Military identification wakizashi

[lokomilo]

Hello everyone.

You can identify me this wakizashi and its use?

the whole sword measuring more than 70 cm.

The blade more than 50 cm.

Thank you all for your help.

[staffslad]

This the one I was showed at airbags?

Sent from my victara using Tapatalk

[Bob Coleman]

It is a genuine wakizashi mounted in WW2 Imperial Japanese Army officer mounts.

[BruceP]

Milo, you're not loco, that's a really nich piece there! Some of the real experts will hop in and tell you more about the blade, looks older than WWII. Not sure about your question on "it's use", though. The waki's were the shorter of the 2 swords once carried by samuri. Somer prefered them for in-house, or close-quarter fighting. During the war, some collectors have felt that the waki length was prefered by tank commanders and pilots because of the tight quarters, but there have been many pictures cited that show pilots carrying standard length swords.

Officers were allowed to pick swords that fit them proportionally, so a really short guy would look better with a waki. Also, some guys brought family swords and had them fitted with regulation military fittings to use during the war. So there are several reasons a waki could show up.

Hope that's what you were asking!

[lokomilo]

Thank you for your help.

I think that this is an old wakizashi blade used during the war by an officer.

[Bob Coleman]

Thank you for your help.

I think that this is an old wakizashi blade used during the war by an officer.

In feudal times, anyone could own and wear a wakizashi. The katana was restricted to the samurai class. From your images, this appears to be an Edo Period blade. An overall photo of the blade showing it's shape would help confirm that fact. Samurai were allowed to keep the wakizashi in wear when visiting their lord or other samurai. The katana was always checked at the front door.

[BruceP]

In feudal times, anyone could own and wear a wakizashi. The katana was restricted to the samurai class. From your images, this appears to be an Edo Period blade. An overall photo of the blade showing it's shape would help confirm that fact. Samurai were allowed to keep the wakizashi in wear when visiting their lord or other samurai. The katana was always checked at the front door.

Very interesting insight, Bob, thanks for the explanation!

[Bob Coleman]

An interesting insight I received from the late John Yumoto sensei. He told me before entering a room to see the lord or another individual, a wise samurai would take his wakizashi and lay it in the tatami in front of him before he bowed on his knees. The reason be it would foil an attempt for an assassin laying in wait to close the shoji door on his neck, trap his head and cut it off

[Stu W]

An interesting insight I received from the late John Yumoto sensei. He told me before entering a room to see the lord or another individual, a wise samurai would take his wakizashi and lay it in the tatami in front of him before he bowed on his knees. The reason be it would foil an attempt for an assassin laying in wait to close the shoji door on his neck, trap his head and cut it off

Very interesting Bob. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Stu

[lokomilo]

Thank you very much for all that information.

[Sengoku]

An interesting insight I received from the late John Yumoto sensei. He told me before entering a room to see the lord or another individual, a wise samurai would take his wakizashi and lay it in the tatami in front of him before he bowed on his knees. The reason be it would foil an attempt for an assassin laying in wait to close the shoji door on his neck, trap his head and cut it off

Araki Murashige is said to have used a tessen (war fan) to save his life when the great warlord Oda Nobunaga sought to assassinate him. Araki was invited before Nobunaga, and was stripped of his swords at the entrance to the mansion, as was customary. When he performed the customary bowing at the threshold, Nobunaga intended to have the room's sliding doors slammed shut onto Araki's neck, killing him. However, Araki supposedly placed his tessen in the grooves in the floor, blocking the doors from closing.
Extract from... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_fan

[gunto]

To many wrong/homemade seppas. Old used ito rewrapped. New same.
A put together post war.

[oldhonda]

To many wrong/homemade seppas. Old used ito rewrapped. New same.
A put together post war.

Excellent observation. I knew something wasn't right about this sword, but couldn't put my finger on it.

[lokomilo]

Thank you for your reply.

The Tsuka of the sword is very old. tsukaito very fragile and dry it. The new mounting of the blade is made of a tsuba and sepa for ww2 officer.

It's an old blade reused and refilled during the war.

[gunto]

Thank you for your reply.

The Tsuka of the sword is very old. tsukaito very fragile and dry it. The new mounting of the blade is made of a tsuba and sepa for ww2 officer.

It's an old blade reused and refilled during the war.

Rayskin on tsuka looks new. The ito is old , but rewrapped.
Im 99% sure its messed with after the war.

Please show all seppas, tsuka core and close up of ito and the knot near kabutogana.
The ito is wrapped wrong and ended wrong.