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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;the blacksmith, post: 9419500, member: 20148&quot;]The sword is a Shin-Gunto katana, Army officers sword. Rank is denoted by the colour of the tassel, but the tassel here is a modern one and incorrect. The cord binding (tsuka ito) on the tsuka (grip) is also modern. Komokwa&#039;s picture shows nicely how the grip and tassel should have looked.</p><p>The blade is signed <b>Kane Kuni </b>. The little star mark is an army acceptance stamp, post 1926, the start of the Showa era. The <i>tsuba</i>, (guard) is pierced, which was an optional extra, and usually denotes a better quality blade.</p><p>What I can see of the blade shows an extremely nice grain, which doesn&#039;t seem to fit in with the Showa stamp. There are many Chinese copies of these swords. The sword looks genuine judging by the few images that I can see, but the only picture of the blade seems odd to me. The pattern of the <i>hada</i>, or grain, should only really visible in the <i>jigane</i>, the section of the blade from the <i>shinogi</i> (the line down the middle of the blade), to the <i>ha</i> (edge). We really need more pictures of the blade to make any real judgement.</p><p>For the record, a simple two character signature (mei) like this one, and the Showa stamp usually denotes an arsenal swordsmith, who were inferior smiths who made swords in vast numbers. Some of these blades were simply lumps of metal shaped like a traditional blade and were hardened in oil, not water. These swords have no grain in the blade at all. A quality blade like this, would usually have a fuller signature, probably with the date on the other side of the blades tang. This blade is a bit of a conundrum, so more pictures are needed of the blade I am afraid.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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