Imperial Japanese Army Shingunto Sword JS16

Imperial Japanese WW2 Army Officer Sword in Shin Gunto mount with a blade made by a very famous Showa period master Hatano Akinobu. He produces only high grade hand forge blade and is a very well known and very well documented gendaito sword smith. He won many awards during his period and his blades were ranked as Kibin no Retsu in Tosho Banzuke in 1942. Awarded Special Honor Seats by Hagio Takahashi at Nihon Kendo Oyobi Token in 1941. His teacher was the legendary Kurihara Hikosaburo Akihide. This is a custom handmade blade by owner's request. Tang has a very long mei with 25 characters total engraved on both side. One side of the tang reads "For Master Horii Toshi, Hatano Akinobu made this". The other side reads "Surely Win, Royal calender two thousand six hunderd and five year eight month lucky day". Very rare custom ordered hand forged blade with Superb sharp cutting edge. Blade carries a very graceful and thick hamon with nice itame hada metal grain. This bright hamon appears so strong that it can be easily seen by naked eye. This is a beautiful, sharp and healthy gendai blade with a very graceful shape in Superb Flawless Condition overall. No crack, no bend, no blister, no kizu, no nick and no forging flaws at all. Blade comes with a high grade war time polish with rare polisher marks and still has about 95% + original polish on it. Nagasa measures 24.5". Sword overall 38" with 9.5" handle. Early style Shin gunto mount with thick pierced tsuba and heavy metal scabbard with minor dents, paint lost. Overall blade is in very good original condition with only normal minor strains and scratches from war time used.