VERY RARE*ANCIENT 17thC FAMILY BLADE*BULLET DAMAGED*OKINAWA BATTLEFIELD RECOVERED*WW2 Japanese KIA Officer’s Sword Smith Signed ‘IKEDA KISHINMARU KUNI SHIGE’ Officer’s Rank Tassel, Hanger & Battle Damaged Scabbard With Archive Label & Expert Asses Sword

*VERY RARE*ANCIENT 17thC FAMILY BLADE*BULLET DAMAGED*OKINAWA BATTLEFIELD RECOVERED*WW2 Japanese KIA Officer’s Sword Smith Signed ‘IKEDA KISHINMARU KUNI SHIGE’ Officer’s Rank Tassel, Hanger & Battle Damaged Scabbard With Archive Label & Expert Assessment. - 23803:7

*VERY RARE*ANCIENT 17th CENTURY FAMILY BLADE*BULLET DAMAGED*OKINAWA BATTLEFIELD RECOVERED*WW2 Japanese KIA Officer’s Katana Sword Smith Signed ‘IKEDA KISHINMARU KUNI SHIGE’ Officer’s Rank Tassel, Hanger & Battle Damaged Scabbard With Historical Archive Label & UK Expert Assessment. Sn 23803:7 The Battle of Okinawa (codenamed Operation Iceberg) was the last major battle of World War II, fought from April 1 to June 22, 1945. The extreme high cost of lives on both sides and fierce resistance at Okinawa heavily influenced President Harry S. Truman's decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki later that summer. This is an original WW2 Japanese NCO's Katana and scabbard with Combat damage recovered from the Okinawa battle theatre and retain the ‘C9’ archive tags / labels. The sword & scabbard have battle damage which consists of 2 bullet strikes piercing the scabbard. The bullets passed through the scabbard one striking the spine of the blade the other clipping the cutting edge. The blade strikes match the holes in the scabbard indicating that the Japanese Officer was hit by gun fire during battle while carrying the sword sheathed. The sword has been assessed by UK Japanese sword expert Bill Tagg, his notes accompany the sword and state “a small katana from the 17th century very rare example of a battle damaged sword in original as found condition not altered. Has last owner's label with info' and opinion from the to-ken society news letter no 179, dated sept/1998 published by clive sinclair chairman of the to-ken society at that time purportably from japanese officer shot dead on okinawa by a British Soldier? Needs more research. Badly rusted tang (nakago) bears what is just about visible the makers signature of ikeda kishinharu kuni shige in tenna period circa 1681 settu osaka province rated chujo saku above average & maker of sharp swords see to-ken journal no 179 sept/1998 see markus sesko book page 462 see hawley's revised, page 294, kun 1135 though in poor condition this is a desirable collectors item for the man who likes genuine examples of a battle field pickup. Damaged leather covered saya very rusty iron tsuba signed nobu ie edo period (to faint to photograph). Tsuka very dirty with abuse & war use has saurute loop with Lt/to captains rank tassel finished off with scarce sword suspension strap. In 50 years i have only seen half a dozen blades with bullet strikes right through them”. In his illustrations of the blade bill describes the cutting edge as 61 cm and overall length 76mm. Identifies 2 bullet strikes (which match scabbard damage holes indicating the Officer was KIA while sword sheathed). He also translates the tang smith signature and describes other blade dimensions and characteristics”. The previous owner’ historical archive label and collection ‘C9’ labels and disc also accompany the sword. The hand written archive label reads “C9 Smith: Ikeda Kishinmaru Kunishige, personal name Chobei - a pupil of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke in Osaka, before moving to Ikeda Period: Tenna (1681) Settsu (Osaka) province, one of a group of smiths originating in Mizuta, Bitchu province, tracing their origin back to Aoe school. Chujosaku (average +), wazamono (sharp). Said to have been taken from a Japanese Officer shot dead on Okinawa – apparently by a British soldier. Published Clive Sinclair, "Modern kiri-komi?", Token Programme 179 (Sept. 1998), pp. 26-28 Nobuie tsuba (signed)”. The price for this very rare piece of Okinawa history, a family blade taken to war includes UK delivery. Sn 23803:7

£2,450.00