Photos WWII Japanese NCO Katana Identification Need Help

R

RadioactiveMindz

Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
6
Hey,
Just trying to determine the authenticity and price of this "World War II" NCO Katana.
The guy says on his ad: "I picked this up while I was living in Okinawa Japan", and goes on to talk about the features of the sword, describing that the green scabbard and green hand wraps are standard issue, most of what he says was added after the first time of me talking to him and asking for more details.
I looked high and low, far and wide for information and details of WWII Japanese katana's and couldn't find much information or many pictures of similar swords.
I'm just here looking for some help on identifying the sword and seeing if it's authentic so I know if it's worth adding to the collection.
Any help is appreciated, thank you.
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I am unable to help you with your questions, sorry. But that appears to me to be of low quality, something to be sold to tourists.

FYI, only paid memberships, gold level and above, may ask questions about values here.

Welcome to the forum!
 
Realized the price thing after posting and couldn't edit it out.
I was just asking because the guy is asking an absurd price for it, but is willing to trade for things a quarter of the price.
Thanks for the information.
 
You will likely find the information you seek here, but it may take a few days before someone with the knowledge shows up and sees your post. Good luck!
 
Stamped on the Habaki is:
亅太本山
Which roughly translates to:
Kota Motoyama
Unless I’m horribly wrong.
Anyone have thoughts?
There’s another engraving on the other side of the Habaki it’s like a Sun inside of a trapezoid with another trapezoid under it with what looks like two other Japanese? Characters.
Maybe:
云厂
Possibly translating to:
Cloud Factory
Thoughts?
Real?
Fake?
 
On most traditional katanas the handle is removable, and the maker will put his mark on the tang. There should be a pin that can be popped out with the tool, which is usually under the handle wrap. Hope this helps
 
First it is not an NCO sword, they all have metal handles (tsuka). Second the ito (braid) is wrapped incorrectly. Without a lot more info, I suspect (but can't prove) it is a Chinese fake.
Rich
 
Oh there's "patina"..but that can be faked. Not a lot of dust in those teeny hollows, crevices, and such, because dust can't. Dust takes time. What's it smell like? Does the odor say "age"? Not that that's reliable either. It's just too shiny almost where it shouldn't be, and the appearance it has looks too 'forced" rather than naturally occurring. Idk if that carving is supposed to be the Imperial Rising Sun, or what exactly is going on with that. The whole entire thing just..tries to hard? Am I the only one that gets that vibe from it? Personally, I'd pass, unless the price was just crazy low and no issue for display purposes, but I've messed up before. The tsuka looks like somebody grabbed some light dusty dirt and just rubbed it in, hard- repeatedly. The ray skin nodes? or faux ones? shouldn't be that crushed looking in my honest opinion.
 
I learned to cut with a WWII NCO souvenir sword. Very good cutter, through tempered for amazing resilience with off center cuts. Durable for a beginner practicing on shrubberies.
Aluminum handle, steel sheath, no temper line.
It did not resemble the pictured sword in the least, from the fittings to the appearance of the blade it was of a different fabrication.
Could have been another time period during the war, but the design does not lend itself to the rapid production requirements of an active war.
 
The spring-button release which lowers that "tongue" ahead of the guard from where it hooks the scabbard looks real enough. I saw it in a number of wartime officers' swords. But those officers' swords had different cord wraps, and underneath was real ray skin.
 
Hello ladies and gentlemen, very sorry about reviving a dead forum.
As moments after posting all of this, the man took his ad off of Kijiji without a word to me, I’m guessing I was asking him far too many questions on its authenticity, and as I have no experience with such items I was pretty anxious about going and looking at it and ending up breaking it and having to front $500 for it! I did not have a second thought about coming back to this website as, there was no point to, because at the time I only had one response on the blade and the ad was taken down.
The blade at the time was listed for $500 or a trade for a PS4, as I had a PS4 I had bought for $50 I was going to trade but wanted to know the authenticity on the blade and if it was able to be more than just a show piece.
But now, months later, the ad is reposted for $250 and I am offering $100 for it and would just like to know if that offering would be justified on either of our ends.
 
Big thing on blades like these is to examine the spine for a core lamination, that will tell you if its worth buying, WW2 Kobuse has a wrought iron core and a single steel jacket.
 
RadioactiveMindz said:
Hello ladies and gentlemen, very sorry about reviving a dead forum.
As moments after posting all of this, the man took his ad off of Kijiji without a word to me, I’m guessing I was asking him far too many questions on its authenticity, and as I have no experience with such items I was pretty anxious about going and looking at it and ending up breaking it and having to front $500 for it! I did not have a second thought about coming back to this website as, there was no point to, because at the time I only had one response on the blade and the ad was taken down.
The blade at the time was listed for $500 or a trade for a PS4, as I had a PS4 I had bought for $50 I was going to trade but wanted to know the authenticity on the blade and if it was able to be more than just a show piece.
But now, months later, the ad is reposted for $250 and I am offering $100 for it and would just like to know if that offering would be justified on either of our ends.
Click to expand...

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/new-members-please-read-this-what-is-my-knife-worth.1174699/

Nothing regarding guidelines here has changed. The sword will be sold (or not) at whatever value a buyer will judge in the purchase. As a lackluster reproduction (fake), street value is going to be minimal. Some of the more thought out reproductions might reach the original price, as brand new. If the sword appeals to you and the value seems fair, go for it. Do realize though that little more can be evaluated, aside from finding a twin on eBay, or similar that offer such swords for as little as 99 cents plus shipping of less than $100.

So, to sum up, you are not allowed to ask the value unless you upgrade and the sword has not appreciated in value. A faux copy is still not a WWII sword.

Buy the sword and not the story. Also, disregard the experts that have little knowledge of these swords. The first replies are pretty much spot on, so I'd not waste a lot of time in hoping to find a hidden antique diamond in the rough.

Cheers
GC
 
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