Bruce Pennington

I would be interested to learn what is written on the box as well.

Alex, get both the serial number on the back and a photo of the date. If they don’t lineup correctly we know it’s a fake. However, I’ve seen two of these and they had an appropriate serial number for the year. So if they are fakes, they’re smart enough to know how to date them to match the serial number. But let’s try to find out shall we? This is the fourth one I’ve seen now, but it is a bit unique with the “Ren” stamp. I will have to check my records but I’m pretty darn sure that there are no Ren stamps on Koa Isshin blades. I am on the road, but will check when I get home. They may have finally made a fatal mistake. Plus, the Ren stamp looks hand chiseled and not a stamp at all. It should be a stamp.

They were selling for US$3600 before Covid hit. So this is a really good price. Love the look of this one Neil.

Found a Star-stamped Kiyokatsu, 1943, number 86, but no katakana. Don’t know what to think about that. I am finding blades by these guys with no numbers, with numbers but no katakana, and with katakana and numbers. Regardless of what that means, if the katakana that do show up seem to be from particular areas, then we still have something to work with. haven’t finished the Kiyokatsu search. edit: finished, no luck in him. @george trotter if you can give me some names from one of the other provinces I’ll run a search on them.

The life of the large Seki stamp just extended into 1944! Found this 1944 Kanemori with a large Seki stamp e-sword.jp/sale That just shows that the use tapered off rather than dropped dead.

Mark, Any chance the nakago has numbers stamped on the end of it? If so, could we get clear pictures of it and both sides of the nakago? Is it star-stamped?

George, I can't make out the number on this. Do we have this one already, and is this a Sadaroku? Edit: Never mind! Found it on another post - It's a Feb '44 Sadaroku, タ2383

Got my first hit: Sadaroku, 1943, Ta 1361; fittings not shown but only 1 mekugi ana; thread by our own @vajo So 3 in the Niigata area with the same katakana. Like much of this kind of work, I went through several Sadaroku with no numbers at all, but the few I've seen like that were dated earlier than '43. I haven't finished the search on him yet. Edit: Make that 4: Feb '44 Sadaroku, タ2383. Update: No luck on numbered blades for Sadakiyo and Yoshimitsu

Chris, is this in Type 98 fittings? Just wanting to know for the files. Thanks!

Maybe I'm missing something? "grades" as in "company grade" and "field grade" are officer terms. Company grad is Lt - Capt; Field grade is Major - Colonel.

Thanks George. That will give me plenty to search for, for now. One thing I just realized is that these katakana stamped numbers only show up in 1943 and '44, with most of them, currently, in '44. So that will really reduce the pool of blades to find others. Well, off to the searches.

Good work yourself, George! Thanks for looking into it. I'll start thinking up ways to search for these. Since they seem to be on RJT blades, a search of known RJT smiths by name might be a place to start. Maybe if you could give me a name or 2 of other RJT smiths in the same area as the single ones we already have?

Loved the whole video, thanks Geraint!

Thanks Trystan, I have the first one, but not the second. It's perfect, thanks!

Looking for a good, clear, photo of an intact "Na" of Nagoya Arsenal from an officer blade nakago. I have plenty from Type 95s and I have several partial Na's from officer blades. I do have 1 intact Na, but the image is small and blurry. Any help guys?