Japan Real long shot on a sword

[clarkmilitaria]

Hello,

I received these pictures after an inquiry about a wakizashi. I know very little, but I was basically just wondering if anyone can give an approximate age estimate. I realize that this is a long shot because of the below average picture, but I thought I would ask anyway. The tang is unmarked. Thanks in advance for any information!

[Dieter3]

Can't help personally, but I might steer you here:

http://www.ncjsc.org

[Brian Wolfe]

It is hard to tell from the photos but here's my thoughts.

I like the nakago (tang) in that it shows rust, which is what you want. What I don't like is that this looks like it could have been cleaned at some time as the rust is not an even coating. I would also have liked to have seen file marks on the tang as these were always left and can tell a lot about the maker. Maker's names, while not always present, would have been a good thing to have seen on the nakago.

The handle looks correct to the WWII Army standards except that the scabbard sleeve above the tsuba (guard) called the habaki has a decorative design which would not usually be found on a military issue as these are left plain. While the handle "looks" period correct to the WWII period I feel it is a little too clean to have been made/used/carried some 70+ years ago.

The photos don't show the hamon (temper line) well enough however, it would appear to be straight and not wavy. This is not necessarily a sign that the blade was machine made as I have a nice example of a wahisazhi with a straight hamon that was hand made in the early 1930s. If the hamon is not there and the line of the hamon that I am seeing in the photo is actually caused by the shape of the blade then it was not hand made.

The saya (scabbard) is too long for the blade. This would not be a bad thing if the saya was a shin-gunto (army pattern) as the saya was always regulation length even if a shorter "ancestoral, or family" wawakizashi was being carried. This scabbard is a storage scabbard and not meant for use in the field and would, I suspect, be the correct length for the blade.

Over all this sword just looks to good to be authentic. None of the finish on any part of the wakizashi is worn or damaged, as I would expect to see in a sword that has been around for three quarters of a century. In my view I would thik this could very well be a modern Chineese copy, a very good one but a copy all the same.

Please bear in mind that this is just my opinion based on photos that are not as clear as I would like and the final decision, as always, is yours to make.

Even if this is an authentic sword I don't offer valuations, but if I saw this on a dealer's table my impulse would be to value it as a "Leaverite" (leave her right there) and walk away.

I will be interested to read other opinions and please let us know what you find out and your final decision.

Regards

Brian