I'm fairly sure this is a WW2 vintage Japanese officer swordblade, rather than a rarer or earlier example, but I'm still curious as to maker and provenance.
I picked it up at an auction for a pittance, presumably because, as the auctioneer said, "the handle's missing." I figure I can fairly-easily roust up the necessary bits to put it at least into military fittings, if not find a nice tsuba and menuki more suited to my tastes. For a winning bid of under $200, I can afford to accessorize.
I think I did quite well at that auction.
And, I realize it's a bit out of purview for most of you guys who specialize in the truly handmade, but I was thrilled to find a post-WW1 Czech-made Mannlicher rifle bayonet at this same auction. Not exactly common, since while the Czechs were given weapons from all the disarmed Central Powers, they elected to go with German pattern Mausers rather than Austrian pattern Mannlichers for their fledgling army.
