Original Item: Only One Available. Purchased recently at a large military show, this is a fantastic wartime High Grade Japanese Naval officer Katana in the Pattern 1937 Kai-Gunto setting. It comes with a great wooden "capture tag attached to the scabbard, and it also has a very rare and desirable Sa-Me (Stingray) Shagreen covered scabbard. We sometimes see these with sharkskin, but Ray Skin is far more rare, as well as being much more difficult to execute.

A Kai-Guntō (海軍刀, naval sword) is a weapon and symbol of rank used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the WWII Period. This is a very nice example, and features a traditionally made and maker signed blade, something we rarely see in Naval fittings. It still has the original brown tassel, which was used for all Naval officer grades.

The blade on this example was hand forged in the traditional manner, and the tang of the blade is signed (Mei) with the characters 関 住 星 谷 義 長 - SEKI JU HOSHIYA YOSHINAGA. This translates to Made by Hoshiya Yoshinaga at Seki. Research indicates that this smith's real name was 星屋 芳夫 - Hoshiya Yoshio, so in this case "Hoshiya" was their family name, and "Yoshinaga" their "swordsmith name." We have seen many other smiths sign their swords in this fashion, and in this case they used one kanji that is pronounced the same as one in their given name. Their name appears in the Seki Tanrensho Booklet printed in 1939.

Yoshinaga was active during the Showa Period and worked at Seki arsenal in Gifu, Mino Province (美濃国), and there is a partial stamped 関 (SEKI) on the tang. They look to have made both arsenal forged and traditional blades. We have confirmed the signature (Oshigata) with other examples of his work.

The blade is handmade and was expertly crafted by a sword maker, which is indicated by a few tell-tale characteristics that include:

- Hole in the tang is punched and not drilled.

- Visible temper line ("hamon") with crystallization visible (Nie and Nioi)

- Blade is signed on the tang by the maker ("Mei") and dated

- Hada or Grain is visible throughout the blade surface.

- Blade has a proper geometric Yokote at the tip (kissaki) with a Boshi (tip temper line)

The blade is very good condition, with the edge still in great shape except for a small chip on the tip. The polish is in good shape, though the blade has suffered some oxidation staining and speckling on the surface of the blade, very common with Naval service weapons. It looks to have been cleaned at some point with traditional Uchiko powder, made from the finest grit polishing stones. This has made some aspects of the blade faint, though it looks to have been used properly. Blade length is 25 inches and overall length 36 ⅛ inches.

Unlike most Kai-Gunto swords we see, this blade of this example was made in the traditional fashion from folded steel made from TAMAGAHANE steel. It features a Futsu 普通 (regular) shaped Nakago (Tang) with a Haagari (asymmetrical rounded) nakago-jiri (tang tip). The blade has a proper geometric KISSAKI (切先 - tip of blade) with a clear YOKOTE (横手 - transition to the tip) and BOSHI (帽子 -tip temper line). The main edge Temper line (HAMON - 刃文) is fully visible, and is a very attractive YAHAZU MIDARE (矢筈乱れ - irregular arrow notched)shape, with some nice internal activity. Along the transition there are clear NIE crystals visible, with cloudy areas of NIOI in the body of the hamon, which show chatoyancy. The body of the blade (JI) shows faint hada (肌 - grain), which is the MASAME (柾目 - Straight) pattern, typical for SHOWA era blades.

The blade also has a somewhat rarely seen BO HI (棒樋) or fuller in the blade on both sides, which lightens the blade while making it a bit more stiff. We usually only see these are very high end blades like this one. The tip temper line (boshi) is of visible, and is of the Ō-MARU (大丸 - large round turnback) shape, with some great internal activity. It is a bit hard to see due to staining on the blade in that area however. Japanese Kai-Gunto naval officers swords are somewhat rare, given that they usually went down with the ships. This particular example is definitely high grade, with a hand made blade, and excellent fittings.

It has a heavy round tsuba (cross guard), with 2 Seppa (spacers) and two O-Seppa (Large spacers) around the tsuba that are large and highly stylized, correct for the Kai-Gunto pattern. All of these are non-magnetic, with the tsuba and O-seppa being made from blacked copper. The tsuka (handle) has two gold highlighted Cherry-Blossom menuki (grip decorations), and a nice iron Kabuto-Gane (End Cap). There is a single wooden securing peg still present, which looks to be original. The grip has black stingray skin (Sa-Me) under the complete brown colored Ito (cloth binding) with a fine brass decorative collar (fuchi).

Condition of the blade, scabbard and fittings indicates that this katana did see some level of service during the war. The grip wrapping shows a some dirt and oil worked into the wrappings, though there is no fraying or major wear. As typical of the pattern, Cherry Blossom motifs appear on many of the fittings. The handle is tight to the blade, with secure spacers and no wobble in the tsuba. The brown rank tassel attached to the end loop is in very good condition, showing only light wear.

This set of fittings (koshirae) has 4 7 stamped on tsuba, O-seppa, Seppa, end of the Tsuka and inside of fuchi. There is even a faint marking on the inside of the scabbard. This indicates they were made to fit this specific blade. The attached capture tag definitely looks to be original WWII, and was written with pen on the wood. It looks to be written using "Grass writing", so we have not been able to translate it.

The magnificent wood scabbard is wrapped with lovely Ray Skin shagreen, which as mentioned previously was lacquered and then sanded down, and is fitted with two hanger loops. The ray skin wrapping is still almost completely intact, and there is no lifting at the seams we can see. There are some areas where the black urushi lacquer has lifted or fallen out due to age, however it still looks fantastic. All of the fittings are non-magnetic gilt brass, and as we often see, they are a bit loose on the blade due to the original blue deteriorating. The KOIGUCHI scabbard mouth fitting is present, and still locks securely onto the hilt. It is secured by screws, so it is still tight on the scabbard.

Really a fantastic example of a high end Imperial Japanese Navy Kai-Gunto, handmade by a known smith and complete with its original ray skin shagreen covered scabbard. The rank tassel and wooden capture tag are the icing on the cake! These are getting hard to find in any condition. Ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 25"
Blade Style: Shinogi-Zukuri (鎬造)
Overall length: 36 ⅛"
Scabbard length: 27 ½”

It has been over one thousand years ago that the art of making swords appeared in Japan. The swordsmiths of the time may not have known it but they were creating a legendary sword. The Samurai sword has seen combat in many battlefields. From the early days of the Samurai warrior to the fierce battles in the South Pacific during WWII.

Each hand-made Samurai sword is unique because it is forged from steel stock. A tremendous amount of work is dedicated to creating these pieces. They were an instrument of war as much as a beautiful artifact to adorn a room.

The Samurai sword has grown to be one of the most highly desired military antiques.