Kai Gunto By Gassan SadaKatsu

This blade is signed Showa ju hachi-nen Gassan SadaKatsu Kinsaku with the Kao which means Showa the 18th year, humbly made by Gassan SadaKatsu with his crest. The other side reads: Sumiyoshi Okami Go-shin no Takara O-tachi Yokp which means Great God Sumiyoshi, honored God's treasure the honored sword remaining light. I think this and another sword were made for the Sumiyoshi shrine making this a shrine sword? Or perhaps it came out of one, I guess that is speculation but there is another near identical sword tot his one out there so I doubt they were made for a person, still, this one has naval mounts so if you know the answer please let me know. This blade measures 26 3/4 inches in length which is actually longer then typical for a naval sword, naval blades are normally a bit short. It is really nice to see mitsu-mune on this one and as so often itame hada. The temper is a nice gunome-midare with a lot of wonderful activity. The blade is spectacular, slightly hazy of polish but you can still see everything pretty well. The boshi is wonderful and trust me, you will be impressed! I did bring this sword to a show a few years back and showed it to a couple of collectors, it was a show stopper! This blade was made in 1943 very shortly before he died, I think it may have been made for a shrine also, so you can imagine he would never insult the Gods. This blade is spectacular, sorry to be repetitive but it is! The habaki is silver foil and of the moss pattern as we expect to see on Gassan blades. The naval mounts are in pretty good condition, the says has shark skin lacquered over which looks nice with very nice quality and conditioned fittings. The tsuka is in fine condition also and has a black lacquered same under the tsuka-ito. Super nice menuki with typical but high quality fuchi and kashira. The tsuba is typical with the dai-seppa but they are a little different, engraved on each side it reads "Gunto Hokoku dai yon ni roku-go" which means "Patriotic Military Sword 426" If anyone knows what this represents I would love to know!