Info on these bring backs

[Smith]

My grandfather brought these back from Korea. The short katana doesn't have any inscription on the tang only the hand guard. The Handle appears to be lizard or snake of some sort. The long sword has inscription on the tang (both sides) and you used to could see the "ripple" from the different steels on the blade. Both are extremely sharp! The last one is a bayonet of course. No markings except the two on the hilt. Any help on how to get these in better shape or preserve for the future? The Short katana blade is in pretty good shape while the long sword has some heavy rust in spots. the bayonet is in excellent shape

All three:

Long Sword:

Short Sword:

Bayonet:

[jtluttrell]

I have no knowledge to offer, but these are very cool.

[Smith]

The large sword has to be a relatively "budget" sword. The handle is all but worthless for fighting, but the steel is nice. The "wave" where the two steels meets used to be very pronounced and pretty, but my dad has let it sit too long. The smaller sword though, is heavy and well made. Sucker is razor sharp too!

I'm thinking the bayonet is off an Ariska maybe?

[jtluttrell]

The style and size seem right.

[TNRobocop]

Korea was occupied by Japan during WWII so chances are good they are all Japanese.

There were several different levels of swords.

Original ones passed down throught the family are the highest quality and value.

There were also some made before the individual deployed overseas.

The Japanese government also machine made swords for Officers and NCO's.

I am not an expert by any means, but I did have a NCO machine made one I sold for a friend of mine. Still had the cross guard, but not the original handle and it still sold for around $300.

[1gewehr]

The wooden handle and scabbard of the Katana is used to store a blade. Many very valuable blades have been found in these 'shirasaya' mountings. The lacquered wood used in the combat handles and scabbards retains moisture and can lead to corrosion. It would be a good idea to take a rubbing of the tang inscriptions and send them to an expert on these swords. A Google search will lead you in the right direction.

I would do the same with the smaller Tanto knife.

The bayonet is a Type 30 Arisaka Bayonet. These were used on almost all Japanese long arms and were made from 1897 to 1945. The three-lobed marking is the Kokura arsenal in Tokyo. The other marking is unknown to me, but probably a subcontractor and later in the war to judge by the visible machine marks.

Nice collection!

[Smith]

So is there a way to clean these without ruining them? The large katana has some pretty bad corrosion in spots. Would Naval Jelly be safe to use?

[TNRobocop]

So is there a way to clean these without ruining them? The large katana has some pretty bad corrosion in spots. Would Naval Jelly be safe to use?

Do not, whatsoever, try to "clean" them yourself. You will ruin whatever value they have.

I was digging through some of the boxes today of old Soldier of Fortune magazines and found an article from the May 1981 issue about these swords and the one man in the USA that refurbished these swords. He also was on a quest to find these swords and was looking for the national treasure swords.

At the time he was the man to go to. He used six different stones to correctly polish them. The article covered all kinds of stuff about them. Lengths, names, types, etc.

The guy was named Koichiro "Kuzan the Knifemaker" Oda in Colorado. His company was called Kuzan, Japanese for "Mountain".

He had an apprentice the article mentioned named Terry Berryman also.

The little bit of google I found is that he now either back in Japan or now lives in Alaska, but that info is from 2009.

[Smith]

Well, I found a little on the Katana (long sword) the signiture is: Kobayashi kawachi no kami KUNISUKE 小林河内守国助. I'm working on the dates and the rest of it, but evidently this maker died in 1647 so the blade is very old. kunisuke

[mrming]

if you care...

generally, the 'lizard skin' is actually a shark or sting ray skin. its meant to feel sand-papery to improve grip when wet or bloodied.

the 'hidden' style sword was a backlash by the samurai after they were banned from openly carrying swords at the end of the edo period. So, they made them look like wooden walking canes. It wasn't used for storage. If your dating of the sword maker is correct then the blade originated at the beginning of the same period. Whats all that mean?

Edo started early 1600's, ended late 1800's. If it was made around 1640 then that blade was probably refurbished around 1870 into the hidden, walking-cane style. No one was really making them that way before the ban as there was no reason to.

Do not try and restore the blade yourself. the steel is open grained and differentially tempered. in all likelyhood you'd only manage to trash it. You can however prevent further deteroration by not storing it in that scabbard, and putting a decent coat of gun oil or 40 weight motor oil on it. Do not touch the blade with bare hands! open grain steel rusts just glancing at moisture, much less finger oils. the scabbard was generally not used as a storage unit as it would collect moisture and rust up in it. IE, it was fine to carry it that way day-to-day, but the scabbard was usually dried out daily, the blade reoiled, and left in warm, dry air to avoid condensation.

As for the short one, its probably one of the mass-produced ones from the war peroid. the cross guard looks appropriately crummy, and i'm not spotting any temper line along the cutting edge from the picture you posted. If you look at the pommel, you may see a hole that passes clear through. Most of the war-production blades had a brass loop that went through the pommel hole and was some times used as a laynard..

the short one is generally considered war-junk, and generally go for 1-300 depending on details. the bayonet i wouldn't care to guess on. the stamped one can be worth a large chunk of change; you'll have to seek out some one who deals in them specifically to get a valid ball park value on it.

[hso]

1gewehr called the katana correctly. That's the storage furniture your sword's in. Send images to Fred Lohman to get a good estimate.

Edited June 12, 2010 by hso