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Post by bspencer on Oct 30, 2016 22:41:36 GMT
I recently acquired the ww2 Japanese sword at imgur.com/a/Adxrg directly from an Iwo Jima veteran and have not been able to positively identify the type of sword or the signature on the tang. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, is it advisable to use something to remove the rust on this sword? I have successfully used Evapo-rust in the past, but I do not want to use it on any surface that may be blued. Are any of the parts blued on this one? Thanks |
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Oct 31, 2016 8:22:30 GMT
The signature on the sword reads 平鎮種 - Taira Shizutane. He was a smith who worked in Bungo province (Taira-Takada school) in the end of 1500's. The sword has been shortened during it's lifetime but the signature still remains. Numeral marking on it might be an army thing. I am not well versed in military standards as I focus my collecting on older stuff.
Everything else aside from blade seems to be low quality to my eye. It is advised to only use trained polishers for Japanese swords when restoring the blade. I do not know what Evapo-rust is or what it does but I would recommend against it. It is easy to do much harm to the sword by improper restoration. The 2 fully trained polishers in North America are Jimmy Hayashi (USA) and Takeo Seki (Canada). Of course Bob Benson has enough qualification in my eyes as he has studied polishing in Japan and has experience spans from the 60's to this day.
Restoration of Japanese swords is a bit complicated thing and it is better to avoid doing harm to the sword. Where are you living? You could take the sword to a meeting of your local sword group and hear opinions and advice of collectors face to face.
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Post by bspencer on Oct 31, 2016 18:35:41 GMT
The signature on the sword reads 平鎮種 - Taira Shizutane. He was a smith who worked in Bungo province (Taira-Takada school) in the end of 1500's. The sword has been shortened during it's lifetime but the signature still remains. Numeral marking on it might be an army thing. I am not well versed in military standards as I focus my collecting on older stuff. Everything else aside from blade seems to be low quality to my eye. It is advised to only use trained polishers for Japanese swords when restoring the blade. I do not know what Evapo-rust is or what it does but I would recommend against it. It is easy to do much harm to the sword by improper restoration. The 2 fully trained polishers in North America are Jimmy Hayashi (USA) and Takeo Seki (Canada). Of course Bob Benson has enough qualification in my eyes as he has studied polishing in Japan and has experience spans from the 60's to this day. Restoration of Japanese swords is a bit complicated thing and it is better to avoid doing harm to the sword. Where are you living? You could take the sword to a meeting of your local sword group and hear opinions and advice of collectors face to face. Thank you very much for the information. I really do appreciate it. So, although shortened, would this be considered a Katana? Any idea on the white paint on the tang? Also, do you know if any parts on these swords were blued? Because Taira Shizutane was around at the end of the 1500s, am I correct to assume that his name is being used even though he did not create this sword? |
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Oct 31, 2016 19:25:08 GMT
The length dictates in current standards if a sword is a katana or wakizashi by definition. The dividing length is 2 shaku, 60,6 cm. If your sword has a blade longer than that from the notch to the tip it is classified as a katana. Looking from your picture it seems to be 21,25 inches which is around 54 cm. This would make this sword a wakizashi by definition. The sword has been shortened by the distance between the holes on the tang. So it was originally a short katana. Couple cms don't matter that much in general picture on how to use the sword.
I believe that Taira Shizutane actually made that sword in the late 1500's to very early 1600's. It was shortened some moment during its lifetime. During WWII old swords found new use sometimes and the white paint and stamped numbers both would point towards military refitting. As I believe you have an old sword I would advise that the best option would be contacting a local Japanese sword society so they could see the sword in hand.
Many Japanese swords were shortened one time or another, and it is good thing that this one has the signature left. Taira Takada was not most famous of the swordmaking schools. However they made good swords for use.
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Post by bspencer on Oct 31, 2016 19:42:51 GMT
The length dictates in current standards if a sword is a katana or wakizashi by definition. The dividing length is 2 shaku, 60,6 cm. If your sword has a blade longer than that from the notch to the tip it is classified as a katana. Looking from your picture it seems to be 21,25 inches which is around 54 cm. This would make this sword a wakizashi by definition. The sword has been shortened by the distance between the holes on the tang. So it was originally a short katana. Couple cms don't matter that much in general picture on how to use the sword. I believe that Taira Shizutane actually made that sword in the late 1500's to very early 1600's. It was shortened some moment during its lifetime. During WWII old swords found new use sometimes and the white paint and stamped numbers both would point towards military refitting. As I believe you have an old sword I would advise that the best option would be contacting a local Japanese sword society so they could see the sword in hand. Many Japanese swords were shortened one time or another, and it is good thing that this one has the signature left. Taira Takada was not most famous of the swordmaking schools. However they made good swords for use. Thank you so much for the great information! I will definitely contact a local Japanese sword association. Do you feel that the other parts (handle, scabbard, guard etc) may be original to the sword even though it was shortened? So, Taira Takada was the school and the smith's name was Taira Shizutane? Did they take their first name from the school? |
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Nov 2, 2016 14:25:25 GMT
I believe the rest of the sword is probably put together WWII or thereabouts. It was very common to replace fittings of Japanese swords. Finding original historical mounts from 1500's or 1600's is very rare. I believe these fittings would be original to the sword as in made to fit to this sword (saya & tsuka) and tsuba is probably fitted to this sword.
Yep Taira Takada was the school and they were located in Bungo province. It was quite common for them to sign Taira XX. They have few charateristic characters in their names and 鎮 Shizu is one of those (and they are being thought as their own group of smiths). Pretty much every swordsmith (with few exceptions) whose name starts with 鎮 was a smith from Bungo province.
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Post by bspencer on Nov 2, 2016 14:59:33 GMT
I believe the rest of the sword is probably put together WWII or thereabouts. It was very common to replace fittings of Japanese swords. Finding original historical mounts from 1500's or 1600's is very rare. I believe these fittings would be original to the sword as in made to fit to this sword (saya & tsuka) and tsuba is probably fitted to this sword. Yep Taira Takada was the school and they were located in Bungo province. It was quite common for them to sign Taira XX. They have few charateristic characters in their names and 鎮 Shizu is one of those (and they are being thought as their own group of smiths). Pretty much every swordsmith (with few exceptions) whose name starts with 鎮 was a smith from Bungo province. Thanks again. Any ideas on the markings on the Tsuba? |
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