Kevin's Watch

So my buddy has a scabbard that his Grandfather got in World War Two. We have no idea whether or not this is a real katana, because the swords are Japanese and the scabbard has a bunch of Chinese characters on it.

Anyone have any ideas on what these mean? Please, announce guess's. If you don't know for sure, then tell me before posting an answer.

Thanks guys!


--Balon, the Powerless

Hmm... that is odd.

It is fairly odd. My immediate reaction would be to ask how your buddy's grandfather came across it. Could it have fallen in to the possession of a chinese army personell for a time? Except the marks on the exposed blade's handle (where the proper one should be) are strange.

Dig deep Balon. I would love to hear an answer.

In the meantime I'll see if I can show these to a Chinese friend of mine.

cheers

hey, i'll do the same...i have several chinese friends at work and as soon as i get there, i'll ask one of them to look at this.

i'll bet miss fanny will know. she's 71. she's very smart. she know's LOTS of stuff. i'll bet she'll know what it says anyway. anyway, i'll ask her.

ok...balon...

miss fanny looked at this. she says its japanese she thinks. she wrote it down and is taking it to her husband who knows japanese.

she said the one on the blade (second picture) says something like "life of ---" and a name

anyway...i'll let you know what she says. ( i told you miss fanny would help! )

yep, they are Japanese characters.
I don't know any Japanese people.

But it does make more sense now, especially those characters engraved on the blade hilt.

Thanks for the help guys.

I was talking to my brother (a japanese wiz kid) and he was explaining that the characters could go either way. The further back in time you go, the bigger the grey zone between whether or not it is kanji (japanese copies of chinese characters) or actuall Chinese charatcers. The next step, I guess, is to find out exactally when the Grandfather picked it up.

More coming soon!

Don't now for sure...

But in photo #3, I have the impression that it may be an officer's(?) sword from WWII.
Simular to the old calvery swords that the U.S. officers had.

Wooden sabbard with burnt-in characters? (Not bamboo?)
Could had been a personal sword.

My brother doesn't think that it's a Katana anyway. "Not long or curved enough" so it could be an officer's sword rather than the former.

Anyways, it turns out that the characters are inked in. Also, the blue strips are tape to hold the two halves together, where normally I think a metla band would hold the two halves together.

Thats all the new info I have.

Greetings all. This is Balon's friend, Christopher.

This sword was a souvenir my grandfather brought back from his service overseas during either WWII or the Korean War. I'm waiting to hear back about which tour he picked it up on. He passed away in 1998 so I'm gathering stories from my aunts and uncles and doing what I can to piece it all together.

I've done some additional checking locally and was told that it probably is an officer's sword and is likely no older than the 1940's (give or take a decade). The characters (which are painted on the scabbord, rather than burned in) could be a family history of: a) the sword's owner; or b) the sword's maker...or perhaps a bit of both.

I was also told that the engraving on the bottom of the blade is likely either a place of origin or the maker's "mark".


Thanks for any additional help anyone can provide.

Just want to say welcome to the Watch, Last Call!

Damn, I'd sell a chunk of my soul for that. (I collect edged weapons.)

Can't help really though...also thought that the characters engraved on the tang were Japanese.

Look forward to hearing back from LuciMay though.

Can say that officer's swords in WWII were often made by Chinese or Korean prisoners of war.

The important question is whether or not it was sharp when he got it. If the blade had an edge, then it was a personal sword that was issued and used. If the blade was unsharpened, then it had never been issued.

--A

Did you ever find out what it says?

Not yet. My brother is going to take the pics to his japanese teacher and see what she thinks. Even if she doesn't know the history, at least she'll be able to read what it says.

That would be cool.