Is this KMart's emblem in Japan?

[Cuirassier]

Good Day

No disrespect to KMart intended.

 

Background Story first (zzzzzzz)

I bought a number of Japanese items at auction the other day. They were going for so little I just decided they had something about them and for virtual peanuts, I didn't really care. What actually tempted me was that there were 4 items from the same seller (I was told a deceased estate but then that is what they always say), and one of the 4 was a waki with an interesting hamon visible and good rayskin; some nice big "blobules" (sorry, do not know art name for them). Plus another was a nice Japanese page turner.

 

Anyway, two of the lots were unusual to me;

One is a ken tanto; I was and am sure a tourist piece (but maybe I am wrong) with several figures carved into the blade (blade looks decidedly stainless steel). The second is a waki with the standard bound grip but in a bone saya; Now I have seen all bone wakis before, but never this. Anyway, both the ken tanto and the bone saya'd waki have the same mon (I think it is a mon) on them. I have some mon references pages, but could not find it amongst the list I have. Could this be anything? Or is it the common sign for tourist purchases in the 1950's? (Hence my title quip about KMart)

 

 

 

 

Ps The tang of the bone saya'd waki is well and truly jammed into the grip

[Brian]

Aoi mon (hollyhock iirc) The most common of all the mon, and the most often used one on touristy items, as well as Chinese fakes.

Sometimes used on legit and high end items, but you will know those when you see them.

 

Brian

[sanjuro]

The crest or Ka mon is that of the Tokugawa. Most commonly used during the Edo period when the family of that name ruled as Shogun. 1600 to 1878, at which time they resigned the shogunate to the Emperor Meiji, thus ending the office of Shogun and the military rule of Japan, returning Japan to Imperial rule.

[Cuirassier]

Thanks guys; appreciated

[Toryu2020]

That would be J-Mart...

 

If you really want the wakizashi free of the bone handle, try boiling it off. These were often glued in with a kind of pitch. Be careful not to heat the blade too much...

-t