Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Recently I found a sword in the mountains of Puerto Rico in a small store. After inquiring the owner if I might see it he graciously allowed. On initial inspection I thought ... this thing looks ancient! but the blade looked much newer,after many more visits this thing haunted me and finally I made him an offer to his liking and carried her home after weeks of research and many thousand kanji symbols later I,ve determined the blade was made by noshu suke saku And also has a tang stamp from toyokawa naval arsenal,the tang is osuriage.I am posting this because there are many curious things about it and I dont know which suke made this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 This is suke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 nakago pic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Sorry my photos are not so good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Nakago pic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pennington Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 John, we love doing this, and like to help, but dude! we need better pics - full handle, tang with writing, tip of blade, full view of blade and scabbard. All those things tell about the sword. Even with the 2 pics posted, though, it seems an odd mix of Type 3 gunto (sword) in a Type 98 saya (scabbard). And "Noshu" would be the province the smith worked in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Thank you for your responses i seem to be having a little trouble with the uploader as in "me" will try again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Kissaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Handle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 mei too blury for my old eyes, Steve might be able to read it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Blade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Will try again thanks for your patience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 One more try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Well after about fifty attempts,finally got a good picture of the mei this phone is a piece of do do.the interesting thing about this is the odd mix of army and navy elements and all seppa and handle have#45 for assembly numbers the sword has the typical brought back ww2 story was reportedly in the store for over thirty years hanging on a hook near the cieling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 More pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 One more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 wonder if the first kanji is a form of Kane? Kanesuke saku? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 KANESUKE (兼祐), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanesuke” (兼祐), real name Umemura Ken´ichi (梅村兼市), born January 1st 1909, he worked as a guntō smith and died June 20th 1958???????? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Thanks to steven for the email would have never guessed kanesuke as the upper symbol was the most difficult and Im new at this,does anyone know the significance of the painted symbols I thought it also read suke .but Im very new at this Thanks to all for helping me with this mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Paint is most often stocking numbers, same as seppa?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 豊佑作 (Toyosuke Saku) would be my guess. The suke in this mei uses ninben instead of shimesu-hen. Pretty confident on the Toyo. I have less confidence on the suke, but looking at the way 作 is carved, it seems that 佑 is more likely than 祐 - but I've had a look around at the online databases and I can find no online reference to 豊佑 or 豊祐, so it is bit of a mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Could this be nakirishi mei from seki city as the characters have similar style.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Not in the book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Could this have been an unknown smith working at the toyokawa armery as it has the anchor stamp in a circle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Thought I would add one more picture yeah I know they are not great but its the best I can do for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pennington Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Well after about fifty attempts,finally got a good picture of the mei this phone is a piece of do do.the interesting thing about this is the odd mix of army and navy elements and all seppa and handle have#45 for assembly numbers the sword has the typical brought back ww2 story was reportedly in the store for over thirty years hanging on a hook near the cielingWhile the real pros are working on the smith - The mix of army fittings on the clearly navy gunto make this, what is commonly called, a Marine Landing Sword. The IJN did not have "marines" as a seperate unit, but the navy troops that worked on land were often known to take up this style of saya with army fittings. They were originally gold-gilded like the navy fittings, but the gilding seems to wear off somehow. Nice blade! And yes, the painted numbers are 45 just like the stamped numbers on the seppa. Everyone agrees they were there to keep fitted parts together during manufacture and assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johncstroud Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 This thing has quite puzzled me now for many weeks,a kind thankyou for all your assistance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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