Crude Tanto from my first post

[Pitt1999]

This tanto was featured in one of my photos from my first post I made on this forum. I forgot who said it but one user pointed this out as being a Japanese WW2 piece, I question that identification.

When you take a close look at the details there are a number of elements that don't line up with traditional Japanese craftsmanship.

First on the list is that the blade is held in the hilt by two pegs rather than one. While I imagine that there are some Japanese swords with this two peg construction floating around somewhere, I have never seen one. The pegs do appear to be made of bamboo for what that's worth.

Next let's address the "habaki" if you can even call it that. It seems to be a simple piece of copper/brass that was wrapped around the base of the blade. I am not sure what is holding it in place, but I have not attempted to remove it. In some of the photos you can see that this piece goes down into the hilt about an inch or so.

The tang sits completely to one side of the hilt rather than being centered. From the little bit of knowledge I have concerning Japanese sword hilt manufacturing techniques, there is meant to be some offset to one side but not to the point that it is this obvious.

The blade appears to be the tip of a sword blade that has been recycled but this could be wrong. Reading about the so called "island swords" on this forum sowed some uncertainty in me, leading me to consider that this tanto could have been made in the Philippines. Perhaps to cater to American G.I.'s that didn't get any genuine Japanese souvenirs at the end of the war.

I would like to hear all of your opinions on this tanto. I don't know why, but this rough and dingy looking tanto is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. I considered putting this on the NMB, but I figured it wouldn't get much attention there.

[Ian]

Hi Pitt,

Thanks for reposting this interesting piece. I agree that this could well have been made in the Philippines, possibly during WWII. Filipino craftsmen are good at assembling facsimiles of other cultures' knives, and I have seen many contemporary small "tantos" sold as souvenirs around the country. Some are actually quite good little knives. Also, there are many Japanese visitors to the Philippines.

This one might have been made for a GI, or it could have been made for a Japanese soldier. Not all Japanese soldiers inherited fine weapons or could afford a well made tanto. Your knife looks like it has seen some use.

I like these old warriors. Yours could probably tell a few tales.

[Lee]

I, too, like this little knife. The form surely does remind one of a tanto in shirasaya, though the construction details are different. Of course, these are clearly simple working mountings rather than 'resting' storage mounts. The back appears to have a ridge. Is there any trace of a hamon (differential heat treating)?

Lew had a pedang with a blade that quite strongly resembled a Japanese sword blade (http://vikingsword.com/lew/w0132/w0132.html). Ultimately, XRF disclosed a composition much more consistent with typical Indonesian blades than Japanese ones.

In any case, I understand why your small knife would be a favorite

[Pitt1999]

I have a photo of the tang, as you can tell I haven't gotten around to cleaning it. I'll have to take a closer look at the blade later to see if there is a hamon. I had a theory about what this knife could be before I arrived at the "island sword" theory.

My theory was that this was the Japanese equivalent of the G.I. produced theater knives, or that this was some Japanese farmer's working knife. This knife looks like it was very hastily constructed with limited materials and without proper equiment needed to produce a higher quality piece. When I first purchased this knife I immediately assumed it was Japanese made due to the bamboo mekugi. I made the assumption that someone attempting to copy a tanto would simply make the mekugi out of whatever wood they had available to them rather than go through the effort of making them out of bamboo.

I should have provided some measurements in my opening post. If I remember correctly, it is 12 1/2 inches overall with an 8 inch blade (7 1/2 if you subtract the length of the habaki). I will also add that if this is a Filipino made copy of a tanto, whoever made it actually took note of the purpose of the habaki. When sheathing this knife the habaki does prevent the blade from falling out of the scabbard, I have to shake it around a fair bit before the knife falls out.