Sword, Scabbard, D25.1447

Short sword - wakizashi. Hilt with rayskin wrapped with brown cord which is worn, frayed and coming undone. No menuki. Plain copper kashira and fuchi. Quatrefoil brass (?) tsuba decorated with two comic figures in high relief on one side and a lantern (?) on the other. Only one opening is tsuba for kozuka. Scabbard covered in black leather with copper tachi-type fittings of same pattern as fuchi and kashira. Slot in scabbard for kozuka but this is missing. Band of tortoiseshell inlaid in scabbard at bottom of slot. Kurikata present but no cord. Proximal end of scabbard has a small sticker with Japanese characters inside a red oval stuck on it. Length of blade: 41.5cm. Overall length (minus scabbard): 60cm.

Locality: Japan