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.

Brian, Today I've been unable to post a couple of photos. I get an error message that says the photos are "larger than 7,82 mb". I thought Gold Members has 9mb? Edit: I found out the photo was exactly 9mb, so I cropped it a bit and was able to post.

I agree with all the points made so far. It's alarming that the fakers are attempting Suya Shoten blades. Yet, on the other hand, we're lucky as Suya produced quality work and will be hard for fakers to match. A couple more points - the saya throat appears to be one-piece with the saya; the inspector stamp, upon enlargement, seems to be a "Na" of Nagoya, which is totally bogus, if so.

This tachi uses metal mekugi: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/uploads/monthly_2022_06/8A899441-4D6C-4FA1-920E-C4A43EBC71C3.jpeg.8bf763d75967eb2da820d59eed4fc230.jpeg

Odd looking blade there. Think it was a prop?

[drum-roll................] and the nakago!?!?

That makes 4, now. Both the Yoshichicka and Yoshitsugu have habaki and officer saya. On the matter of the blade fitting the 95 saya, you can see on Matt's example the saya opening was re-shaped to take the slightly wider blade. The adjustment looks old. Tom's didn't seem to need the adjustment. A correction to something I said earlier - the 2 Masatsugu are not the same month. One is June '45 the other is April '45. And finally- @Kiipu - I sure hope you are writing a book!!! The stuff you know needs to be put in print!

Yes, but are all the parts original!?!? Ha!

A small correction to my post - the Yoshitsugu is an old blade, made by a smith from Mutsu province in 1803. But same explanation could still apply - blade was fitted out by a different shop, different city, than the Masatsugu blades. I'll be honest, my gut says the paint on the saya throat of Tom's post looks almost too new, which lends to post-war assembly, but something else on the other hand, is ..... what are the odds of a post-war Bubba getting his hands on 2, yes TWO Masatsugu blades made in the same month and year?! Seems unlikely to the max. More believable to me is the late-war theory.

That's a tough ask, Thomas! It could be as simple as: "Type 97 Kaigunto for sale; Description: As is" More elaborate description: "As brought back by original owner from the war. Mumei, undated blade. Upgraded fittings with sharkskin saya. Company grade tassel is Army, as is the fuchi. Whether original or not, unknown."

O.....M.....G!!!! Major overload! I have the Yoshitsugu on file already; so now we have 2 Masatsugu, and all 3 in Type 95 fittings! Well, actually, the Yoshitsugu had a Type 95 tsuka with a wooden saya made for a (missing) leather cover. Sesko has this Yoshitsugu working in Gifu, and the Ki Masatsugu in Fukuoka. So, the fittings came from different shops, OR, all 3 blades were obtained by a single shop that was using Type 95 fittings for officer purchases (on the premise that end-of-war supplies were scarce). Adding to it, now, another example of the "Fuku" and "Private Contractor" stamps! Thanks for those! Assuming these are wartime legit, I can imagine an owner between then and now, didn't like the latch on Matt's gunto not working and simply adding the coil spring. Checking the files, we now have NCO blades in officer gunto (from @Stegel) and officer blades in NCO gunto! Edit: the 3 gunto could be for NCOs, not an officers. A tassel would have been useful, but none of the 3 have one.