Hi all and thank you for all the info. Bob would it help if I posted some more pics of the sword? Also as you can see the saya looks to long for the sword blade (30 inches). It measures 24 1/4 inches from the suba to the tip of the blade. So if its a fake signature is the sword blade fake? There is nothing on the other side of the tang Marty.
Thank you for your time
Matt
A sword's lenfth is measure from the tip to the end of the cutting edge. It is likely your sword is a long wakizashi and was mounted in a longer scabbard to give it the appearance of being a katana. In feudal Japan, only the samurai class were allowed to ear a katana. I had a mounting like that in my early days of collecting.
It was not uncommon for fakers to add signatures to unsigned swords or pound out an existing signature an add a new one to increase the price of a blade. This was common many hundreds of years ago in Japan so it is not a new pheonomenan. You have a genuine Japanese sword blade.
I hope this answers your question. You can probe the depth of the scabbard pocket to see if it runs only the length of the blade.
BOB
LIFE'S LOSERS NEVER LEARN FROM THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS.
As Bob has touched on this I thought I'd add a photo of a gimei (fake) signature of Kato Tsunatoshi to show those unfamiliar with them just how good they can look. This one was done with an electric graver. Note the flowing channels making up the kanji rather than the individual chisel strike marks that should be present and which are shown in the second photograph depicting a proper Yasunobu signature.by BOB COLEMAN
Regards,
Stu
ELECTRIC ENGRAVER?????????
That's funny AND pitiful.
--Guy
Hi Guy,
Pitiful yes, and to be clear, not the engraver type used to mark possessions that has a pointed nib. Instead I mean the type that takes chisel like bits and can gouge out metal.
... and it was a very expensive lesson quite some years ago for the neophyte nihonto enthusiast who managed to recover only 1/3 of what he paid for the sword. Recognizing that his reputation would be left in tatters if he sold it otherwise he did the right thing and sold it as a gimei blade.
Regards,
Stu
Cool thanks for the info guys. I hope I didn't get hurt to bad. I payed $1000.00 for it. Anyway I think its a cool looking ww2 sword. Roll the dice,sometimes you win sometimes you lose.
Thanks
Matt
Hi Matt,
I don't think you got hurt at all. That price is within the appropriate range for the item as I see it.
Regards,
Stu
Well, I think you did hack of a great job for a rear Katana !
Cheers!
Taka
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