Admins feel free to relocate post. Can someone tell me more about my recent ww2 Shin Gunto Purchase? I was directed here from a facebook page. The Tsuka took me over an hr to remove, the Ito had also slipped back a bit, Think it seen some serious use during the war. It clearly hadn't been removed since ww2, the Mekugi was jammed on an Angle and I had to destroy it to be able to remove it. It's pretty well worn. Looks like some Idiot tried to polish it with a dremel tool or something. Mainly on 1 side. What i'm interested to know is How old it actually is? I paid 1000Au For it thinking it was just an average Machine made Shingunto But the Handle hadn't been removed so I wanted it. Upon removing the handle I found this signature. See pics. Is this correct?
濃州関住兼信作
nōshū seki ju kanenobu saku. If so could it be that old? or a pre ww2 forgery? or.... I'm new to Katana's so I know very little. But from the moment I held this thing I fell in love! Any info appreciated, I ascertained from fb that it is hand forged.
Kanenobu
Hi, You are correct on the signature. If you search for "Kanenobu" in the swordsmith index, you'll see that there are lots of them:
https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/list?id_op=%3D&id=&name_op=starts&na...
Looks like an older blade to me (any time before 19th century). Hard to say which of the many Kanenobu smiths it might be.
Two holes in the NAKAGO: One is the older original, the other was likely added when it was re-mounted in WWII.
The HAMON general style is TOGARI. From your pictures, it looks like a variation called SANBONSUGI. The pattern is a series of bumps: "small-big-small-small-big-small-small-big-small...".
No worries about the MEKUGI - it is expendable. Make a new one from the tip of a bamboo chopstick.
The HAMACHI looks a bit shallow, which means that it has been polished more than once, and supports the theory that it is older than WWII.
Use Google to read up on these terms in ALL CAPS.
Pete
Awesome thanks mate. Will do!
Awesome thanks mate. Will do!
Wow, ok. So there's just a
Wow, ok. So there's just a Few Kanenobu makers then. Ha ha. Had a feeling it was quite old. And yes you are right the MEKUGI was through the newer hole for the Shin Gunto Mount. Is there a way Narrow down which one of the smiths made my particular blade, by Province or production method? Or am I dreaming? Thanks for reply btw.
signature
The signature on your blade looks to my eye quite like the kaneyasu signature on this page http://www.sho-shin.com/shinto-mino.html
Maybe see if you can find examples of mino kanbun kanenobu.
more
To elaborate on what Looper said:
You can probably narrow it down to include only the Mino smiths in the Kanenobu list, and also only include those that are 16th century through 18th century.
The "kanbun" that Looper mentions is a time period in the 17th century, and was a prolific time for sword-making in Japan.
Pete
[ I have this pair of swords for sale:
http://yakiba.com/Daisho_Tango_no_Kami_Kanemichi.htm
Available as a pair, or individually. ]