dwmc

1 hour ago, reeder said:

Possibly Rai Kunimitsu. 

Thanks Brandon, I had also considered a Rai smith, but was thinking Masa or Sada, however, I believe your Kuni character is more likely correct!

Thanks again,

Dave 

I think I'm possibly seeing a Mune and a Mitsu kanji, however, there seems to be horizontal strokes in between???Dave M.

On 5/24/2022 at 8:52 AM, Levallois said:

Brian and Bruce, I appreciate the answers to my newb questions and recommendation for reference material. Also, the discussion about patina of the tang.  On another note,  I noticed from looking at the photos on these websites that my scabbard is missing the ishizuke - is it worth me trying to find one to match?

There are a couple of ishizuki available on the ebay site ( 4520genkidayo ) at the present time. However, as PNSSHOGUN (John) mentioned, Shin Gunto fittings are difficult to match in exact size as they are made for each individual saya. Best bet is to attend one of Japanese sword shows in the the US and fit ishizuki in hand for as close as possible fitting...

Dave

18 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Real nice, Gareth!

 

The angled marks on the habaki edge are " III \I \I" or "366" matching the rest of the numbered fittings.  It's a modified Roman Numeral system using "\" as "5".

 

I've noted multiple punch marks, like your 3 dots, but no one has come up with a purpose or source (fitting shop? forge? smith?).  Also, I know I've seen the square punch before, too, but cannot find my earlier photo of it.  I don't know what they are either.  Upon magnification, they seem to have a logo or something embedded in the square.  But I've only seen this twice, now, and neither had enough detail to make it out.

Is it possible some of these nakago symbol's and fitting numbers are more ritual/spiritual than manufacturing codes. 

The number 6 is not considered a lucky number in Japan, however, 3x5=15 or 3+6+6=15 which results in 5 number 3's which are considered lucky? 

Are the three dots on the nakago possibly an aposiopesis, suggesting trailing off in to silence, or something that continues spiritually unspoken?

The square another spiritual/ritual symbol, for instance the significance of pouring sake into a glass inside a masu, or one of many possibilities of a face/figure inside a square?  

Just a thought,

Dave M.

Excellent Sword Gareth!

Beyond a bit of age discoloration on the fittings, the sword looks as though it could have been made a month ago.

Hopefully, Bruce Pennington or one of the other members can help identify the nakago stamp and habaki kanji...

Very nice indeed,

Dave M.

2 hours ago, MarcoUdin said:

I can't say I've had the opportunity to meet Jimmy but would like to. Does anybody know if he attends San Francisco sword show, seen as how he lives there?

 

I've met both Woody and Bob, and both are still polishing. Woody is by himself now in Las Vegas. I haven't had anything polished by them, but I know that they've both polished blades that have eventually went Juyo.

It's been a while since I've been to the SF sword show, although I can't imagine Mr. Hayashi not attending. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jimmy about a couple of swords I had brought to the show. Mr. Hayashi impressed me as a friendly soft spoken individual, who was very generous with his time and expertise in evaluating your swords. He is an individual I would trust with any level sword I owned....

Dave M.

Twenty years ago I walked in to a small Pawn shop in Roswell, NM and bought a RS signed by Kanetsugu dated 1945 with "Gi" stamp for $200. 

Well, since then, as Stephen has suggested shop owners have been watching to many TV shows. Just a guess, but I suspect the shop owner took in the NCO shown above for less than $150. 

In the past few years, I've bought several swords from pawn shops/military stores and have found (most) of them willing to negotiate in a fairly reasonable manner.

I have to admit, even the sword which Bruce has located, I find some what intriguing. It appears solid with the only real problem as its loss of paint and the blade possibly only needing a bit of a cleaning in an appropriate manner. When I see a sword like this, I can't help but wonder, how did it get to this condition, did it lay in the rain and mud for days on Okinawa, did it remain in a damp garage for 75 years, did someone apply paint remover?  There seems to be a little original greenish brown paint remaining near the hanger.

