Vtg WW2 Japanese Katana Samurai Takayam Sword -UNUSUAL KISSAKI -Knife/Collection

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***Have a Japanese sword like this one? Or a whole collection? River Valley Knife & Sword pays cash for Japanese samurai swords, sword fittings, tsubas, menuki, fuchi/kashira, yari, armor, and entire collections . You can reach us at to get a cash offer on your sword or sword collection .*** River Valley Knife & Sword also sells collections on consignment . See our classified ad in current editions of "Knife World" magazine. Bidders/Collectors: ___________________________________________________________________________________________Description: 1 antique Japanese samurai katana sword available. This sword was made sometime in the late 1920's or mid-1930's. This sword was made by Masanao-- only Masanao made swords with the features detailed below . This sword would have been carried during World War II. This Japanese sword would make an important addition to any collection. Have any questions about this sword? Call us at . This sword has a number of unique features that make it unusual/highly collectible: this sword has an unusually high number of chiseled characters on the nakago ( 17 ) oriented in two columns . there are also painted characters (assembly numbers) long nakago/tang --measuring 11" in length signed by swordsmith and the polisher unusual kissaki shape --unique to this smith, Masanao . thickest part of the entire blade is 3/8" back from the tip, measuring 5/16" thick. characteristic narrow tsuka /handle One seller recently described these swords by Ichihara Masanao this way: "The Imperial Japanese Navy experimented with producing swords with chromium mixed in to reduce rust damage (aka "stainless steel" swords), and the ones designed by and produced under the supervision of Takayama, a swordsmanship instructor for the Navy, became known as Takayam Swords. Their feature was the short kissaki, thick construction, and long nakago (for durability), and attention to the details such as identifying the names of the swordsmith and the polisher." Please be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this listing to see lots of additional photos . The cutting edge of this Japanese katana measures 25 5/8" (as measured properly from blade tip to the notch in the blade spine). I had another sword by Masanao 2 years ago. That sword had 18 characters. That sword signature was translated for me as I can mostly recognize only the swordsmith, province, etc. This sword is signed with one fewer character so the signature will be close to that other one. 'Swordmaster Masanao, of Gifu Province, made this by great effort'. The tang is also signed by the polisher 'Grindmaster Suzuki Seiichi'. Literally the sword is signed 'kin saku takayama tosho ishihara masanao ken shi suzuki seiichi'. A friend of mine took a shot at translating the tang--he says that he is still learning. So here is another possible translation; he feels he has read: ' Kin saku takayama katana tosho kenshi ishihara masanao onuma jotaro :Respectfully made by ishihara masanao for takayama and polished by onuma jotaro '. The iron tsuba has two carved kanji on one side. This sword has dragon menuki, and military fuchi/koshirae. Note the less common shape of the tsuka/sword handle. The hamon/temper line is either oil-tempered or polished on--I can't tell for sure which it is. The saya/scabbard is made of black-lacquered wood. Condition: This vintage Japanese sword is in very nice condition. The blade edge has only 5 nail catcher-type nicks. There are some very occasional surface finish changes from where the very beginnings of oxidation had started at some time in this sword's past. The oxidation was removed--now the subtle, occasional surface finish changes can be seen mostly only at a certain angle under light. The blade is straight. This sword could use 2 more seppa (which run just $3-8 each). The fittings and the handle wrapping are ... read more

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