WW2 Japanese samurai Sword

[Tony75]

Hello
Is this a late war Sword?
I was looking around and saw something similar and where it was a Navy sword?
The blade is 27 inches long.
I can not get the handle off. The peg is in there very tight.
Thank you
Tony

[BruceP]

Tony,
This looks like a civil, family, blade re-ritted for the war. There is quite a lot of variation in these, regarding how much of the original fittings are kept and how much IJA military fittings get mixed in.

The tsuba and kabutogane are both not "standard", so I don't know if that means they were produced late in the war or simply by a more low-budget shop. I suspect the latter as I've seen quite a number of high-quality fittings produced all the way to the end of the war.

I like the blade! That mekugi (wooden peg) does come out. Get a metal punch, or anything of similar diameter, and tap that baby out. Now, many of these pegs are tapered with one end fatter than the other. So it may only come out one way. It would be great to see the nakago (tang) for age and smith.

[Tony75]

Hello
Thank you so much for the help and information.
I really appreciate it.
Tony

[Tony75]

Hello
here are a few pics of the tang
Thank you very much
Tony

[BruceP]

Made by Kanenao of Seki province.

The large Showa stamp at the top means the blade was made by non-traditional methods, and puts the likely date from late 1940 to early ‘42.

a similar signature here: http://www.
.com/oshigata/kanenao3.jpg

[Tony75]

Hi Bruce
Thank you so much for the help.
I have learned a few things today.
Thanks again
Tony

[BruceP]

I have to modify what i said about the fittings being low-quality. That's not a fair statement to make. I was basing the statement on the fact that the kabutogane (handle cap) is only brown in color without the gold trim that is normally present. Also the handguard (tsuba) is thin and almost plain, compared to standard tsuba. But one of the guys at the NMB forum (http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic...n-gunto-tsuba/) said he really likes that kind, and I realized the original owner may have felt exactly the same way. The quality craftsmanship is just as good as any out there. I shouldn't have based my comment on my own tastes.

Enjoy!