WWII Japanese officer's sword

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  • dsol

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    A long time ago when I was about 8 years old (45 years ago), I was with my mom when she was visiting a friend. The woman's husband showed me a Japanese sword he had brought back from WWII. I thought it was the coolest thing and have always wanted one in the back of mind.

    Well, last year my son and I were in an antique store in Louisville that has a lot of old military items. He was poking around and saw the tip of a sword sticking out from under a bunch of other stuff in the bottom of a display case in the corner. Turns out it was a bare Japanese blade, no handle and a plain wood sheath that didn't quite fit and was cracked. The blade was fairly dark with old rust patina but still had an edge. The tang had characters carved in it, signature by the smith that forged it along with a tag with a translation.

    Sword01.jpg sword04.jpg

    We went to the Ohio Valley Military Society show in Louisville a few weeks ago and took the blade along to see if we could find a sheath and handle for it. A Japanese man stopped us on the way in and translated the signature on the tang, confirming what we had on the tag. He commented that it was a hand forged blade, not the machine made mass produced ones during the war, pointing out the characteristics that he saw. You can faintly see the temper line on the edge and a little bit of grain, the hand carved signature and punched hole in the tang instead of drilled. Another collector at the show looked up the smiths name in a big reference book. He was a fourth level smith in a competition during the '30's, not the highest but a lot didn't even make a level so he was decent at least. They and several others I spoke with determined that in their opinion (several different people at different tables said the same thing) that the blade was most likely forged in the 1930's.

    Anyway, after spending most of the day there, we did not find a single person with a box of misc old WWII sword parts, several said they had some but did not bring them. So, I looked on eBay and after seeing bids run up too high or getting out bid at the last second, I found a set of fittings, basically a sword without a blade. Leather wrapped sheath (saya) and officers style handle (tsuka). Won the auction because it ended at 1:00 on a Thursday afternoon. The parts came in yesterday and they were in better condition than the seller's pictures indicated. Today I fitted the handle to the blade. It fit almost perfectly. The leather wrapping on the old military sheath is worn and distressed due to it being around 80 years or so old. The seam is tight, leather is not torn or rotted. This will make a great display in my basement and I have finally gotten a WWII sword that I have thought about since I was a kid.

    WWII Katana 01.JPG WWII Katana 03.JPG
     

    GunSlinger

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    Right here.
    Very nice Katana, and a great story as well. It's very cool to see you fulfill a dream!

    I have my fathers bring-back NCO sword along with the Army issued paper work. It too was forged around the mid '30's. I can still shave hair from my arm with it and it's never been sharpened since the day he captured it.
     

    rob63

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    Thanks for sharing that! I too have long been fascinated by Japanese blades and have one fairly similar to yours, also hand made in the '30's. That's great that you found the parts to finish it out!

    My blade doesn't seem sharp to the touch at all, but if I hold up a piece of paper and use a pulling motion it slices right through it. Kind of a neat parlor trick. I read somewhere that it is a result of the way they were made, with the steel folded over and over.
     

    Tactically Fat

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    Nice!

    My grandfather had a Japanese bring-back sword from WWII as well. And his 1911. But apparently he sold them both when I was young so I wouldn't hurt myself. :(
     

    jsharmon7

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    My blade doesn't seem sharp to the touch at all, but if I hold up a piece of paper and use a pulling motion it slices right through it. Kind of a neat parlor trick. I read somewhere that it is a result of the way they were made, with the steel folded over and over.

    You can test the edge of a blade by licking it. If it tastes like blood, it’s sharp.
     

    dsol

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    Very nice Katana, and a great story as well. It's very cool to see you fulfill a dream!

    I have my fathers bring-back NCO sword along with the Army issued paper work. It too was forged around the mid '30's. I can still shave hair from my arm with it and it's never been sharpened since the day he captured it.

    Would love to see a picture of it!
     

    rhino

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    Thanks for sharing that! I too have long been fascinated by Japanese blades and have one fairly similar to yours, also hand made in the '30's. That's great that you found the parts to finish it out!

    My blade doesn't seem sharp to the touch at all, but if I hold up a piece of paper and use a pulling motion it slices right through it. Kind of a neat parlor trick. I read somewhere that it is a result of the way they were made, with the steel folded over and over.

    It probably doesn't feel sharp because the edge is polished (over polished in my opinion) and lacks the microserrations that you feel when knife is sharpened for proper slicing. Polished edges like that work great for shaving, cutting paper, woodworking, and chopping.
     

    Alamo

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    Nice sword!


    Nice!

    ... And his 1911. But apparently he sold them both when I was young so I wouldn't hurt myself. :(

    My WWII vet Dad sold his 1911 bring-back to pay the hospital bill for my sister's birth in 1949. I still give her hell for that once in a while.
     

    dsol

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    Very nice! Just out of curiosity what antique store was it?

    Antiques at Douglass Loop. https://www.yelp.com/biz/antiques-at-douglass-loop-louisville
    Super cool place, the guy has an amazing collection of old military items all over the store, you will kill a couple of hours in there.


    Now one day, I will find an original GI bring back at an estate sale. It will
    turn out to be a 500 year old family heirloom blade in military mounts worth
    $100k.

    Hey, I can dream can't I?
     

    rob63

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    It probably doesn't feel sharp because the edge is polished (over polished in my opinion) and lacks the microserrations that you feel when knife is sharpened for proper slicing. Polished edges like that work great for shaving, cutting paper, woodworking, and chopping.

    Well, I don't claim to be an expert or anything, but the blade in question shows no evidence of ever being polished at all, let alone over polished. I'm guessing that the micro-serrations that you mention are precisely what I meant by the result of the repeated folding of the steel when it was made.
     

    Riggs226

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    Antiques at Douglass Loop. https://www.yelp.com/biz/antiques-at-douglass-loop-louisville
    Super cool place, the guy has an amazing collection of old military items all over the store, you will kill a couple of hours in there.


    Now one day, I will find an original GI bring back at an estate sale. It will
    turn out to be a 500 year old family heirloom blade in military mounts worth
    $100k.

    Hey, I can dream can't I?

    Dream away my friend, I've gotten really cool deals in random places.
     

    dsol

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    Dream away my friend, I've gotten really cool deals in random places.

    Oh... I do. Costs nothing compared to the alternative... and this was a prime example of finding a diamond in the rough. Well, not quite a diamond but enough of one to make me happy. It is not in the condition to be worth much and was priced accordingly, but to me it was exactly what I was looking for.

    I think my son and I are going to make a day of it on the 14th. Hit the antique store late in the morning, get some lunch at his favorite pizza place on Bardstown road, then spend the rest of the day at Knob Creek MGS.
     

    Riggs226

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    Oh... I do. Costs nothing compared to the alternative... and this was a prime example of finding a diamond in the rough. Well, not quite a diamond but enough of one to make me happy. It is not in the condition to be worth much and was priced accordingly, but to me it was exactly what I was looking for.

    I think my son and I are going to make a day of it on the 14th. Hit the antique store late in the morning, get some lunch at his favorite pizza place on Bardstown road, then spend the rest of the day at Knob Creek MGS.
    Sounds like a great day. It's been too long since I've went searching for treasure. Only bad thing is the lady usually tags along on the weekend which usually cost me $$$ LOL
     
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