A signed katana by the fourth-generation Hizen Masahiro, Kawachi Daijō, made between 1708 and 1733, in fresh polish with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers and a period koshirae with dragon tsuba and lobster fittings.
Spring 1943 Koa Isshin Mantetsu (serial HI 624) — among the last of the recorded 1943 Mantetsu blades, with the muji-hada and suguha hamon that define the type.
A matched samurai kabuto and menpo in the Tōhoku regional style of the mid-to-late Edo period — a complete head-and-face armour set with the dark lacquer character of the northern provinces.
A brown-lacquered samurai helmet crested with a ken, the straight double-edged sword, and gilt mon on the turnbacks, offered with a menpo in the same brown lacquer that keeps its detachable nose, vermilion interior and grey hair moustache.
A family-heirloom Shin Guntō with a saya-label attribution to the Higo Dōtanuki line — the Kumamoto school of robust, battle-functional blades favoured by Katō Kiyomasa.
A katana signed 輝秀 (Teruhide) — the niji-mei of Musashi Ishidō Teruhide, last of the Ishidō Korekazu line — in characterful civilian koshirae bearing a manji family crest.
Spring 1941 Kōa Isshin Mantetsu, eto-dated Kanoto-Mi (辛巳) and signed Mantetsu saku kore — an earlier, more formally inscribed companion to our 1943 example.
Signed and dated in 1861, made to order by the smith Kawai Hisayuki in his seventy-sixth year, on a shimmering abalone-inlaid presentation shaft.
A Second World War Japanese sword carried by a gunzoku, a civilian official of the military: a Seki shōwatō signed Kuriki Kanemasa, in a cherry-blossom civilian mounting.
A Second World War bring-back: a Japanese blade signed Kanemichi, in its army officer's shin-guntō mounts with a leather field cover, accompanied by the original 1945 HQ Malaya Command war-trophy authorisation.
A Meiji-era Japanese Army officer's parade saber, Type 19 (1886) pattern, with a family mon on the backstrap and its bright nickel-plated dress scabbard still in excellent, untouched condition.
Mumei kotō-period blade with a clean gunome hamon, remounted at least three times across centuries of use. Now a bare blade with a slight bend, noted in the listing.
A second-model Luftwaffe officer's dagger by Paul Weyersberg of Solingen, complete with its scabbard and its silver bullion troddel, the fitting these are usually missing.
A shin-guntō koshirae with original leather combat cover and wooden saya. Single hanger, two leather seppa (one acting as cover retainer) and one metal seppa, wooden insert in place of the blade. Likely a Gunzoku fitting given the absence of cherry-blossom on the kabutogane.
Meiji-era Japanese police sabre with its original black sword tassel intact — the tassels are usually the first fitting to be lost.
Meiji-era Japanese cavalry sabre (kyū-guntō, serial 66729) — clean, complete pattern with original scabbard and fittings.
A complete Imperial Japanese Navy kaiguntō tsuba and seppa ensemble: central gilt-rim tsuba, two distinctive rayed sunburst seppa, and two smaller spacer pieces. Original wartime brass with age patina.
Original brown leather sword knot from a WW2 Japanese NCO sword — intact, with one break in the cord. The leather usually rots beyond repair.
A modern reproduction of the brown leather Imperial Japanese Army NCO sword knot — correct in material and form, for completing a Type 95 or NCO Shin Guntō display.
New to Japanese swords?
If you're thinking about buying a samurai sword in the UK, start here: what separates a genuine antique from a wall-hanger, what to expect to pay, and where a first-time buyer should begin.
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