Bruce Pennington

Glad it went to you Conway! An update on observed Mantetsu in MRS fittings. 20 so far: Manchurian Rinji Seishiki (MRS) Fittings Date Serial Number Notes Source 1938 Winter N 156 SMR IJASWORDS, NMB 1942 Spring Unknown Sohei swords/ebay 1944 Spring SE 489 Ren ebay 1944 Spring SE 1029 Ren 1944 Spring SE 1066 Ren 1944 Spring SE 1144 Ren 1944 Spring SE 1251 1944 Spring SE 1310 Ren Leather Saya Cvr 1944 Spring SE 1344 Ren 1944 Spring No serial number Ren Gold Saya Worthpoint 1944 Spring SE 2430 Ren 連工 1944 Spring SE 2575 Ren 連工 1944 Spring SU 10 Ren 連工 1944 Spring ? 199 Ren 連工 1945 I 88 Mumei Conway, NMB 1945 I 142 Unknown Fuller 1945 I 164 Mumei St Croix swords 1945 I 165 Mumei Remilitaria.com 1945 I 285 Mumei ND blade only Steve, NMB 1945 I 1170 Mumei ND

We have discussed WWII gunto getting registration papers before. Still looking for a good link. Here's one from a while back: Working from memory, it has to do with the fact that they are letting people register WWII gunto that have "been discovered" in their homes lately. Shops and antique dealers have some sort of legal right to register swords, too.

The real experts will answer properly, but in my files with the kiku mon, I have 2 - 4 times more blades from him than any other smith.

August 1943

That's a personal decision. The sword was 'free', so the $2,000+ polish plus what you spend on fittings, will put it close to $3,000 invested. You'll not sell it for that much money, so monetarily, it's not "worth" the restoration. But for a family heirloom, the price won't matter, if one has the budget to do so. They are quite beautiful when restored.

Could use closer shots of the stamps and tsuka diamonds, but it looks like legit, with a total repaint. Tassel is either a repro or like Thomas said, from another country. I'd be excited about this one, even with the repaint due to the very early handle design. Note the barrel screw passed through the ito on one side, and the wrap starts against the fuchi on one side and crosses away from it on the other like real ito does. They modified the design a little later. I had one of these a while back, but traded it to Stegel for a kyugunto. I haven't see the fakers use this pattern tsuka.

Thanks Phil, and thanks for the additional photos. The all brown tassel tells us the sword was carried by a Gunzoku, the civilian branch of the Army.

Thought I would update this conversation, as we've since found 3 other smiths with the Matsu stamp - Chikafusa, Kiyokuni, and Tsugunobu; all on 1943 blades: Matsu 1941, July Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 106 (RS ana) Slough 1941, Sep Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 249 Type 98 Trotter Survey, no pics 1941, Sep Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 308 Type 98 Trotter Collection 1941, Dec Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 566 RS Model Windy NMB ? Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 61 RS Trotter Survey, no pics ? Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 97 NMB 1942, Feb Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 542 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Apr Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 11 RS Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 422 ? star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 433 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Oct Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 451 RS Davidequis NMB 1942, Dec Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 382 T98 Quest Master W-A 1942, Dec Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 577 RS star MacTheWhopper NMB 1943, Jan Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 508 T98 star Trotter Survey, no pics 1943, Feb Nagano Kiyokuni (RJT) 松 16 Ray Singer, NMB 1943, Feb Nagano Chikafusa (RJT) 松 20 Bangbangsan, NMB 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 618 RS star Schmucker Collection 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 819 RS star Vajo, Trotter Survey 1943, Mar Nagano Kiyokuni (RJT) 松 12 Guest Rayhan, NMB 1943, Mar Gunma Tsugunobu (RJT) 松 22 RS Star Bangbangsan, NMB RS 1943, May Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 1080 RS star Trotter Collection, イ403 on fittings 1943, May Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 1082 RS star baldi1942 NMB 1943, Oct Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 1377 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1943, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 443 RS star ? NMB

Yes, good eye! The "REN" stamp.

Dang. Don't think I had that one on file. I've messaged him to see if he's got a serial number photo on file.

Phil, A couple of requests, if not too much trouble - Is that tassel all brown, or a faded blue/brown? Also, could I get a photo of the Seki stamp or of the full nakago showing the stamp? I assume no date on the other side?

That's quite unusual! Don't know if it's a stamp or a mark, maybe, of a clamp when they added the bohi? Unusual location if it's a stamp, though. Those are normally seen above the ana or at the jiri.

Good example, Sam. The polished wood work on that one in Dawson's book looks quite like the OP saya wood.

Well, so far, it still appears to be a late war Japanese-made sword. The tsuba (handguard), seppa (spacers), dark same' (rayskin) and small mekugi ana (hole in tang) are all signs of swords made in the last year of the war. Do you not have a scabbard (saya)?

Hello Jpoe. Is that what you go by? We like to have a real first name, or a nickname you go by, for our conversations. We'll need some better photos of the blade to judge it properly. Full length, bare naked blade; full length of the bare tang (nakago) with the brass habaki (collar) removed; a couple of close-ups of the temper line and blade tip. With the limited photos at hand, it mostly looks like a WWII era blade in Japanese officer gunto fittings. It should have a wooden scabbard (saya) with leather cover, but the cover is often missing. You can see photos of complete ones here: 九八式軍刀略式外装 Informality mounting (ohmura-study.net)