Sword Help!!!?Seems like a nice one...Tang Reading Help!

[FightenIrish35]

Greetings all...
Here is a nice Gunto Sword ive been offered and was wondering what your thought were.Its in nice mountings and the tang is signed on both sides.....one side says showa something but I can read japanese(or should i say caught on to how to to showa dates off hand by kanji).
On the other side I believe to be the sword makers name...is this a smith made blade or machine?And what exactly does the tang say...and is it worth 900 with this other oriental sword thrown into the deal (have no clue what it is,but was brought home by same soldier)
Thanks for any help guys.
Regards,
Michael

[FightenIrish35]

and heres the odd other one..have know idea what it is.....

[Steve Flanagan]

Japanese sword

Made Showa 17, one day in August (1942) Now to work on the name,,,,something Masa,,,,Hopefully someone will save me!

[Edokko]

$900 ?? Get it !
Mei is Yamaji Masahisa.

[Steve Flanagan]

Sword

Whew!! Once again saved by the mighty Eddoko,,,now off to take some asperin

[FightenIrish35]

Guys,you are the best!
Seriously,Thanks.
Im looking in the book Sloughs book of the Modern Swordsmiths and found Yamaji Masahisa in the back of the book listed as a 1million yen smith,yet I cant find any examples of his work or any information..i suppose every smith who is in the back doesnt have there own section? What would his work go for..such as this one? Would i really be making out in getting a fine example or this price??and what is this other sword that came with it?
Thanks guys!

[Steve Flanagan]

Sword

Having him mentioned in the book is nice but unless it goes into detail about his work or hes mentioned in other texts it doesnt add that much. Buy the sword for what it is, if the tassel is intact and in good shape thats at least a hundred, and you get the dha sword as well? Its a good price if you are buying it to keep it.

[FightenIrish35]

Thanks for your response Steve...the Officers sword is one I would like to keep but was just seeing how much room there was in it if in the future I would have to sell it what a fair price was for this sort of work.

I was wondering could you tell me what exactly is the other sword though,the one you called a Dha sword...i couldnt imagine this being military?

[Steve Flanagan]

Sword

http://www.arco-iris.com/George/dha.htm

[FightenIrish35]

Steve,That was a very great link.Looks like this would have been a more elaborate made one than just a childs sword or everday one as the scabard is a shark or fishskin and has metal overlay(quit interesting sword) this sword itself isnt really of interest to me but do these have any demand at all.Are there collectors who focus on Dha's?

[tropenmilitaria]

Michael,
That tassel alone sells in the $150-$200 on Ebay and looks to be in nice shape.
I am sure you could get back your $900 investment on the sword on Ebay in the future if you ever want to upgrade.

[FightenIrish35]

Thanks!!! Yes I think im going to go for this.It really looks like a nice,clean example..the person im getting it from is being honest as they match the tassle to the sword and it isnt original to the sword itself. Yet,non the less,its pretty nice on the eyes. I will keep you all updated. And in the meantime if anyone stumbles upon information on the smith or has comments please feel free to share. Take care all and thanks for your time helping me ID

[Wood]

The other sword is Chinese.
Regards,
Pete

[JRO]

The other sword is a Chinese Jian, not a Dha.

[BryanD]

Chinese junk. I wouldn't waist storage space for it.