Hi again everyone,

Can you help to confirm or correct my findings please.

A good friend of mine bought a 'Mantetsu' sword, set up in full naval Kai-Gunto, with a ray saya, clear lacquered. As pretty as a picture, he has shown it to me, and I asked why he called it a Mantetsu blade, it was because he was told that, and it was made out of railway lines.

Well I don't think it is! Here's what I think, the anchor stamp on the nakago is not a Naval acceptance stamp. I have seen this stamp before and always on swords made at the Tenshozan Taren-jo forge in Kamakura Japan. The anchor is the workshops trademark stamp, and they produced dress swords exclusively for the Navy.

Now I am right or wrong depending on the Tachi-mei translation, can you help please.

Best regards

Denis.

Converted the files from .tif to jpeg, and resized.

Brian

Seeing as how the mei reads "Tenshozan Tanren Jo Kitae kore" I would think it was indeed made at the naval shop in Tenshozan and not a Mantetsu blade....

Brian, Thanks no wonder I tried to ages to upload, Tiff versus Jpeg, I should have known better.

Regards


And to you Chris, just the answer I was hoping for, definite conformation.

Cheers both.

Denis.

Just a thought, all the Mantetsu blades I have had , the mei has been a master piece, so different from all other blades so as to make them un mistakable.
Roy

Hi Roy

Do all the Manchurian blades carry a stamp of an M straddling a cross section railway line?

Denis.

Most do not. I believe it is only the early ones that have this mark...

Not sure we are talking about the same but the W stamp appears on blades made by Takehisa and Haruhisa.

Thanks Chris

I had been told it was the definitive stamp for the Koa Isshin blade, and that is why I have never seen one as it is an early mark.

And Bruno thanks for your input, it is an M and not a W. the M straddles a section of railway line,i.e. as looked at end on. If I had known this has been covered this forum Stamp/crest on a gusto. Wed 23 June 2010. By Arnaud.

Cheers

Denis.