11, 2010

The sword was I notice, horribly misrepresented by the seller as being Edo period about 1740.

Why make claims that a simple reading of the kanji will disprove?

Yeah... I know..... What more can you expect from ebay?

loiner1965 · July 11, 2010

The sword was I notice, horribly misrepresented by the seller as being Edo period about 1740.
Why make claims that a simple reading of the kanji will disprove?

Yeah... I know..... What more can you expect from ebay?

whats more to the point is where did he get the date of 1740 from ?

if someone read the kanji for him and read it as sukemitsu surely they could have the date as well.....

sanjuro · July 11, 2010

Heaven forbid that he made a mistake........ Perhaps 1945 didnt sound old enough to sell for a decent price. Sukemitsu was OK so he came up with an earlier, not necessarily a real Sukemitsu. He wouldn't be the first to do so. Or maybe he meant 1940 instead of 1740. Its the kind of 'mistake' you can wriggle out of if anyone picks you up on it.