New Japanese Gunto

[tylerstg]

Hi folks its been a while! I just picked up this nice shin-gunto or what i think is a shin gunto for next to nothing..... and just have some questions as to year of manufacture and maker ect. Im not capable of reading Japanese and i cant find any distinguishing hallmark. So i leave it to the much wiser than me to enlighten me! besides the writing on the sword theres the numbers 128 on the various washers that hold the cross guard to the blade, also if anyone could point me in the direction to finding another sarute that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Tyler

[ghp95134]

東都住人一貫齋國護謹作
Tōto jūnin Ikkansai Kunimori Kin saku
Respectfully Made by Tokyo Resident Ikkansai Kuni~

Tōto in an older name for Tōkyo

Found more info here, along with some HIGH resolution images:

Toto Ju Nin Ikkansai Kunimori Kin Saku

This was a mei of Miyaguchi Toshihiro/Yasuhiro. The swords signed Kunimori were not made by him but someone else. I believe Chris Bowen knows who actually made these, but I can't recall.

Edit: He was a student of Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu and Miyaguchi Shigetoshi
Full Translation Needed For Ikkansai Gendaito - Translation Assistance - Nihonto Message Board

--Guy

[ghp95134]

P.S., SwordGuyJoe further stated:

Most that I've seen are of better quality, but pale in comparison to some of Toshihiro's post-war work. I have a gorgeous gassaku work by him and his son, Miyaguchi Tsunetoshi.

For next to nothing, it sounds like you have a good sword. I like the long nakago [tang].

--Guy

[tylerstg]

I

[tylerstg]

I'm sorry i know little if anything about Japanese swords. Does this mean the sword was made by a "mom and pop shop" so to speak or were they a big enterprise? The person i showed it to today said it was a cheap war time stamped steel sword, is this true? Since it was not made by one of the main Arsenals?

[ghp95134]

... The person i showed it to today said it was a cheap war time stamped steel sword, is this true? Since it was not made by one of the main Arsenals?

Not true.

Chris Bowen was quoted as saying about this smith:
[my caveat -- the sites I've referenced have not shown the kanji for Kunimori, so it could be a different man.]

"As I have reported here before (actually, quite a long time ago...), the Kunimori blades were not made by Miyaguchi, only signed by him. According to his son, who helped hold the blades while his father cut the signatures, they were made in bulk by a smith in Shizuoka prefecture named Mitsukoshi Hiromasa, using western steel. Apparently they were forge welded, but the exact nature of their construction is not known. They were known to have been made of western steel, this is not in dispute...."

SwordForum, current as of 2004.

Let's wait for the experts to opine. There are differing views as to whether Kunimori made the blades, or simply cut his name into his students' blades.

--Guy

[tylerstg]

Would that make the sword hand forged? Or had they transitioned to machine made blanks by this point?

[BOB COLEMAN]

Would that make the sword hand forged? Or had they transitioned to machine made blanks by this point?

There is no way to tell from the pictures you have posted. Well detailed pictures of both the hamon and hada(if any)are required or an in hand examination.

[tylerstg]

Here are some more detailed photos!

[BOB COLEMAN]

Sorry but the new pictures are of no use. From the mannere in which the mei is cut, there is a good chance it is a true gendaito.