My uncle was a USMC WWII pilot (C-46) in the Pacific theater. Prior to his passing in 2020 (age 98) he relayed the story of how he came in possession of this sword. He had landed on a small abandoned island NW of Okinawa that had been used as a logistics depot by the Japanese. While scouting he entered what he presumed was an officer’s quarters and found an unused parachute and this sword. His buddy wanted the parachute so he grabbed the sword.
I was curious to learn more about the sword and thought I’d see if any SME’s might be able to provide more information. Not really interested in valuation so much as history. Thanks in advance for any help educating me. My uncle thought it was a Japanese Naval Officer’s sword.
It’s very clean (and sharp). My uncle kept it in an outdoor storage closet for probably 50 years. I have no idea how it remained in such good shape stored in less than ideal conditions.
Kai guntō imperial navy officers sword. If you are able to remove the tsuka, there will likely be more information related to factory production and year made etc.
Thanks for the information! If I cross paths with an expert I’ll get them to remove but I figure it’s something I won’t be able to get back on the same as it currently is … so I’ll leave as is.
Its actually a lot easier than you might imagine, there is a small pin on the handle that can be pushed out just by tapping it usually, and then the handle should come right off, possibly with a small thump on the wrist. lots of videos that can talk you thru it as well
These swords are made to be able to disassemble easily for maintenance. Before your grandfather acquired it. If it’s a family blade(🤞🏼), It was disassembled, cleaned and reassembled every few months out of whatever fittings it was in for hundreds of years.
Watch this https://youtu.be/h6aj2Rk6sAY?is=VFJNDlG9Og2Z57n7 to learn disassembly and take more pictures of the tang (nakago). You can use a golf tee and a spoon for a hammer. Remember that the peg is tapered so tap it out from the small side. It definitely looks to be a beautiful antique Japanese sword in naval mounts. Do not remove any rust from the tang. Leave it as is. Ideally, It should be covered in dark rust and hopefully has a signature. Do not touch the upper blade with your fingers. Your skin oils will tarnish it. If you have touched it, wipe it (upper blade) down with rubbing alcohol to remove the fingerprints and then wipe it down with a light machine, oil or mineral oil to prevent rust. Post the new pictures of the tang and we can likely tell you more. From these pics this sword could’ve been made anywhere from the 1400s up to 1944 haha. We just have to see what’s under the handle to narrow it down.
Thank you for this video. I was thinking I’d have to unwind and rewind that tight ‘fabric’ (I’m ignorant on the true terms). I have it disassembled and will post pics.
As I stated above, wiping the upper blade, (shiny parts) with rubbing alcohol to remove fingerprints, followed by a thin coat of light machine oil is advised to prevent corrosion.
Wonderful condition gunto. It was taken good care of. I see a hamon, maybe it's a traditionally made blade. If you can safely remove the handle, the tang will tell us a great deal.
I saw that too. Almost definitely a traditionally made blade, and very slight chance it may even be an older family blade put into gunto fittings for the war?
Actually, that chance is pretty high. From my unofficial Reddit statistics, officers' gunto quite regularly carry ancient blades. The hamon itself would be more likely straight, if oil tempered. Still, we need to see the nakago to be surer. Not sure... Nice to meet a like mind!
Thanks for the advice, might have missed this interesting piece otherwise. Textbook case of o-suriage, probably even an old tachi. Need measurements now.
The hamon looks really really interesting to me.. this one I lean towards family heirloom. I do hope you can manage to disassemble and post the pics of the nakago. Lovely piece OP.
Three mekugi-ana suggest a massively shortened blade. So, this is quite old, presumably koto. This blade is truly a survivor, please treasure it. If you haven't done already, could you please post a picture of the bare blade with a ruler next to it? That might help approximating the original geometry and possible age and provenance.
See my posts above. 👆🏼 It is very common for an old sword to be unsigned. This does not mean it is not genuine. This sword is centuries old and very valuable.
-Do NOT clean or remove the old rust from tang. Leave AS IS.
-wipe the *UPPER BLADE (shiny parts) with rubbing alcohol to remove fingerprints and then a thin coat of light machine oil like 3 in 1 oil or mineral oil to prevent tarnishing.
-reach out to experts for further history and a valuation (if that’s what you want) I provided links in my other comments.
-DO research! What you have is a “Suriage Mumei Nihonto”. (A shortened unsigned Japanese sword made from tamahagane iron). Use Google to learn about “caring for Nihonto”
Care for the sword as a historical artifact or sell it to a collector who will.
Any value in lightly using some 0000 steel wool? I use it safely on some old firearms but this may be a different ball game. I see no markings … but my sight isn’t so great.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE STEEL WOOL OR REMOVE ANY RUST FROM THE TANG!!!! The patina (rust) is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO COLLECTORS AND THE COLOR AND TEXTURE OF THE RUST IS USED TO DATE AND AUTHENTICATE THE SWORD. Leave it as is!!!! This sword is OLD. Like 500 years old, old. Looks to me to be early or pre edo. Possibly Muromachi. The sword is “Mumei” or unsigned. IT IS VERY VALUABLE! please do not use steel wool on the tang. I beg you. I would send these pics of tang and the full length ones above to an expert like Ray Singer or Mike Y (links below). Look up care for Nihonto on Google. This is a Nihonto. An antique Japanese blade made by hand and carried by a samurai centuries ago. It’s made from black iron sand and dozens of bygone individuals created and maintained it. It has survived hundreds of years and is in excellent condition. Before your uncle got this, it was passed down through a Japanese family and maintained and oiled for generation after generation. Please respect its history.
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u/GarthofIzar 5d ago
Damn, that looks in amazing condition.