WWII Japanese sword question. Don't know what I have

[rbminis]

Whatever you do, do not clean the rust off of the tang.
Ralph.

[Nick Komiya]

Photos are already clearly showing that the blade had no smith's name on it, which was often enough. Don't do anything further to alter the patina on the tang, as that will only detract from the value. The sword guys can hopefully give you some idea of the age of the Mumei (unnamed) blade by the tang shape, etc, but features like multiple mekugi holes indicate a conversion from a Samurai sword from what I know.

[wharfrat57]

Thank you. I almost went out to the garage to find some fine grit sandpaper but thought better of it. I left it as is. Just wiped it off with a dry cloth. Nothing more. Thank you so much. I love learning about this. A lot of knowledge on here!

[Bruce Pennington]

Good job getting the handle off! I can’t tell you how old this is, it is not my area of expertise. But, it’s pretty old. I second everyone’s comments about not cleaning the nakago. It’s one of the key elements that the experts used to date a blade. Hopefully someone will chime in soon with an estimate.

[Nick Komiya]

Here's an article on how swords like yours came to be.Family or short blades as Gunto

[Sporter90]

Judging from the deep curvature of the blade, it's likely a shortened blade from the Koto period, which means it was made before 1600.

[wharfrat57]

"Judging from the deep curvature of the blade, it's likely a shortened blade from the Koto period, which means it was made before 1600. "

For real??? Holy cow! Let me know if I need to post more detailed photo's of the blade.

Nick,
I've been reading your posts and you sir are a wealth of knowledge on Japanese blades.

But I want to thank everybody on here for their knowledge as well. This is so interesting and I never would have thought I'd have something like this. I got the sword because I liked the looks of it and it was in descent shape, but the history is far more important than that!

[christek]

A very nice example! Congratulations.

A few years ago, when I was just starting collecting Japanese gear; I purchased, in my opinion, a similar blade, albeit, nowhere near as nice as your example!

The curvature of the blade and significant aging of the tang on mine produced a similar consensus regarding age. The late Bob Coleman stated " The blade is likely par of a multiple order for blades from a daimyo for his samurai.That would indicate the lack of a signature. More exact information can only be determined by a hands on examination by an individual of very advanced knowledge." I would suggest the above may possibly parallel here. It's one train of thought.

The thread may be of interest:

Original Japanese Officer Sword?

Cheers!

[wharfrat57]

Christek,
Thank you so much for the additional information. I'm always for learning more about this. Mr. Coleman seemed like a wealth of knowledge to this forum. I'm re-reading his posts and am amazed.