Army sword forged at Yasukuni Shrine in 1938

[ManInJapan]

Gunto (military sword) with field officer's tassel signed 'Yasutoku' and dated Showa 13 (1938).

 

On July 8th 1933 swordsmith Kajiyama Tokutarō entered the Yasukuni forge of the Nihon-to Tanren Kai (日本刀鍛錬会) and received the smith name "Yasutoku" from the minister of war Araki Sadao (荒木貞夫, 1877-1966). Later, he became the managing director of the forge and made swords for the emperor and other members of the Japanese imperial family.

 

The B&W photograph shows Yasutoku standing with his son and apprentice, Yasutoshi, in front of the entrance to the forge. (The building remains exactly the same today).

 

This sword has been awarded Tokubetsu Hozon papers by the NBTHK (Society for the preservation of Japanese swords) - which is very unusual for a Showa period army sword. The sayagaki (writing on the wooden storage scabbard) is by Tanobe Sensei (formerly the Director of Research for the NBTHK) attesting to the blade's quality

[6th.Mg.Bn.]

Very nice sword. Does this belong to you?

Thanks for sharing.

Ken

[ManInJapan]

6 hours ago, 6th.Mg.Bn. said:

Very nice sword. Does this belong to you?

Thanks for sharing.

Ken

Many thanks, Ken.

Yes, it is my sword. Living in Japan has both disadvantages (such as having to get it licensed like a gun) and advantages (easy proximity to sword organisations who can award papers, restorers etc).

 

Simon 

[SARGE]

I edited your duplicate post to leave this as the only one discussing your sword.

 

Thank you for showing your papered Yasukuni Shrine sword.  Have you had the blade polished or was it in this condition when you found it?  It shows very nicely in your photographs.  It would be interesting to hear how you found the sword since it is in wartime mounts like many other swords of this era.

 

Your sword is an excellent example of why one must look closely at the blade of these Japanese swords in "common" military mountings.  The history, and value, is really in the blade.  Do you keep it in the military mounts or in the wooden storage scabbard?

 

Congratulations on finding such a nice Showa era sword.  

[ManInJapan]

11 hours ago, SARGE said:

I edited your duplicate post to leave this as the only one discussing your sword.

 

Thank you for showing your papered Yasukuni Shrine sword.  Have you had the blade polished or was it in this condition when you found it?  It shows very nicely in your photographs.  It would be interesting to hear how you found the sword since it is in wartime mounts like many other swords of this era.

 

Your sword is an excellent example of why one must look closely at the blade of these Japanese swords in "common" military mountings.  The history, and value, is really in the blade.  Do you keep it in the military mounts or in the wooden storage scabbard?

 

Congratulations on finding such a nice Showa era sword.  

Dear Sarge,

 

Many thanks for both editing the duplicate post (I still haven't got the hang of the forum yet) and for your very kind words about my sword.
Amazingly, it had been preserved in this polish when I got it over 20 years ago from a Japanese gentleman. It even still retains 'ubu-ha' - the two or three centimetres of blunt blade edge just beyond the habaki, found on most newly forged blades (before it is eventually polished out).
It obviously somehow escaped the roundup of swords by the American occupation army - many of which were unfortunately destroyed. 

To answer your other question, I keep it in the wooden storage scabbard to avoid scratches and use a tsunagi (wooden blade) to hold the original gunto mounts together.

 

In the photo below you can see the Japanese family name 'Taya' scratched onto the tsuba. This was sometimes done by the owner and so I have even been able to pinpoint the likely field officer this sword belonged to as Taya is a very rare name in Japan. 
He was Major Taya Tsutomu of the Intendance Department, Kwantung Army (based in China). 
The other picture shows the family crest or 'mon' on the sword and the families associated with it. Therefore, it can be assumed that Major Taya considered his lineage as coming from one of those families.

 

Thank you, once again!

[SARGE]

An un-molested ubu-ha blunt space on the blade edge and a family mon along with the owner name on the tang.  It just gets better and better.

 

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on such an excellent sword.  

 

 

[abufletcher]

Amazing sword, amazing documentation, and amazing photographs.  I had assumed these photos came from a book!  Extra special that this unique sword belongs to you!