The consigning client provided this description for this outstanding blade:
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This sword is an original hand-made heirloom Japanese army officers Samurai sword from World War 2. The blade is a historic Koto katana from the well-known Sue-Seki tradition in high end WW2-era Shin Gunto mounts with desirable family mon.The blade is in Excellent condition and the mountings are in Near MINT condition. The sword has a blade length of 27.25 inches (69cm). The sword is well-constructed showing a wood grain itame hada. The hamon is a Seki-style togari gunome hamon of repetitive pointed peaks. The hamon is present the length of the blade ending in a jizo boshi. There are activities like suble yubashiri and sunagashi in and along the hamon.
The tang is mumei, or unsigned, and ubu, or unshortened. Based on the shape and workmanship,the blade looks to be from the Sue-Seki school of swordsmiths, dating to ca. early to mid 1500’s. More specifically, the sword looks to have come from the Kanemoto school, ca. 1500’s. Kanemoto was one of the most famous lines of swordsmiths in Japanese history. They worked from the early 1500’s through the 1600’s from Mino province and their swords were famous for their sharpness. They were highly sought out by samurai fighting during this time.
The mountings are Type 98 Shin Gunto and in Near MINT condition. The tsuka is silk-cord wrapped with cherry blossom menuki. There is little to no fraying. The tsuka features a family mon of Tsuta, or ivy, uised by clans such as the Matsudaira. The tsuba is classic WW2 with four accompanying metal seppa. The saya (scabbard) displays a high quality green painted finish. The saya shows no dents and just a few areas of missing finish, retaining roughly 95-97% original finish. The locking mechanism is present. The blade is in Excellent condition. There are a couple very small nicks, a few very small spots of rust, and a few scattered scratches along the blades length. There are no major flaws like hagire.
Given the age,history, condition,workmanship, and exceptional mounts, I think this piece is an outstanding addition for a collector of WW2 militaria or Japanese swords. COA accompanies.
