Hello forum. It's been a while since I've rustled up one of these on an estate call. This one was purportedly brought stateside by the gents father. The blade appears (to my untrained eye, at least), to be quite old. It's been re-hilted a few times, if the 2 holes in the tang are any indication. The entire tang has a very dark patina, and it's tough to see if there is any Kanji at all...if so, it's light and not deeply carved. The blade itself remains in quite decent polish, and has a relatively un-molested edge. There are a few "creases" that I believe I can ascertain in the blade. The Tsuba is pretty plain, with some embellishments and is simply iron. The overall length of the blade from the very tip of the tang to the point is 21 inches. The two brass washers at the base of the blade sort of "sandwich" themselves together. The scabbard is wooden, with a dark leather field cover, which is laced together at the top via 6 brown finished grommets. The hanger (ring), is a simple affair, steel, wrapped around the wooden scabbard body and "clamped" together, basically via a simple slotted screw. There appears to be the remains of an old paper tag (surrender tag?) at the top of the sheath, which is mostly gone to time. Probably nothing to get too excited about here, but I am curious as to the potential age of the blade. The hilt itself appears to be a pretty standard fare WWII type, wrapped w/ cloth bands, over shagreen with a generic Menuki. The pommel cap is darkly finished brass or bronze, with a decorative lanayard ring. The overall length of the sword itself is 25 inches. The scabbard appears to be almost too long for the blade, with at least an extra 4 or 5 inches below the tip. Any help with the details on this piece would be appreciated. Some quick snaps below, and sorry for their rather poor quality. Camera is JUNK....
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Last edited by Milton; 04-03-2014, 04:02 PM. -
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From my very inexperienced eye I see what appears to be the following, an old and genuine blade that has been mounted and remounted several times. It has a double Habaki, which I have seen on nicer blades. The menuki appears to be standard army. Possibly a family blade taken to war and used by an officer in tight quarters, Tank, airplane, ect.
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Thanks Paul. Almost my thoughts to a "tee". I've been told by a friend, that the slightly "over-sized" sheaths aren't uncommon on these types of swords. It almost feels as though the very end of the scabbard (drag), is a separate piece from the main body of the sheath. Is this indeed the case, that the scabbards were sometimes over-sized in this configuration? Thx!Comment
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Originally posted by Milton View Post
I can say for 100% fact this was done as I have seen a number directly in the hands of the vets who took them in the island campaigns as well as some form the home islands. This was in the 70s and 80s....and later so there is no question.
What I have seen is the leather cover (both in rough out and hair side out) that have been extended out when made and fitted and filled with sand or something similar to give them weight and form ......really hard to tell until you handle it!Comment
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Thank you Phil. Glad to know it's more than likely the original sheath.Comment
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I got a kaigunto with an old wakizashi blade mounted and the saya is nearly 20 cm longer than the sword.
I first thourght the saya was a missmatch ,but took a thin metal threat and meassured the inside lenght and it fitted the blades lenght perfect.
The tsuka is wakizashi size but saya is katana size
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Interesting! I might have to give that a try myself, just out of curiosity's sake.Comment
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