Definitely curious to see if someone will be willing to have Bruce negotiate...

Dave M.

Scott, excellent advice from Stephen with the Japanese sword index as a source of Japanese sword information. I may have overwhelmed you a bit with the terms in my earlier post, but with a little study within the sword index, your knowledge will be greatly increased, and sword terms will be quite clear.

Dave M.

Nothing particularly unusual about an unsigned sword, many reasons and much speculation as to why. There are many on the board that will hopefully provide an estimate as to age of your sword. To my eye however, the sword appears to be at least Shinshinto era and possibly older. The kissaki is a bit longer than what could be considered Chu and possibly a bit short of O kissaki. It could be just the photo, but it looks as though it is Koshi-sori which could indicate older age. The Tsuka, Tsuba, Habaki, and Same' are very nice and upper grade.

Please acquire some high quality sewing machine oil and apply a light coat to the blade to prevent further rusting.

Saya ??

Dave M.

22 minutes ago, Lareon said:

I was happy with my first unboxing, was simply a showa sword and the second one well...i got a refund on that :D

I recall now it was you Lareon, and thought it was interesting idea sharing an "unboxing" with members. Glad to hear you received a refund on the second one.

Best regards,

Dave M.

Thank you for the additional information Bruce. I had a Rinji Seishiki in my collection a few years ago which also had a gifu stamp. The blade was dated 1945. I sold it for a reason I fail to recall, and have suffered from a mild case of sellers remorse ever since. My collection just didn't seem right with out at least one Rinji Seishiki.

A few weeks ago I noticed what appeared to be a very nice Rinji Seishiki in a display case in a military store online. I managed  to contact the owner and inquired if the sword was available for sale, by the appearance of the koshirae it had the potential of being a higher grade sword. The owner informed me the items in display cases were not for sale. However, he did have three other Rinji Seishiki's that were available.

The other three all had tags, two tags indicated the nakago's were not signed, one was. I asked the owner which sword he would prefer and he mention all three were fairly nice, but liked the signed one best. He mentioned he had never removed the tsuka and was only going by what he had been told, I know now why he hadn't checked the signature. When the sword arrived, it took me over an hour to carefully remove one of the mekugi.

I was very happy upon removing the tsuka it did indeed have date, signature, and the bonus of a gifu stamp. You guys basically saw it at the same time I did.

Appreciate the likes...

Dave M.

I noticed a while back someone posted an "Unboxing" of a as yet unseen sword which had just arrived in the mail. I thought this was kind of a fun idea, so I decided do an (unboxing) as I had a sword which was going to arrive that I also had not seen. If I recall correctly, the individual previously had rather unfortunate results...

It's definitely a roll of the dice purchasing a sword online, and until you have the sword in hand you really can't be sure of what you have.

Well, it arrived today so lets take a look. I knew it was at least Rinji Seishiki.  Ok...not a Star Stamped Rinji, but a decent Katsu Masa, 1944 with Gifu stamp.

Wasn't overly expensive, I'm happy with It.

Dave M.

Seems to be a trend recently Bruce. A high "Buy it now" price along with a "Make offer."

Dave M.

Most of the time in situations such as this, it's about the attempt to open a new market.

For years the bar stock Showato and Hantan remained (somewhat) the lower tier of the Japanese sword world. Illegal in Japan, and for many knowing at least a little about Japanese swords realize "Showato" were accepted to be simply machine made stamped out blades with little or no custom work involved. A generic weapon of war...hence, less value.

As per remarks above, many of us are resistant to this "opening up" to a new or different way of thinking, myself included. In the case of this particular sword, I fail to recognize how it could be a profitable product at $3 K usd ... Cost of sword, cost of polish, cost of nice korshirae, cost of Shinsa. Hmmm.

I own Showato, Gendaito, and Nihonto. I consider them all equal in respect of the individual historic value.

