WWII Japanese Army Officer Shin Gunto
Item #: AA3484
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This is a Japanese Army Officers Shin Gunto from World War II. It has an overall length of 35 1/4", with a blade length of 25". The blade is stamped on the reverse tang with the cherry blossom (Showa), I'm still waiting on a translation for the kanji. The wooden hilt is covered in marine skin, then wrapped in black lacing (ito). The marine skin and ito are both very tight to the hilt, with the marine skin missing where the top mount (kabuto gane) of the hilt ends and around the wooden pin (mekugi) that retains the handle to the tang. The ito shows moderate wear from use along the entire length. The ornamental decorations (menuki) on each side of the hilt are brass with gold gilt, and appear to be of the WWII period. The top of the hilt has a brass mount (kabuto gane) with no design or texture. The brass mount has a dark chocolate patina. Instead of the usual brass collar at the base of the hilt, this sword has a leather one. The wooden pin (mekugi) that retains the hilt to the tang is present, but has broken and is only 1/2 the normal length. The guard (tsuba) is steel and also appears to be of the WWII period. It has a dark, untouched patina to it. The blade collar (habaki) is steel and has a gold gilt applied, with most of the gilt remaining. The blade has a dull silver appearance, the original polish being very worn. The edge has a couple of very small nicks, but does not appear to have been caused by any combat action. The temper line (hamon) is not very visible. The sword was secured to the scabbard by a leather strap that connected to the scabbard by means of a snap The leather strap looks to have broken long ago. The single brass mounted scabbard is made of wood and covered in leather. The foul weather guard has shrunk from age, and has some broken stitching at both ends. This Japanese Officer's Shin Gunto will make a nice addition to your WWII Japanese collection.
Shipping Weight:
4 lbs
Item # AA3484
Your Price $1,550.00 USD
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