Japanese sword

**Lugerlout** · 02-26-2013, 08:23 PM

Hi all, I would appreciate your thoughts on this sword, my apologies for the quality of the pictures, taken this evening in bad light, I will post some better quality images when I can spend more time on them, anyway for now does anyone have thoughts/opinions on dates etc, I bought this sword about 20 years ago in total ignorance, I just always wanted what, in my ignorance, I always thought was a 'Samurai' sword...........it as it appears, the blade doesnt look like a modern copy but perhaps it is and has been aged a little, the scabbard is very light so I assume a not very dense/heavy wood, it is wood and painted and laquered.....what do you think ?...........be kind......

**TNcollector** · 02-28-2013, 04:42 AM

I like it! Looks to be an authentic more pictures would help. The look of the habaki on this sword makes me think it is an older blade, it is alot like one on a tanto I have. Have you ever removed the handle to see if the tang is marked? The kanji is read with the tip of the blade pointing away from you top to bottom, so if you get the handle off it should photographed in this manner. If it is marked it can most likely be dated from that. I believe it to be an authentic japanese sword but may not have seen military use in the IJA because the lack of the leather covered scabbard. Hopes this helps. Best Regards, Rob

P.S. One of the moderators might want to move this to the Japanese section of the forum where it can get more folks to see it.

**AZPhil** · 02-28-2013, 05:04 AM

That is very nice, The sori(Curve) is very shallow. And as mentioned the Habaki being a two peice really shows some quality. The saya(Scabbard) also looks like it has a quality lacquer job done. The wood used on the saya would be Ho wood, It is soft and light weight. I look forward to more pic's!

Semper Fi
Phil

**rbminis** · 02-28-2013, 06:07 AM

by TNcollector

I like it! Looks to be an authentic more pictures would help. The look of the habaki on this sword makes me think it is an older blade, it is alot like one on a tanto I have. Have you ever removed the handle to see if the tang is marked? The kanji is read with the tip of the blade pointing away from you top to bottom, so if you get the handle off it should photographed in this manner. If it is marked it can most likely be dated from that. I believe it to be an authentic japanese sword but may not have seen military use in the IJA because the lack of the leather covered scabbard. Hopes this helps. Best Regards, Rob
P.S. One of the moderators might want to move this to the Japanese section of the forum where it can get more folks to see it.

I agree with most that Rob has said, although I believe that the ones having a leather weather cover are less often seen than plain ones.
It appears to be a nice example.

Ralph.

**Alan M** · 02-28-2013, 10:51 PM

You have a civilian Katana with a very nice two piece habaki and a nice scabbard that looks to be in a lot better condition to the sword which says to me that this scabbard could possibly have been fitted in a leather sheaf at some stage . The blade looks to be in need of some TLC and i would like to see some good close ups of it if possible

**Lugerlout** · 03-01-2013, 09:30 AM

Thanks to you all for taking the time to post comments., I will take some better photos and post them here.

**Lugerlout** · 03-01-2013, 12:44 PM

A few more pictures as requested. Unfortunately the tang of the blade is badly corroded so is'nt going to yeild up much info, I have examined it very closely with a magnifier and cant find any markings, the blade has some bad areas of pitting and corrosion.

**BOB COLEMAN** · 03-05-2013, 01:27 AM

A nice original sword. The lack of signature would indicate that the blade was likely made as part of a group order by a Daimyo for his samurai. The presence of the second hole in the tang indicates that the cutting edge was shortened slightly. The condition of the blade and tang make it impossible to tell anyting further from the pictures.

**Lugerlout** · 03-05-2013, 09:28 AM

Thanks Bob, very interesting, whilst I bear in mind your comments about condition and the difficulty of establishing much more about this sword, could you hazard a guess at the date perhaps, although I have had this sword for over 20 yrs I have never known anything about it so all this is a bit of a revelation and quite fascinating.

**BOB COLEMAN** · 03-05-2013, 03:48 PM

by Lugerlout

Thanks Bob, very interesting, whilst I bear in mind your comments about condition and the difficulty of establishing much more about this sword, could you hazard a guess at the date perhaps, although I have had this sword for over 20 yrs I have never known anything about it so all this is a bit of a revelation and quite fascinating.

Unfortunately, without a hands on examination, I would not hazard a guess that it is likely late 16th century to late 17th century. This is based totally on the shape of the blade. Important factors such as the shape of temper and grain and color of the steel can not be seen in the pictures.