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.