FOUND Japanese Sword In Basement - Questions
Hello,
I found a Japanese sword in the basement of a building in Chicago and know very little about it and was hoping for some guidance.
It is approximately 39 inches in total length and is in a wooden scabbard wrapped in leather with a single metal ring to attach it to a belt. The leather is quite aged.
Do I have a genuine sword? I know there are swords that were manufactured in WWII but have no idea how to tell what kind I'm looking at here.
I guess what kind of gets me on this sword is the wooden sheath. If I knew how to remove the handle I would try but I'm little nervous to attempt it.
Classic WW2 sword by the looks of it. Do nothing 'till you see more posts and advice.
Not sure if either of these help. Photo of the bottom of the sheath with the end of the wood showing and a quick video maybe shows a bit of the blade better.
Good find!
— Guy
Mr. Schneider,
You have a great WWII Type 98 Japanese Officer gunto (gun-Army to-Sword). You can read tons about them here: Army commissioned officers Shin-GuntM (Type 98 GuntM) 1938
The leather-covered wooden saya (scabbard) is quite common and was used in the field, often referred as a combat saya. Here is a page about this: 九八式軍刀略式外装 Informality mounting
Don't be afraid to take the handle off. They were made quite simply so this could be done easily. It's important to see if the blade was made by a famous swordsmith. Chances are that it was simply made by one of the 300 or so smiths working during the war, but you never know, you could have something really cool. I'm posting a picture of how to push the little wooden peg through the hole in the handle. One side looks to be hidden by a fold in the cloth wrap (ito), but it's likely visible on the other side. Push it out from the hidden side as this side is likely the narrow end, while the visible side is usually fatter. They are designed to come out in one direction. Once out, the handle and handguard should slip right off. If on tight (usually due to a little rust) simple grab the handguard on both sides and wiggle it like a teeter-totter and it should break loose of any rust.https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attac...tions-peg1.jpg
It will look something like this when removed:
Success! I got the handle off of the gunto! Thanks Mr. Pennington.
Thoughts on what I found? The other side had nothing that I could see.
While you wait for others to read the Kanji........Don't clean the rust off the tang.
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Well, now I stepping into territory I'm not really knowledgeable about! Hope Guy will check in, but the name appears to be:
忠満 Tadamitsu
But I don't see any Tadamitsu that spells it that way. All the old ones use - 忠光 . The rust is orange, which means, current active rust, not old aged rust, so I'm going to venture that this is a WWII smith (there were over 300, and we don't have all their names). Look closely at the top of the nakago (tang) on both sides. You should take the handguard and spacers off. Sometimes there are small stamps near the top. If so, give me a photo of that. If there are none, it could mean this blade was made prior to 1935, and it made the traditional way. That is what I'm thinking.
I would go online and buy a Japanese sword cleaning kit, they don't cost much. They come with choji oil which is a mix of clove oil and mineral oil. Rub the nakago down with a rag and the choji oil (some guys use sewing machine oil) to stop the rust from progressing. You can also use it to clean the blade and metal parts. After cleaning, I lightly oil all the metal parts and blade, wiping them clean afterwards (you don't want to leave standing oil, just enough to coat the surface). Don't use cleaning agents or solvents on the parts, as they tend to remove the paint and finish (patina) of the original work.
Keep the original pictures. It helps in determining age. If you want an expert opinion of the blade, you can bring pics to the Nihonto fourm at NMB: Nihonto - Nihonto Message Board They'll need good clear pics of the bare blade, all fittings removed. With close-ups of the tip, full nakago, and a good section or 2 of the temper pattern (hamon).
All in all, nice find!
Do yourself a favor and read up on these Here: Military Swords of Imperial Japan (GuntM)
and here: THE JAPANESE SWORD GUIDE
Just for starters!
It looks like 忠綱, Tadatsuna to me.
Similar Threads
Posting Permissions
.
Bookmarks