Japaneese officer samurai sword - opinions please

[Youssouf]

Not too long ago I traded some military items including this samurai sword, it is in mint consition and the blade is of damascus steel. I know that a lot of these swords are reproductions and I hope mine is not a fake.. Who can be of help?

[Alan M]

Hi Youssouf , can you please post some more close ups of the blade and tang please ?

[Darren Lillington]

What did you trade for this sword? not expensive pieces i hope.

I am sorry to tell you this my friend but its no more than a Chinese wall hanger. In some rare cases the Chinese will use real koshirae with a newly made blade but this is not the case on yours.

Any chance you can get your pieces back?

It happens but for future reference here are a few pointer-

In feudal Japan the Japanese Sword (Nihonto) were traditionally made from tamahagane, a steel derived from iron sand.

In showa period there were two main types, fine steel for the high ranking officer who could afford it and for the rest, stainless steel. Stainless steel was cheaper and quicker to produce not to mention that finer steel was scarce at the time.

In modern times swords are made of high carbon steel and even the finest powdered steel from places like Sweden.

At no time have Japanese swords been made of Damascus steel. its just not suitable.

Now, file marks on the nakago (tang) pretty much all Japanese swords of all periods had file marks on the tang then they were sighed by the Tosho (smith) Most showa period pieces i have seen have these but don't be alarmed if you come across one that doesn't. but generally the good pieces do. (stainless steel blades will not have these)

Hamon ( temper line, on the sharpened edge of the blade)

The most common type's of hamon of traditionally made blades in showa period are Gunome and suguha.

Stainless steel blades did not have one.

The mounts of the sword are not as easely described and its hard to explain without pictures. my advice, do the research, buy a book. if you would like the name or site of trustworthy sellers then pm me.

Once you know what to look for you will be able to spot the difference between authentic and fake swords with ease.

Good luck -

Darren.

[SteveR]

Ditto.

What did you trade for this sword? not expensive pieces i hope.

I am sorry to tell you this my friend but its no more than a Chinese wall hanger. In some rare cases the Chinese will use real koshirae with a newly made blade but this is not the case on yours.

Any chance you can get your pieces back?

It happens but for future reference here are a few pointer-

In feudal Japan the Japanese Sword (Nihonto) were traditionally made from tamahagane, a steel derived from iron sand.

In showa period there were two main types, fine steel for the high ranking officer who could afford it and for the rest, stainless steel. Stainless steel was cheaper and quicker to produce not to mention that finer steel was scarce at the time.

In modern times swords are made of high carbon steel and even the finest powdered steel from places like Sweden.

At no time have Japanese swords been made of Damascus steel. its just not suitable.

Now, file marks on the nakago (tang) pretty much all Japanese swords of all periods had file marks on the tang then they were sighed by the Tosho (smith) Most showa period pieces i have seen have these but don't be alarmed if you come across one that doesn't. but generally the good pieces do. (stainless steel blades will not have these)

Hamon ( temper line, on the sharpened edge of the blade)

The most common type's of hamon of traditionally made blades in showa period are Gunome and suguha.

Stainless steel blades did not have one.

The mounts of the sword are not as easely described and its hard to explain without pictures. my advice, do the research, buy a book. if you would like the name or site of trustworthy sellers then pm me.

Once you know what to look for you will be able to spot the difference between authentic and fake swords with ease.

Good luck -

Darren.

[Youssouf]

Thanks for the information guys...
I am a WW2 German military collector and this totally is not my field of experience. The sword looked so extremely nice and professionally made that I too the chance. I'll try to return the deal but hope this will be succesful..

[Darren Lillington]

No problem mate, we all make mistakes, the trick is to learn from em.

Try and get your pieces back and in future if your after an authentic Japanese sword do the research and if your still not sure, post pics on the forum. We are always happy to help out, we don't want to see people get ripped off.

Have a good one-

Darren.

[Alan M]

Hi Youssouf , Darren has pretty much summed it up on your sword . It is pretending to be a Kaigunto ( Naval ) sword but with Shin Gunto ( Army ) fittings , which are bad . The only thing i thought might have a chance was the army style jungle leather scabbard cover , but the "new " look of the stitching turned me off . I would still like to see close ups of the blade as a reference for the forum if possible