Imperial Japanese Sword Identification Book pre WW II ( tsuba gunto)

**Mark K** · 07-17-2014, 01:59 PM

Gents I seen this for sale on E-bay I can not speak to authenticity but did find it very interesting as I have never seen anything quite like it before.
I thought I would post up the sellers description images and a link to the auction I guess we will see if it is a dud or warrants further discussion if not I apologize as it is not my area of collecting.

RARE ITEM 100% AUTHENTIC, direct from here in Japan. GOOD CONDITION IMPERIAL JAPAN SWORD IDENTIFICATION BOOK, COVERING "MODERN" AND ANCIENT SWORDS - THEY MEAN MODERN BY PRIOR TO SHOWA 8 WHICH IS WHEN THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED - SHOWA 8 IS 1933. AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE FOR THE JAPANESE SWORD COLLECTOR. NOTE - I COULD NOT TAKE PICTURES OF ALL PAGES SO THERE IS A LOT MORE IN THERE WAITING FOR YOU. 372 PAGES TOTAL. IT MEASURES ABOUT 7.5 INCHES X 4.5 INCHES (LENGTH X WIDTH).

Imperial Japanese Sword Identification Book Pre WW2 Army Vtg Navy Tsuba Gunto | eBay

Regards Mark

**BOB COLEMAN** · 07-17-2014, 04:15 PM

An interesting but now obsolete book on identifying the characteristics of various Japanese swordsmiths. It shows hamon(temperline), horimono(carvings), nakago shape(tang shape), yasurimei(type of file marks finishing the tang)and discusses gijane(steel grain). Modern study has certainly produced more accurate material. However, an interesting historical piece covering swords made from the Edo Period and back.
When members post older swords for an opinion, the above listed features of a blade are very important. The signature is not all ending to judgement.

**Mark K** · 07-17-2014, 04:25 PM

Many thanks for the reply Bob I must admit I know very little on the subject but still found it a rather unusual and interesting book .

Regards Mark

**BOB COLEMAN** · 07-17-2014, 06:16 PM

One of the unintentional benefits of the sword consifscation following the war was the fact that many unknown swords came ut from private hands. Those not destroyed were scattered throughout the victorious contries due to servicemen bringing them home as souvenirs. As these swords were repatriated to Japan, it provided an opportunity to study these newly found blades. I recall in the 1970's, an old blade was discovered that was authenticated and proved that an example held in the National Museum supposedly by the same smith was actually a fake signature.

**Mark K** · 07-18-2014, 02:32 AM

Thank you Bob for the detailed explanation it will be most interesting to see were this auction ends up I will be keeping a close eye on it.
I do believe it to be an interesting book and feel it should be conserved for historical reasons I am rather curious as to who produced it and how many copies would have been made .

Regards Mark

**AZPhil** · 07-18-2014, 02:45 AM

Bob would this type of book be considered a listing of Oshigata's ?
Semper Fi
Phil

**BOB COLEMAN** · 07-18-2014, 04:22 AM

by AZPhil

Bob would this type of book be considered a listing of Oshigata's ?
Semper Fi
Phil

No, oshigata are rubbings. These are actual wood block prints bound in to a book. They can be found in Kanda, an area of Tokyo of used book stores. One of my early mentors in sword study had several different versions of these books he p[icked up over there in the late 1960's.