Bruce Pennington

I agree with you Jean. Unless it was, like John proposed as a possibility, that it was a broken or post-war cut blade used to make this after-market item. Nothing else is right for a Japanese rig. A view of the machi could prove useful, for sure.

That is the same stamp in Nick's example. Looks to me like a stylized "壽". Which makes me wonder, now, where the logo found on Type 95's came from. It seems to me that the one on 95's is a more full renditon of that kanji and the ones on early dirks are maybe simplified?

It does appear to have been hardened. Agree with John on this. Seeing the nakago might give us important clues.

You could be right Mario. Maybe someone who knows more about civil fittings, like @Dave R or @PNSSHOGUN, can say if this one is a civil saya.

It's the second forum in the Izakaya page: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/49-the-izakaya/

"Machine made" is shorthand for "non-traditionally made" - ALL WWII blades were made by men, using various tools. The most mechanized were the NCO Type 95s. I am not the right person to answer your question, so hopefully someone with that skill will answer. I have never seen a non-traditional blade with such a pattern, however this blade could have been made with all the same procedures as traditional blades, but if it was simply quenched in oil, rather than water, it would not receive the "traditional" title.

Bingo! Thanks Jussi!!! I'll pass this along. Appreciate it, guys!

Hi James, welcome! You've got a Type 98 Japanese officer gunto (sword) there. The saya (scabbard) would have originally been leather covered. These often get torn up and/or lost over the years. The writing is "47" and you might find the same number stamped on the tsuba/seppa set (handguard and spacers). Since each blade is always slightly different in size and thickness, these parts are custom fit to each blade. The numbers were put there to keep the various parts together during processing. I'm curious about the perpendicular marks in the hamon (temper line). Are the present the full length of the line, or just in this location?

All great stuff guys! Did some web searching. Seems Date' was in the 1600's. But wasn't Shinshinto in the 1800's?

Seems to be the guy, thanks Piers! I cannot read those papers, do they say an estimated year? Thanks Jean! I've re-oriented the pic, here. I'm completely ignorant of tsuba artisans. Any idea if he is of any regard? Also, the tsuba seems really plain. Why would a guy want to sign something so unremarkable? Sorry for all the questions!

On your point about views - you'll find that there are a HUGE number of folks who read forum discussions with no intent of ever joining in. They must simply enjoy learning from the discussions, but have no desire to chat. Every now and then, someone will post a new topic and say something like "Been a long-time observer, but this is my first post"

Looking at our member map, we have 3 in Hong Kong. One of them might have info on mainland collectors: @Lee @Gordon @roger Also, I think Trystan - @BANGBANGSAN - knows someone over there.

Getting this translated for a fellow collector, if I may. On a civil sword fitted for the war. I've requested full-length photos for better dating purposes. I'll update when they come in.

Sorry to see they are going after the Suya logo, now! This one also has a "NA" inspector stamp in the middle, which you will never see. All Suya blades were inspected by the Tokyo arsenal.

Yes, it was from my phone, which I normally don't do. Either way, once I get a photo posted, even if huge, I make a point to down-size them using the NMB software, to 300mb or less.