The market will be the determining factor as the whether polishing, papering, marketing Showato will be successful.

Will it ever be accepted by the Japanese sword collecting community???

Again, simply an opinion,

Dave M.

Perhaps Kanbun Shinto ??  Example below...

Dave M.

17 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

@dwmc  Does this nakago have numbers stamped at the end, probably on the other side?

Hi Bruce,

No numbers stamped on nakago. Only what can be seen in the pictures above,  Kiyomichi, anchor stamp, and what appear to be black painted numbers.

Nothing on the other side!

Dave M.

John,

I mentioned your sword loss to my wife (30 yrs with USPS) and yes there are definitely thieves. However, is that your tape shown in the photo used to repair the box. She said that type tape would never be used by USPS for repair of a package. Identifying which postal service uses that particular type dark duct tape could at least narrow the search somewhat.

Again, good luck and hope it shows up,

Dave M.

Damn...This is precisely the reason I am reluctant to send any of my swords anywhere by mail. Therefore, in a sense crippling me in pursuit of improving my collection by polish, shinsa, etc. Insurance, ok fine, but does it truly compensate for loss.

Hopefully, as mentioned it somehow came out of packaging, (by looks of photo above) and is now in the possession of a Postal Supervisor waiting to be returned to rightful owner...

Hopefully turns out for the best,

Dave M.

My guess would also be legit. Under higher magnification, you can see it not quite as pristine as it appears in most of the pictures. The saya looks as though it has been knocked around a bit and has the damage one might expect...

Dave M.

6 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Oh, got it, thanks David!  So the posted pics don't show the date.  I'll file them with the text stating the date.

The date is there Bruce, it just doesn't have the normal Showa characters we usually associate with date inscriptions.

Apparently the Jyu Roku Nen is just a given for the Showa period in this case.

Get well soon,

Dave M.

45 minutes ago, Nobody said:

That is an honorable certificate from Army Infantry Major Tahara San’nosuke to an infantry Noma Shimakichi for his excellent result in basic shooting.

Thank you Mr. Koichi !

Dave M.

45 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Can we see another certificate? Are they all exactly the same?

The certificates I observed in the envelope appeared to me as being all exactly the same, however, as per Mr. Koichi much appreciated explanation, the certificates are identical, but I now suspect on closer inspection the certificates will have each individual soldiers name. I'll check the other certificates when I visit the Military store in the near future. 

Dave M.

Just wanted to mention, I'm not looking for a full translation. Only a basic idea of what it is. It may not be associated with WWll Japanese Military at all...

Thanks again,

Dave M.

I acquired this document at a local military store. The owner of the store had a manila envelope of approx. 20 of the identical documents and had no clue as to 

what they represent. (Nor do I for that matter.) About the only thing I translate is the Showa date of 1940. I was thinking a date of 1940 may possible indicate

it may be a military document of some sort. I mentioned to the store owner, I would present it to the Translation section on the NMB and would hopefully

find out what it is.

As always, many thanks in advance,

Dave M.

I'm a bit along the same line as Mr. Ian Brooks. Many of the younger members here are of the era of $500 or $600 Type 95 swords, or what the prices are now at present. As long as I can remember, I've had an interest in Japanese swords, and would always take a look at any that I may happen to see at antique stores, Pawn Shops, Flea Markets, Etc.. For some reason however, I could never generate enough interest in the Type 95 to purchase one, even when the prices 40+ years ago were $50 or so. Although, I was tempted once to buy a copper handled one for $125, but quite foolishly didn't...

Finally, after all these years, I entered a small antiques shop and found the 95 pictured below, and knew I wasn't going to leave without it, although it was considerably more than $50...

Dave M.

Yes, all of the seppa and tsuba have the matching number of 98.

Don't have a clue of what the stamped numbers on the nakago's 

could be, possibly Stephen or one of the other members may know or

at least have an idea...

Dave M.