Help please. Japanese Gunto (Genuine ? ) with battlefield scabbard.

laEspadaAncha · 27th May 2011, 02:13 AM

Hi David,

While not by any means a statistically valid sampling, I nonetheless measured the kasane on my kai gunto and two nihonto (I had not previously taken this measurement). Of the two nihonto, one is the aforementioned Koto Bizen Wakizashi, and the other is a rather long Shinshinto katana made by a ranked smith. The kasane of the former measured approx. 5.6-5.7 mm, the latter measured nearly 7mm. By comparison, the kasane on my remaining kai gunto (dated 1943) measured approx. 5.9 mm.

I do agree that every gunto blade I can recall handling (you encounter a lot of WWII "bringbacks" here in San Diego) were of similar thickness. I sure don't recall having handled any gunto as thin as yours.

I tend to look at these as if I was evaluating them as a potential acquisition... I thus look for anything that might be of concern to me. With regards to this example, in addition to the bent ha and kissaki, I might be concerned by what appear to be visible forging marks on the blade - both on the ji and the shinogi-ji - and by the almost meandering appearance of the shinogi (or are these artifacts of the photographs?)

Please understand though, my exposure is admittedly limited, and I hesitate to even consider myself a "student" of nihonto.

When time allows, could you post macro photos of both the nakago and the window resulting from your light polish?

If you can visible identify the hada and hamon, you are on the right track, and as you have mentioned, these should give you some insight into the origin and age of your blade.

Like Jose suggested, Rich S. is our resident expert... and I haven't hesitated to shoot him a PM in the past.

Of course, he may very well suggest you post it on NMB, which is IMO the foremost resource on nihonto on the web, with a global community of nihonto collectors (including more than a few in Japan) who won't hesitate to assist you with further identification. Should you decide to post it there, please let us know what you find out!

27th May 2011, 02:13 AM	#14
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Hi David, While not by any means a statistically valid sampling, I nonetheless measured the kasane on my kai gunto and two nihonto (I had not previously taken this measurement). Of the two nihonto, one is the aforementioned Koto Bizen Wakizashi, and the other is a rather long Shinshinto katana made by a ranked smith. The kasane of the former measured approx. 5.6-5.7 mm, the latter measured nearly 7mm. By comparison, the kasane on my remaining kai gunto (dated 1943) measured approx. 5.9 mm. I do agree that every gunto blade I can recall handling (you encounter a lot of WWII "bringbacks" here in San Diego) were of similar thickness. I sure don't recall having handled any gunto as thin as yours. I tend to look at these as if I was evaluating them as a potential acquisition... I thus look for anything that might be of concern to me. With regards to this example, in addition to the bent ha and kissaki, I might be concerned by what appear to be visible forging marks on the blade - both on the ji and the shinogi-ji - and by the almost meandering appearance of the shinogi (or are these artifacts of the photographs?) Please understand though, my exposure is admittedly limited, and I hesitate to even consider myself a "student" of nihonto. When time allows, could you post macro photos of both the nakago and the window resulting from your light polish? If you can visible identify the hada and hamon, you are on the right track, and as you have mentioned, these should give you some insight into the origin and age of your blade. Like Jose suggested, Rich S. is our resident expert... and I haven't hesitated to shoot him a PM in the past. Of course, he may very well suggest you post it on NMB, which is IMO the foremost resource on nihonto on the web, with a global community of nihonto collectors (including more than a few in Japan) who won't hesitate to assist you with further identification. Should you decide to post it there, please let us know what you find out!