Ref: 1141 - A Very Rare General Officers Kyugunto (Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905) with 17th Century Family Kanbun Shinto Katana Blade.
A rare General Officers Colonel's Grade Kyugunto from the Russo-japanese war of 1904-1905 mounted with with a stunning Mumei (unsigned) Kanbun Shinto period 17th century katana blade. The blade is in superb original condition and in fine polish. There are a couple of scartches to the shinogi-ji, but no Kizu. This is a very rare example and swords of this type and quality rarely come up for sale nowadays. The sword is a very good weight in the hand and fast, so this was a swordsmans' sword unlike so many we see.
Overall length: 31 3/8"
Nagasa: 25 5/8"
Nakago: 5 3/4" - 3 Mekugi-ana
An outstanding example in superb condition...find another of this quality and standard...
Complete with Russo-Japanese mounts, Shirasaya and Tsunagi.
The Russo-Japanese War
The Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan fought the Russo-Japanese War during 1904 and 1905 over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of military operations were the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria, and the seas around Korea, Japan and the Yellow Sea. Russia sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean for its navy and for maritime trade. Vladivostok remained ice-free and operational only during the summer, whereas Port Arthur, a naval base in Liaodong Province leased to Russia by the Qing dynasty of China from 1897, was operational all year round. Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan feared Russian encroachment on its plans to create a sphere of influence in Korea and Manchuria. Russia had demonstrated an expansionist policy east of the Urals in Siberia and the Far East from the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century.
Seeing Russia as a rival, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea as being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded the establishment of a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan in Korea north of the 39th parallel. The Japanese government perceived a Russian threat to their plans for expansion into Asia and chose to go to war. After negotiations broke down in 1904, the Japanese Navy opened hostilities on 9 February 1904 by attacking the Russian Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur, China, in a surprise attack.
Russia suffered a number of defeats, but Emperor Nicholas II, convinced that Russia would win, chose to remain engaged in the war; at first, to await the outcomes of certain naval battles, and later to preserve the dignity of Russia by averting a "humiliating peace". Russia ignored Japan's willingness early on to agree to an armistice and rejected the idea of bringing the dispute to the Arbitration Court at The Hague. The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth (5 September), mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The complete victory of the Japanese military surprised international observers and transformed the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in Japan's emergence as a great power. In contrast, the losses in manpower and prestige for the Russian Empire contributed to growing unrest which culminated in the 1905 Russian Revolution (January 1905 onwards).